‘Lost Bullet’: The New French Action Movie On Netflix

French action film Lost Bullet (Balle Perdue) was released on Netflix on June 19. This is director Guillaume Pierret’s first feature film, starring Alban Lenoir, Nicolas Duvauchelle, Ramzy Bedia, and Stéfi Celma (from Call My Agent). Pierret is clearly a fan of action movies as he emulates the genre in this entertaining fast-paced film.

The French film has reached the top of Netflix’s chart in France, and is number 4 in the top 10 Films in the U.K. this weekend. If you liked Taxi, there is a good chance you’ll enjoy this movie too.

Alban Lenoir is Lino, a kind of genius mechanic, who is great at building ram cars. The film opens as Lino and his friend, Quentin (Rod Paradot), break into a jewelry shop by ramming his car, full speed, into the shop. He ends up going through the whole building, a total of four layers of concrete, as police chief Charas later boasts. Unable to flee the scene like his friend because his seat belt is stuck, Lino is caught by the police. The chief of a special drug unit, Charas (Ramzy Bedia), seeing his potential, offers Lino a deal to work as a police mechanic in his go fast task force.

All seems to be going well for Lino as Charas offers him early release after working for the police for nine months. However, following a fatal incident, Lino is wrongfully accused of murder, and must now prove his innocence. The only proof he has is the bullet from the crime which is lodged in a missing car. He has twenty-four hours to find the car with the lost bullet to claim his innocence.

Although the plot is predictable, this is a well-written script full of suspense that relies on a story that feels familiar. This means that Lost Bullet is able to focus solely on the action without delving into the characters’ background. Every character’s motivation thus also becomes implied without needing further explaination.

France has a long history of action films that were made particularly popular in the 1970s by actor Jean-Paul Belmondo, who famously performed his own stunts. Lost Bullet, however, clearly takes its inspiration from American action movies, such as Jack Reacher or the series The Shield. Before his career took off as an actor, Alban Lenoir, who plays Lino, build a small career as a stunt man. Much like Belmondo, Lenoir thus did much of the stunts on the film himself. Lenoir was brought into the project very early on, rewriting some of the dialogue with Pierret. In an interview, Lenoir reveals that they wrote the action so that stunt doubles and CGIs would not be needed.

There are some great action-packed sequences, most notably the scene in the police station, when Lino fights with a dozen cops. The choreography of the fight here feels heavily physical. The final car chase also has some quite spectacular stunts.

This is a movie that offers exactly what it says on the tin—an action movie that gives you exactly what you would expect it to. There are car chases, corrupt cops, well-choreographed fights between one man and a dozen others, as well as a brutal one-on-one fight. In that sense, this is a really well-made action movie with a clear, linear storyline. This film takes you on a ride across a familiar and well-trodden track, and even though you’ve passed this landscape a dozen times before, it is nonetheless still a very entertaining ride.

According to Alban Lenoir, Lost Bullet was written with sequels in mind. This may well be only the beginning of Lino’s action-packed adventures.

Lost Bullet is on Netflix since June 19.