The Case 137 - Dominik Moll's Thriller in 2K

A young man is seriously injured during a demonstration, and Internal Affairs agent Stéphanie is determined to establish what really happened and whether any police officer overstepped their bounds. A task that seems to proceed according to a precise routine, at least until the statements collected begin to not match.

Every new testimony introduces an element capable of changing the picture, and what seemed like a case confined to managing a demonstration takes on more complex contours. Stéphanie thus finds herself having to evaluate not only the credibility of the people involved but also how her own role influences their judgment.

When the investigation changes perspective

Léa Drucker avoids transforming this conflict into a sudden realization. The change happens through small signals, as the protagonist understands that some of the certainties with which she began the work are no longer sufficient to interpret what is emerging.

Dominik Moll builds tension precisely on the impossibility of immediately arriving at a definitive version. The people interviewed remember the same moments differently, and not even documents always manage to clarify every step. Stéphanie must therefore reconstruct the facts while every new version seems to further complicate the case.

The direction accompanies this journey without forcing the pace and lets the protagonist's behavior tell how much the investigation is involving her. Léa Drucker works mainly on hesitations and silences, showing a woman who continues to carry out her task while it becomes increasingly difficult to consider the case as something separate from the world in which she works.

Most likely digitally shot, native 2K resolution and relative source master for encoding (1920 x 1080/23.97p), AVC/MPEG-4 encoding on a dual-layer BD-50. Original image format 1.85:1, the images are pervaded by a minimal digital feel (perhaps a bit of grain would have helped), accompanied by cold tones due to evident choices by cinematographer Patrick Ghiringhelli. Solidness, high level of detail even in the background, and good performance in night scenes with deep blacks. The smartphone recordings are in a narrow rectangular 9:16 format, with the typical compression artifacts of amateur footage.

DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 Italian and original (always 16 bit) for a narrative primarily focused on dialogue from the center channel, with some transitions between music and echoes from the city. Listening through the Home Theater system helps make the show even more engaging. Even greater presence when switching to the original, with mandatory subtitles. There are also mirroring Dolby Digital 2.0 tracks (224 kbps) recommended only for listening through TV speakers.

As an extra, there's the trailer.