Sentinelle, a revenge action thriller from France

Sentinelle is a standard issue violent revenge flick. The only difference between this and most revenge stories is the main character is a woman. The film is mostly in French and is streaming on Netflix. There are some spoilers in this review.

Olga Kurylenko stars as Klara. She’s a French soldier, returning home to Nice after a combat assignment in Syria. She worked as a translator because she speaks 5 languages. She’s addicted to drugs, and hypervigilant about her new assignment in Nice patrolling the coastline.

She has PTSD and often reacts to situations with more force than is needed. The sentinels are there to serve and protect, but she goes beyond that limit.

She reunites with her mother and her sister Tabia (Marilyn Lima). They are a loving family. One night she and her sister go out dancing at a nightclub. Klara goes home with a woman. Tabia leaves with some Russian men.

In the morning, Tabia is found on the beach, raped and beaten.

Klara sets about finding out who did this to her sister. It turns out to be a Russian diplomat, Leonod Kadnikov (Michel Nabokoff). The remainder of the film is fight scenes and action as Klara follows and seeks to get revenge on this Russian.

Honestly, since Klara’s sexuality was established so early in the film, I figured she would be the one to die in this story. The kill your gays trope had me convinced she would go in the end. Instead, she is the killer and manages to fight off and dispatch numerous folks who stand between her and her target. Rambo couldn’t have done it better.

This film was exactly like many other violent revenge movies. There was nothing special about it, except the starring performance from Olga Kurylenko. She did a fine job with her PTSD, her addiction, and the many fight scenes.

If revenge plotlines are your favorite, I’m sure you will enjoy this film.

Check out the action in the trailer for Sentinelle.

Are you going to give this film a look? If you do, please share your reaction to it.