I’m not sure this was ever a good idea for a film, as one might be able to guess from the quixotic eighty-minute runtime. Sentinelle essentially took a two-hour story, condensed it to an hour, realized its mistake and padded on another twenty minutes. That’s no way to write a script, fellas.
Klara (Olga Kurylenko) suffers from PTSD. We know this from the completely unnecessary opening scenes in which Klara, an army language specialist, is working a cease-fire negotiation in Syria when a small boy detonates himself, killing Klara’s partner in the process. While this leads to some splendid acting opportunities for Olga, which include problems with human connection and angsty drug addictions, these scenes were really quite irrelevant –and, if anything, distracting- to the main plot.
Back home in Nice, Klara goes to a nightclub with her sister. Her sister never returns. Nice one. This is what the picture is about – Klara answers the Klarion Kall — she tracks down the assholes who abused her sister and then takes the law into her own hands. The Nice part of Sentinelle is also the nice part of Sentinelle. (Well, parts at least.) In recent days, we’ve gotten very used to Charlize Theron and Blake Lively and –who next? Christina Ricci?- physically destroying opponents. I don’t have a problem with this if they fit the bill. Sentinelle, however, made it clear that while Klara is army trained, she’s by no means a one-woman wrecking ball. The fights in this film are longer and -in a way- more painful. Opponents don’t just crumple and lie there, nor do we expect them to. Klara gets winded from punching and has to take pain killers in the aftermath. This is reasonable stuff. We also get the distinct impression that *she could lose.* This possibility is fairly unique for the genre.
The PTSD angle serves two purposes: 1) it tells us how “on edge” Klara is and 2) it allows Olga Kurylenko to explore her acting
depths. The immediate problems are also two-fold: 1) We can’t tell if Klara is acting out of PTSD or revenge and 2) We can’t tell what Olga Kurylenko is going for in any given scene. I’m not sure the latter is necessarily Olga’s fault: “Ok, now here, Olga, you’re upset the Russians raped your sister and you want revenge but you’re also having a Syria flashback and feeling sorry for the boy who died but you also hate the boy because he killed your friend and you just figured out that the person you passed in the hall a minute ago made a possible attempt on your sister’s life and you’re also feeling hungry and maybe bloated … GO!”
There were some Nice fights in Sentinelle. And some nice ones, too. I can’t say, however, I was especially moved by this picture in any form. It mostly told me things we already know: don’t leave a nightclub alone with a stranger, don’t wage war against connected Russians, don’t go to Syria. I’m not yet sold on Olga Kurylenko on either the leading woman or action star angle … but I’m getting more used to her. So there’s that.
Klara is a seasoned PTSD vet
And she wants revenge bad, you can bet
When the Russians who missed her
Go after her sister
Was this a film worth watching? Nyet
Rated TV-MA, 80 Minutes
Director: Julien Leclercq
Writers: Julien Leclercq, Matthieu Serveau
Genre: We’re going to make Olga Kurylenko an action star if it freaking kills us
Type of being most likely to enjoy this film: The vengeance crowd
Type of being least likely to enjoy this film: Russian oligarchs
