When a corrupt cop gets entangled in a hit-and-run case, he discovers the secrets of the victim and a larger crime at play. “Restless” is a French crime-drama film, and with a compact runtime of 96 minutes, the film manages to keep it interesting and thrilling throughout. In the film’s first half, we follow a criminal desperate to cover his crimes, but the narrative takes a turn and absolves him of any guilt, and we have a new bad guy. In the ‘Restless’ world, you really cannot choose a good guy as every person is somehow involved in foul play, and perhaps the lack of extremely good and bad makes it a decent watch.
‘Restless’ Plot Summary – What Is The Film About?
Since internal security was visiting the police station for inspection, Thomas (Franck Gastambide), a police officer, spoke over the phone to know their every move. Meanwhile, his family waited for him to pay a last visit to his deceased mother before the casket was sealed. Preoccupied with both the duties, he drove his car inattentively. When he saw a dog in the middle of the road, he tried to save it and, in the process, lost control of his car for a few seconds.
As he got down from his car, he realized that a man was lying unconscious on the road. After further inspection, he realized that the man was not breathing. Fearing arrest, Thomas decided to cover up his mistake. He carried the body and kept it in the trunk of his car. But luck was not on his side. As he tried to rush, the police stopped the car to enquire. With no license document or police badge, the policemen became suspicious of Thomas. But later, they learned that Thomas was a Lieutenant and allowed him to leave. After reaching the morgue, Thomas knew that he had to get rid of the body, and come up with a plan.
Meanwhile, the security team was in search of corrupt cops and wanted to take a look at the station. Thomas was known for his dishonest ways, and his colleagues feared that he would get into some trouble. The colleagues took the matter into their own hands when Thomas was late. They broke open his locker and found his cash stacked. They disposed of the cash in the washroom and flushed it away. Thomas later thanked them for helping him at that moment. But Thomas had one more problem to deal with, a dead body in his car trunk. “Restless” further follows Thomas’ struggle to get rid of the dead body and overcome the remorse of killing an innocent person.
How Did Thomas Get Rid Of Barcelo’s Body?
Thomas noticed the air conditioning vents and planned to get rid of the body with the help of it. He loaded the body inside the vent and attached his daughter’s remote-controlled toy to it. He announced that he wanted to spend a few minutes with his mother alone. As he was left alone in the room, he executed his plan. Though it wasn’t at all a smooth one.
There were numerous goof-ups, from the toy not working in a few instances to the toy, making gun firing sounds at times. Even with all the troubles, he managed to take off the nails from the coffin and place the body next to his mother’s body. He placed the nails back and tidied up the room. Just when everything was in order, a dead-metal ringtone started ringing from inside the coffin. Even though the situation was tense, the moment was hilarious. Thankfully, the phone stopped ringing when the man in charge entered the room. His mother’s coffin was finally buried in the morning, and with it, Thomas could finally breathe an air of relief.
Unfortunately, just when he thought he had gotten rid of the problem, he started receiving calls from an unknown number. The voice on the other end knew of the crime Thomas committed and threatened him with his knowledge. He later learned that the man in question was the Head of the Narcotics Department, Marelli (Simon Abkarian). Marelli wanted Thomas to get him the body. Thomas was caught in a larger conspiracy that he was not aware of. He was afraid of putting his family in danger, and that is when he decided to do whatever was asked of him.
‘Restless’ Ending Explained: Why Did Marelli Want Barcelo’s Body?
Marcelli was taking advantage of his position and misusing his power. He started a business with the drugs that the Narcotics department seized during searches. Instead of destroying the drugs, Marcelli and Barcelo started a booming business. They sold drug-infused alcohol at private clubs that got the consumers addicted to it. As the business grew, so did Marelli’s popularity among the players. Just then, Barcelo sold all the drugs to the Albanians without the knowledge of Marcelli. This made Marcelli furious, and he started murdering the men who betrayed him, that included his business partner, Barcelo, whose was found by Thomas.
When the police started investigating the case of a missing person named Barcelo, Thomas tried to study the victim better. He was curious to learn why Marcelli wanted Barcelo’s dead body. When he retrieved the body from the burial ground, he realized that the body had wounds from gunshots. Therefore, Barcelo was murdered before Thomas’s car hit his body. Barcelo kept the key to a secret vault inside his body, which is why Marcelli wanted his body. The vault had all the money Barcelo had earned after selling the drugs to the Albanians. Thomas was able to locate the key inside Barcelo’s body, and he kept it to himself. Thomas tried to explain the situation to his colleague, Marc. He even showed the key to the vault to him, but ultimately, Marc was also murdered. Thomas realized that the person he was dealing with was not that easy to get rid of.
He came up with a plan to destroy Marelli. As discussed, Thomas gave Barcelo’s body to Marelli. But he’d hidden a bomb with the body, and with a click of a button, the bomb’s timer began ticking. As soon as Marelli started to drive, the bomb blasted, but Marelli was not killed. With his burnt face, Marelli was set to destroy Thomas for betraying him. As the men fought, Thomas pulled the trigger of his gun, and Marelli was shot dead. Thomas was arrested and brought in for interrogation, but the police department decided to bury the case as it would create a bad impression on the entire police force. Thomas left the police force and gave his severance pay to Marc’s wife. Naomi, who used to be a trainee and was now a Lieutenant, gave Thomas the key to the vault that she found while investigating Marc’s death.
All’s well that ends well. And with the key to the vault, Thomas now had a room full of drug money that Barcelo had hidden. Perhaps in the most bizarre way, the hit-and-run case brought Thomas luck and fulfilled his desire to earn a few extra bucks, only this time it was in the millions! Ironically, the stroke of bad luck became Thomas’ happy end.
“Restless” or (Sans répit in French) is a 2022 Crime Drama film directed by Régis Blondeau. It is an engaging watch with nothing much to think about that will lighten up your weekend.
