Le client du numéro 16: A dusty little mystery

Is this thing worth the watch?

If you have an itch for those mid-century French crime dramas where everyone wears a hat and speaks in hushed tones, then yeah, pull up a chair. If you need explosions or a fast-paced thriller that never lets you breathe, keep walking. This movie is for people who like to watch a guy walk down a hallway while thinking about how much trouble he is in.

Commissioner Turpin isn't your typical movie cop. He is not a badass, and he doesn't have a cool catchphrase. He just seems like a man who is perpetually tired of being told what to do by people who wear nicer suits than he does. When he gets that phone call to drop the case, the look on his face is less 'heroic defiance' and more 'not this crap again.' I kind of loved that.

Room 16 is just a room, right?

Well, no. The movie plays a lot with the idea of what goes on behind closed doors. There’s this one scene where Turpin is staring at the door of room 16, and the camera lingers just a bit too long. It’s not meant to be profound—it’s just a guy waiting for something to happen. It feels real in a way that modern jump-scare stuff never does.

The pacing is a bit weird. Sometimes it feels like we are sprinting toward a reveal, and other times we are just watching the commissioner drink coffee and look at files. It reminded me a bit of the slow-burn dread you get in The Sin That Was His, where the atmosphere does more work than the dialogue. It is not perfect, but it is certainly not boring.

• The lighting in the office scenes is great, real moody stuff.
• I still have no idea why that one official kept fiddling with his pen during the interrogation.
• The dialogue is sharp, but maybe a little too formal for a casual chat.

There is this moment where Turpin almost gives up. He is standing by a window, the light hitting his face, and you can see him calculating if the truth is worth the headache. That is the kind of detail that makes me think the director actually cared about the guy, not just the plot. It is not high art, but it has a pulse. 🕵️‍♂️

Also, the extras in the background of the police station scenes? Half of them are just standing there looking at the wall. It’s hilarious once you notice it. It’s like they were told 'act like you are busy' and they just sort of froze in place. I couldn't stop looking at the guy in the back left who never seems to actually flip a page on his desk.

Is it a masterpiece? No. Is it a solid way to spend an hour feeling like you are trapped in a French noir detective novel? Absolutely. It’s got that specific, slightly gritty feel that reminds me a bit of Deadline at Eleven, just without all the frantic energy. A decent watch for a rainy Sunday.