You do the bridge of May 1st and you don’t know what to look at on Netflix to pass the time? A word of advice, avoid exerritorial. Admittedly, the action film is effective, but its concept is based on a surprising failure of creators.
The continuation after advertising
While the new project Asterix and Obelix Signed Alain Chabat currently dominates the top 10 series of Netflix in France, it is Exterritorial which is at the head of the top 10 films.
An effective action film …
On the program here? Directed by Christian Zübert, this German film follows Sara’s misadventure – a special forces soldier, who goes to the American Embassy in Berlin in order to renew his work visa. But while she takes advantage of the wait to have a coffee, her son, who accompanies her, suddenly disappears.
The problem ? No one remembers seeing him and the unfortunate is asked to leave the premises. But of course, she does not hear it from this ear and infiltrates the building to have the end of the story and find her child.
Basically, imagine Taken mixed with John Wick under the bottom of Atomic Blondeand you get Exterritorial. An effective and nagging action film where it is not asked to think to appreciate the combat sequences and the conspiracy atmosphere within this story.
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… but illogical from the start
And precisely, fortunately there is no need to think to watch this film. Because if we started our brain, we would quickly realize that this story is in no way credible. And we are not talking about the fact that Sara walks quietly in the consulate, but rather the very beginnings of the film.
As Nils Wilcke pointed out – Political journalist, on Bluesky: “Already, the title is false because embassies and consulates do not have extraterritoriality but diplomatic immunity. Not the same!“In other words, the concept of thriller is based on something completely wobbly.
Where, in history, we see Sara being repressed by the German police who explains to her that she cannot help her because, technically, the consulate is considered to be belonging to the state of the USA, you should know that this excuse is … half false. In reality, Consular premises are an integral part of the territory of the host state (Here, Germany) and are subject to its laws. In fact, The authorities of the host state can enter into certain circumstances (We imagine that the disappearance of a child is one of them), with the consent of the chief of consular post or the head of the diplomatic mission of the sending state.
Ah bah right away, it breaks delirium. So, obviously, we know that the films are not supposed to be always credible (in real life, we do not imagine John Wick kill 7854 people at close range and get out each time).
Despite everything, it is still a shame to sell a plot based on something wrong. It is more ridiculous than anything else and it weakens its interest from the outset. Even if it means staging a story of disappearance and political plot, you might as well not reinvent (by mistake) classic bases … There are enough potentials elsewhere to exploit.
As a reminder, extraterritoriality is a principle of international law. According to this, some people, entities or places located in the territory of a state are exempt from the application of the laws of this state. Conversely, they are subject, to a certain extent, to the laws of their own state or to those of an international organization.
