This drama by directorial newcomer Xavier Ruiz is the positive surprise on the small Swiss movie scene of 2001. It tells the story about a bunch of soldiers, who get lost during an exercise mission and unwillingly cross the Swiss-French border with fatal consequences.
If You're in the Swiss army, You have to join forces every year for two weeks (or every two years for three weeks). Every person in the army has to do this, and because in Switzerland, it is a duty to join the army (except You're physically challenged or have specific morally motivated reasons), everybody who watches this film here knows that situation. You're running around in uniform, although nobody really wants to, but You just do it to get over with. And now imagine something gets wrong. For example, like in the movie, You get lost... The film's story may be unlikely, but it's astonishingly plausible. The real strength of the film are the characters: All men involved are stereotypes every Swiss has in his own section he's in the army with.
Furthermore, Xavier Ruiz delivers enough thrills and psychological drama to compete with any decent drama in Europe and even the U.S. - which makes the whole movie experience even more pleasant.
One of the few proofs that there still are made some cool, independent movies in Switzerland. 7 out of 10.
