Exterritorial Review: Jeanne Goursaud Leads Netflix’s Clunky German Action Thriller
The German-language Exterritorial boasts a familiar but intriguing setup: A Lady Vanishes-like psychological thriller, but instead of the train setting, it takes place within the confines of the U.S. consulate. It wasn’t a lady who vanishes but rather a little kid named Josh (Rickson Guy da Silva). His mother, Sara (Jeanne Goursaud), an ex-Special Forces army veteran who used to tour in Afghanistan, is first seen arriving in the U.S. consulate one morning with Josh to apply for a visa.
While waiting for their turns, Sara decides to leave Josh in the playroom for a while to get a refreshment. But when it’s finally their turn, Sara heads back to the playroom, only to find him gone. She figures her son must be playing hide and seek, but she still can’t find him anywhere after scanning around the area. Then comes regional security officer Erik Kynch (Dougray Scott) and gunnery sergeant Donovan (Kayode Akinyemi) to offer their assistance. And yet, after further checking, there’s still no sign of Josh around.
Director Christian Zübert, who also wrote the screenplay, continues to ratchet up the tension and sense of intrigue when Donovan claims Sara is here all alone after running through the security footage. Earlier in the movie, we learn that Sara has PTSD related to her past Afghanistan tour, suggesting she might be delusional. This poses an all-important question: Is Sara actually coming to the U.S. consulate with Josh or simply imagining her son in her presence all along? Right from the beginning, Zübert doesn’t waste time establishing Sara’s condition and her character being an overprotective mother who loves her son, Josh, dearly.
When Josh is missing, Sara becomes more concerned, but the authorities at the U.S. consulate don’t seem to be helpful enough. This leaves Sara with no choice but to take matters into her own hands. Interestingly, Exterritorial is more than just a mystery of a kidnapping child as Zübert incorporates action-movie tropes into the mix.
Given Sara’s tactical experience working as a Special Forces soldier, she possesses a certain set of skills in close combat. At one point, Zübert shows a deft hand with his camerawork during a fight between Sara and two assailants shot in a continuous, long take. There’s another similar scene later in the movie, except Zübert ramping up his long take as we see Sara make her way in the hallways while taking down anyone attempting to stop her.
The pace is fairly brisk up to a point while keeping me invested in Sara’s ordeal, thanks to Jeanne Goursaud’s committed performance. As much as I enjoy Exterritorial, the movie somehow hits a stumbling block at some point as Zübert relies heavily on clunky exposition to move his story forward. This is especially true once the writer-director lays out all his cards on the table, revealing everything about the true motivations behind the child kidnapping in the first place. I was hoping that Zübert could have done something thrilling here, only to be continuously disappointed by the surprisingly underwhelming third act, as if he’s running out of steam.
I also can’t help but wonder how it is a supposedly highly-secured building like the U.S. consulate feels like a walk in the park for Sara to navigate her way in and out of the premises easily with little obstacles apart from encountering a few Marines. Another problem with this movie lies in Zübert’s failure to justify the existence of another character played by Lera Abova as Irina. She plays an unlikely ally with a problem of her own to help Sara, and despite Abova’s magnetic presence, her character becomes insignificant as the movie progresses further. As for the rest of the cast, Dougray Scott handles his supporting role quite well as the shady and manipulative Erik Kynch.
Exterritorial is currently streaming on Netflix.
