“A promising first feature that could have used a bit more ambiguity, but shows a talent at the helm.”

It may be a bit of a stereotype, but the French are known for fiercely protecting their workers’ rights, and won’t shy away from a strike or worse. In the face of the ongoing demise of the working class, it is therefore not strange that in recent years French cineastes have picked up this theme. Examples include some of the recent collaborations between Stéphane Brizé and Vincent Lindon, and Eric Gravel’s À plein temps. In his debut feature, Japanese-born but France-based director Akihiro Hata takes up the mantle with Grand Ciel, a film rooted in social realism but to which he adds thriller elements to spice up the story of a construction worker torn between supporting his family and standing by his co-workers. This plays out surprisingly well until the final moments, in which Hata chooses to resolve his mystery in an unexpected manner that leaves a sour aftertaste.

Vincent (Damien Bonnard) is a construction worker on the night shift at the building site of a modern high-rise complex. “That’s unusual for a white guy,” says the site manager, oblivious of both his racism and the reasons for his statement, but Vincent needs the extra pay to support his family, who he hopes to move out of their dumpy apartment. When his wife Nour (Mouna Soualem) manages to land a PR job at the building company things are looking up on the home front, but strange things are happening at work. One of his co-workers (Issaka Sawadogo), an undocumented immigrant, suddenly disappears without a trace, and Vincent’s closest companion Saïd (Samir Guesmi) suspects foul play on the part of the higher-ups. When Saïd starts to organize the workers to force management to provide more clarity, Vincent is made foreman and told fairly directly to quell this uprising. The extra money is more than welcome, especially since Nour’s contract is ended after her probation time just when they have accepted a lease on a nicer apartment, but suddenly Vincent is pitted against the men he used to mingle with. When a second worker, again an undocumented immigrant, disappears things come to a head.

Some mysteries are best left unsolved. Unfortunately this is not the case in Grand Ciel, where Hata solves the disappearances in the film’s final five minutes and turns to something akin to the supernatural to explain what management is apparently hiding. This is so unrealistic that it will leave many viewers baffled, and it raises more questions than it answers. It’s a shame, because before this unsatisfactory resolution Grand Ciel was actually quite successful in showing how capitalism often pits the working class against each other to protect their own interests, which is usually their bottom line. The missing co-workers both being undocumented hints at something nefarious but more grounded on their part, and the film spends most of its time fixated on Vincent’s split loyalties between Nour and Saïd. Bonnard gives a strong performance as Vincent, an introverted man who bottles up the increasing stress he feels, caught as he is between two fires. When he seems to choose which fire to quench in the film’s final stretch, it would have sent a grave message about capitalism grinding the working class into the dust that had played a key role in the film, but Hata wants to leave his protagonist a moral out and have it both ways.

While the ending disappoints, Grand Ciel has a lot to offer before that fateful final chapter. On paper the social realism approach shouldn’t mix well with the moments of suspense, but Hata’s change in approach to the cinematography (by David Chizallet, best known for his award-winning work on 2016’s Mustang) and Carla Pallone’s nerve-cutting electronic score genuinely build something that piques curiosity, especially given that Vincent and his crew are assigned to work on the dark basement levels of the new building-to-be. Who could be lurking around that corner? The answer may be a letdown, but the build-up works. Likewise, Vincent’s relationship with his wife is well characterized, with Soualem given enough agency on her own and her hiring and then quick layoff constituting a key point in the arc of the film. So, despite Hata tripping up on the denouement, this is a promising first feature that could have used a bit more ambiguity, but shows a talent at the helm.