Two years after a burn-out, Duval is still unemployed. Contacted by an enigmatic businessman, he is offered a simple and well-paid job: transcribing telephone tapping. Duval accepts financially without questioning the purpose of the organization that employs him. Precipitated at the heart of a political plot, he must face the brutal mechanics of the underground world of the secret services.
Acting
François Cluzet's trembling hands say everything his mouth won't.
Sound
The audio design weaponizes silence—every tape hiss is a threat.
Production
Cramped sets that feel like a coffin with fluorescent lighting.
Director
Thomas Kruithof
François Cluzet
Duval
Denis Podalydès
Clément
Sami Bouajila
Labarthe
Simon Abkarian
Gerfaut
Alba Rohrwacher
Sara
Philippe Résimont
De Grugy
Daniel Hanssens
Albert
Bruno Georis
Labarthe's right-hand man
Olivier Bony
The neighbor
Bernard Eylenbosch
The right-hand man
Alexia Depicker
The HR manager
Christian Hening
L'employé de ménage
Trivia, insights & behind the scenes
Kruithof's debut feature; he spent a decade in commercials perfecting the art of selling dread. The film was shot in 24 days on a shoestring budget that somehow secured Cluzet.
Released during France's state of emergency laws; critics called it 'accidentally documentary.' The wiretapping premise hit different after 2015's Charlie Hebdo surveillance revelations.
FR
