action, Belgium, David Calder, Emma Dupont, Iain Glen, James Downie, Julien Hayet-Kerknawi, Kevin Murphy, Koen De Bouw, movies, Philippe Brenninkmeyer, reviews, Sasha Luss, The Last Front
January 21, 2025
by Carla Hay
Directed by Julien Hayet-Kerknawi
Culture Representation: Taking place in Belgium during World War I, the action film “The Last Front” features an all-white cast of characters representing the working-class and middle-class.
Culture Clash: A Belgian farmer leads a group of villagers in his community in resisting an invasion by German soldiers.
Culture Audience: “The Last Front” will appeal mainly to people who don’t mind watching generic war movies.
Filled with generic dialogue and bad acting, the action drama “The Last Front” re-uses the same formulas in many other movies about an underdog hero. In this case, it’s about a Belgian farmer leading a resistance against German invaders during World War I. Almost everything in this unimaginative movie can be predicted.
Directed by Julien Hayet-Kerknawi (who co-wrote “The Last Front” screenplay with Kate Wood), “The Last Front”(which was filmed on location in Belgium) has an overly simplistic story that is stretched out by tepid battle scenes. Leonard Lambert (played by Iain Glen) is a widower farmer who is dealing with the fact that his adult son Adrien (played by James Downie) is having a “forbidden” romance with Louise (played by Sasha Luss), the daughter of the prominent Dr. Janssen (played by Koen De Bouw), who doesn’t approve of the relationship.
Here’s an example of the boring and clunky dialogue in the movie: Leonard comments to Adrien about Louise: “She’s not the right woman.” Adrien replies, “But we’re in love.” Leonard says, “Your mother and I were in love. It wasn’t enough.” Adrien responds, “You don’t know Louise.” Leonard says, “I know what living on a farm does to a woman … If you love her, you’ll let her go.”
German soldiers, including the cartoonish villain Laurentz (played by Joe Anderson), invade the village where the Lambert family lives. Laurentz’s father Maximilian Von Rauch (played by Philippe Brenninkmeyer), who is in command of the soldiers, have conflicts with each other because Maximilian thinks that Laurentz’s ruthlessness is out of control. This family turmoil is treated in a very superficial manner with more dull dialogue.
Maximilian asks Laurentz: “When did you become such a monster?” Laurentz replies, “I am not a monster. I am a soldier.” Maximilian wants Laurentz to resign instead of being court martialed and says to Laurentz: “You shame our country. You shame our family.” Laurentz calls Maximilian a “sentimental old fool” at one point during their bickering.
Leonard, Louise, Leonard’s adult daughter Johanna (played by Emma Dupont), a farmhand named Fergal (played by Kevin Murphy) and a priest named Father Michael (played by David Calder) are among those fighting to stay alive during the German invasion. All of these characters have utterly bland personalities and are depicted with unimpressive acting. The resistance to the invasion plays out in the most stereotypical way that might entertain people who can’t get enough of cliché-ridden war movies where one person leads a ragtag group of underdogs to a predictable outcome.
Enigma Releasing released “The Last Front” in select U.S. cinemas on August 9, 2024.