“A much more mainstream effort by du Welz after his previous horror films that found a strong cult following, Maldoror is a noble attempt to dramatize a horrifying true event and the flawed investigation that took place around it.”

Heavily inspired by the real-life investigation of notorious Belgian child molester and serial killer Marc Dutroux, Fabrice du Welz’s Maldoror follows one Belgian gendarme, Paul Chartier (Anthony Bajon), as he becomes obsessed with the case and catching the killer at all costs, even as it negatively impacts his job and his personal life. Covering the period of the investigation and its aftermath, du Welz’s film is a formulaic fictionalization of this infamous moment in recent Belgian history.

From the opening scene Chartier is presented as a hothead—attacking the father of a teenage shoplifter after he overhears the man being physically and emotionally abusive—and it is this attitude along with his keen eye for detail that catches the attention of his commanding officer Hinkel (Laurent Lucas) and gets him added to the Maldoror surveillance operation alongside his partner Luis (Alexis Manenti). Initially they are assigned to surveil local scrap dealer Marcel Dedieu (Sergi López), previously arrested for rape and who Hinkel suspects could be connected to the high-profile case of two missing young girls. Chartier quickly finds circumstantial evidence that connects Dedieu to a potential pedophile network, but without strong evidence and struggling with a lack of resources his hunch is quickly dismissed. Chartier is determined to be proven right, putting his career at risk along with his marriage to Gina (Alba Gaïa Bellugi), whom he grows to see as a distraction from his investigation.

Du Welz’s approach here is extremely reminiscent of David Fincher’s Zodiac—a lengthy, methodical study of a police investigation stymied by a lack of evidence, strict protocols, and possible corruption, along with a protagonist who develops a deeply unhealthy obsession with the case, interspersed with occasional cutaways to the killer. However, du Welz unfortunately never finds the angle to make Maldoror stand out from the many police investigation dramas that have come before it, which makes the 153-minute runtime feel unnecessarily excessive. However, despite the lack of originality in its storytelling, the film remains watchable thanks to a strong lead performance and the questions it raises about corruption and the hostility between law enforcement units. Chartier’s single-minded obsession with the case can occasionally feel more like a screenwriter’s construct rather than an organic character trait with a strong motivation, but Anthony Bajon gives a commanding performance that keeps the viewer questioning how it will all end for him. Bajon also deserves credit for not being afraid to make Chartier unlikeable; his interactions with his wife in the film’s second half make it clear that while his determination to solve the case is morally righteous, it has turned him into a bitter, unpleasant man who can be unnecessarily cruel towards his loved ones in order to justify his actions. The rest of the ensemble turns in solid work in mostly one-dimensional roles, with Béatrice Dalle (as Chartier’s estranged mother) and Lubna Azabal (as the crime family matriarch who was a major presence in Chartier’s childhood) proving especially effective and captivating in their small roles.

While more of an undercurrent rather than a major focus, one of the most interesting elements of the film is the way it portrays the lack of respect between the Gendarmerie, the local police force, and the Judicial Police, and how their lack of communication and the negligence to share evidence between the three forces contributed to the lengthy time it took to catch their suspect, and may have facilitated the murders of multiple victims. One can’t help but wish that this procedural angle had been du Welz’s focus rather than a familiar tale of one cop’s obsession in the face of obstacles that ultimately leads to a hollow victory.

A much more mainstream effort by du Welz after his previous horror films that found a strong cult following, Maldoror is a noble attempt to dramatize a horrifying true event and the flawed investigation that took place around it. Despite the fact that it rarely deviates from the formula of police investigation films that preceded it, it remains a watchable study of one man’s obsessive pursuit of truth and justice that eventually devours him.