Quartile rating: 7/10 · 1 rating
In November 2015, a series of unprecedented and deadly attacks hits Paris. The anti-terrorist police led by Heloise and her chief commander Fred face an unprecedented level of pressure. In a race against the clock, they must find the perpetrators of the attacks as quickly as possible before they can strike again, travelling across Europe and beyond in one of the biggest manhunts in history.
November (2022) is a taut French procedural thriller reconstructing the real-life post-Paris attacks manhunt with commendable authenticity and urgency. The plot is brisk and procedurally credible, though it inevitably feels constrained by its docudrama format—audiences familiar with the events will find little narrative surprise. Acting is solid across the ensemble, particularly Anaïs Demoustier, but no single performance is truly revelatory. Cinematography is functional and gritty in a way that suits the material without distinguishing itself. Novelty is limited: the real-events procedural genre is well-trodden, and while the French perspective offers some freshness, the film follows a fairly standard countdown-thriller template. The ending, dictated by history, lands with appropriate weight but lacks dramatic catharsis since the outcome is largely known.