The Last Front, 2024.
Written and Directed by Julien Hayet-Kerknawi.
Starring Iain Glen, Sasha Luss, Joe Anderson, David Calder, James Downie, Koen De Bouw, Julian Kostov, Life Leader, Seldeslacht years, Anna Ballantine, Sam Rintoul, Emma Moortgat, Emma Dupont, Steve Armand, and Philippe Brenninkmeyer.
SYNOPSIS:
Amidst World War I’s chaos, a grieving father turns hero, leading villagers to safety while evading a relentless enemy driven by vengeance.
The Last Front is another solid case that using clichés isn’t inherently bad and is more about how a filmmaker utilizes them. For co-writer/director Julien Hayet-Kerknawi (penning the screenplay alongside Kate Wood), that involves treating the characters like human beings rather than tools to get the action going. Spending time with them is crucial, making for a modest emotional payoff by the time the finale arrives. It also allows a sense of forgiveness regarding how familiar these character arcs are. At a certain point, all of this becomes surrounded by too many abandoned threads and numerous characters, dragging everything else down with it.
Set in Belgium during World War I with the Germans marching their way to France and wreaking havoc along the way, Iain Glen’s Leonard Lambert is a grieving widow farmer looking after his son Adrien (James Downie) and daughter Johanna (Emma Dupont.) Trying to keep the peace in his disapproval of the love between Adrien and villager Louise (Sasha Luss), who frequently sneak off to be together before typically getting caught by Johanna, the lovers become more passionate. Suddenly, they decide to elope, and it also seems Louise might be with child. For Leonard, the disapproval comes from personal experience and the different backgrounds the lovers come from; he believes that living a farmer’s life will cause Louise to be miserable and regret everything inevitably.
Meanwhile, Lieutenant Laurentz (Joe Anderson) increasingly becomes more unhinged, eventually transitioning into full-blown psychotic once a cruel mistake or two leaves him destined to be stripped of his rank and with nothing to lose. As such, he sets his sights on taking over this small Belgian area, where a preacher (David Calder) insists that Leonard is the one whom the people respect the most and that it’s up to him to arm the civilians and defend the village. Initially, Leonard declines, still feeling spiritually defeated by losing his love. Nevertheless, he slowly realizes what must be done, especially when the Germans make things unforgivably personal.
There is nothing especially deep here, but the action is competent and with more than enough early scenes establishing the relationships these characters have with one another, that once people do start eventually dying here, it matters. Furthermore, simply giving death weight is where similar, smaller action flicks fail. However, there is one vital mistake in that the film somewhat bypasses a strategical defense of the village, opting to put some of our heroes on an escort mission to get a wounded individual and some other civilians to a river near France for safety. Apparently, being near forests and trees gives them the advantage in firefight battles. This still works since we still care about the characters, but it is less exciting and confusing since there is also apparently a resistance movement that the movie then ignores.
Thankfully, Iain Glen is serviceable wherever The Last Front takes him in its bleakness. He is soulful and vulnerable, also rising to the occasion when it’s time to fight back and even deliver a rousing one-liner before the climactic battle begins. In the final moments, there is also a fitting brutality to the violence, fitting for how personal the situation has become. Again, you have seen everything here before, it is also investing just enough, yet also undone by some choices in the back half.
Flickering Myth Rating – Film: ★ ★ / Movie: ★ ★ ★
Robert Kojder is a member of the Chicago Film Critics Association and the Critics Choice Association. He is also the Flickering Myth Reviews Editor. Check here for new reviews, follow my Twitter or Letterboxd, or email me at MetalGearSolid719@gmail.com
