Review of Ad Vitam (2025)

Currently streaming and trending on Netflix is the movie Ad Vitam. It is a French action thriller with a runtime of 1 hour and 38 minutes.

The Premise

Guillaume Canet plays Franck Lazareff, the film’s protagonist. He is a former elite member of the GIGN—a French police tactical unit renowned for counterterrorism, hostage rescue, and critical site protection—Franck was one of the best on his team.

The GIGN is called upon in dire situations and is known for executing impossible missions with precision.

When a mission goes wrong, Franck’s career takes a sharp turn. Dismissed from the GIGN, he now works as a damage prevention specialist. His past, however, refuses to stay buried.

At the start of the film, we learn that Franck’s wife, Leo, is pregnant. Their shared history runs deep; both are former GIGN operatives with extensive tactical training.

When Franck and Leo return to their apartment, they find it ransacked for the second time in just two weeks.

Oddly, their unit seems to be the only one targeted. Leo questions what the intruders might be looking for, but Franck appears evasive, insisting they simply file another police complaint.

As the story unfolds, we discover that Franck is hiding a key connected to a safety deposit box containing incriminating evidence against powerful figures.

The stakes escalate when Franck’s friend, Ben, warns him about the potential danger of keeping the key hidden.

Things take a dark turn when Leo is kidnapped by a group of armed men demanding the evidence.

Faced with an impossible choice, Franck’s tactical skills and resolve are put to the test.

The film builds to an intense climax as Franck races against time to rescue Leo and expose the truth.

What I Liked About the Movie Ad Vitam

Visually, the movie looked decent. The story had potential, although I do not think it was pieced together very well.

The acting from the cast was also ok, there were no real standouts for me.

I liked the relationship between Franck, Leo and their friends Nico and Manon. I understood what the movie was trying to establish here.

Not related to the movie but I couldn’t help but notice how much Guillaume Canet looks like Patrick Dempsey.

What I Didn’t Like

The movie has about 30 minutes of flashback. I didn’t particularly like that. While it did provide backstory, it stripped all the tension away since you already know Franck survives in the present.

Again, the movie sets up Franck and Leo as highly trained professionals who should excel at assessing danger and navigating bad situations.

However, their decision to stay in a repeatedly ransacked apartment—even when Franck knows they’re after the evidence—feels frustratingly out of character.

The story follows a familiar trope of our hero being framed for something he didn’t do, being on the run trying to flee the police, and trying to take down the ones that are truly responsible.

Because these types of movies have been done so many times, the predictability for me diminishes the impact.

There’s not a lot of action in this movie until the final 20-30 minutes. The movie instead focuses a little bit too long on the training academy.

There are a lot of scenes all aimed at establishing the relationships between Franck and Leo and the other budding friendships formed.

While all these items can definitely enhance the narrative and lead to something more impactful down the road, it doesn’t.

There’s a little humor but for the most part it’s serious, which does not align with the tone at the ending of the movie. It is sub-titled unless you speak French so maybe somethings are lost in translation.

There are some action scenes that stretched believability and others that just seemed to work out perfectly for Franck.

Without giving out any spoilers, there is a paragliding scene that solidified my decision on how I would rate this movie.

Final Thoughts on Ad Vitam

Ad Vitam is not a terrible movie, but it doesn’t stand out either. Its unoriginal plot, pacing issues, and tonal inconsistencies weigh it down, despite a few redeeming elements like its visuals and character relationships.