Bastille Day

"With law comes disorder"

2016 1h 32m EN

😐

6.3

MID

🥫

48%

ROTTEN

😬

METACRITIC

⭐

6.4

IMDB

★6.3TMDB · 1,575🥫48%Rotten Tomatoes●48Metacritic★6.4IMDB · 55,888

Action

Synopsis

Spoiler shield

Michael Mason is an American pickpocket living in Paris who finds himself hunted by the CIA when he steals a bag that contains more than just a wallet. Sean Briar, the field agent on the case, soon realises that Michael is just a pawn in a much bigger game and is also his best asset to uncover a large-scale conspiracy.

“With law comes disorder”

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Cast

Idris Elba
Sean Briar
Richard Madden
Michael Mason
Charlotte Le Bon
Zoe Naville
Kelly Reilly
Karen Dacre
José Garcia
Victor Gamieux
Anatol Yusef
Tom Luddy
Ériq Ebouaney
Baba
Alex Fondja
Ange

Credits

Behind the camera

Director: James Watkins
Writers: Andrew Baldwin, James Watkins
Languages: English, French
Countries: France, United Kingdom, United States of America

Want more? Switch to Cinephile mode in the header for DP, composer, budget, box office, production companies, keywords, and release history.

Did you know?

Fun facts 🍿

1 / 8

MONEY

Did you know

Earned back only 72% of its budget on initial theatrical — a commercial disappointment on release.

MoodPlayr · trivia#01

2 / 8

ERA

Did you know

Released 10 years ago.

MoodPlayr · trivia#02

3 / 8

WORLD

Did you know

Dialogue crosses 2 languages: English, French.

MoodPlayr · trivia#03

4 / 8

WORLD

Did you know

International production across 3 countries: France, United Kingdom, United States of America.

MoodPlayr · trivia#04

5 / 8

DIRECTOR

Did you know

Directed by James Watkins, shot by Tim Maurice-Jones. Note their partnership — DPs and directors often return to each other across a career.

MoodPlayr · trivia#05

6 / 8

DIRECTOR

Did you know

Original score by Alex Heffes. Worth a dedicated listen after — most great films lose half their impact without the score.

MoodPlayr · trivia#06

7 / 8

DIRECTOR

Did you know

Editor Jon Harris shaped the rhythm. On an edit-heavy film, the editor does more to control your pulse than the director.

MoodPlayr · trivia#07

8 / 8

CAST

Did you know

Idris Elba and Richard Madden and Charlotte Le Bon carry the top of the cast.

MoodPlayr · trivia#08

Cinephile deep dive

The take

James Watkins directs. Tim Maurice-Jones behind the camera. Alex Heffes scores. Jon Harris cuts. Runs lean at under 100 minutes. A commercial under-performer on release. Produced in France, United Kingdom, United States of America. Dialogue in English, French.

Trivia

Things worth knowing

1Earned back only 72% of its budget on initial theatrical — a commercial disappointment on release.
2Released 10 years ago.
3Dialogue crosses 2 languages: English, French.
4International production across 3 countries: France, United Kingdom, United States of America.
5Directed by James Watkins, shot by Tim Maurice-Jones. Note their partnership — DPs and directors often return to each other across a career.
6Original score by Alex Heffes. Worth a dedicated listen after — most great films lose half their impact without the score.
7Editor Jon Harris shaped the rhythm. On an edit-heavy film, the editor does more to control your pulse than the director.
8Idris Elba and Richard Madden and Charlotte Le Bon carry the top of the cast.
9Marketing tagline: "With law comes disorder".
10IMDB entry: tt2368619 — still the authoritative cross-reference for credits and trivia.
11Classified under 8 themes, including "central intelligence agency (cia)", "france", "bomb", "bank".
12Released under 10 different titles around the world.

The technical file

Cinematography: Tim Maurice-Jones
Original score: Alex Heffes
Editing: Jon Harris
Production design: Paul Kirby
Costume design: Guy Speranza
Makeup / hair: Paul Job
VFX supervisor: Simon Hughes
Sound: Ben Barker
Runtime: 92 min · 1h 32m
Aspect ratio (typical): 1.37:1 (Academy)
Status: Released
Budget: $20,000,000
Box office: $14,397,593
Return: 72% of budget
Original language: EN
Certification (US): R
IMDB: Bastille Day (2016)
Rotten Tomatoes: 48% 🥫 Rotten
Metacritic: 48/100
IMDB rating: 6.4/10 · 55,888 votes
MPAA: R

Also by

James Watkins

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Community reviews

What people are saying

Reno2016-11-04
★ 6/10
One wrong move made a small time thief a target. The first thing is this film came at the worst time in the history of France. If it was set in elsewhere in the world would have had less issue, but the Paris terror attack and this theme had lots of similarity. I mean it was nothing to do with the incident, but the contents are very impactful. Which also might be the reason for the film not doing well. I did not enjoy much this film, for me it was the story that turned me off. It was sympathetic to terrorists in the first half, so I completely hated that part, and then the last 30 or so minutes it got better. I mean not awesome or like that, but just good. Directed by 'Eden Lake' famed director. Another very familiar story, but altered like it was for the first time in a film. So most of the parts are predictable, but one twist during the beginning of the third act made it look good. Amazing pace, it just keeps getting bigger and bigger going forward. But as we know, those developments were so clichéd. All the actors were okay, and it has some decent stunts as well. I think it is a good timepass film and nothing else.. 6/10
CinemaSerf2022-11-17
Well this just goes to show that you can put two hot blokes in the same film, set it in Paris, add some car chases and pyrotechnics - and still end up with a dud. Richard Madden (and his terrible attempt at a Nevada accent) is "Mason" an accomplished pickpocket who manages to get himself embroiled in a bombing. Spotted by CCTV, he is soon the quarry of the CIA's "Briar" (Idris Elba) before the latter realises that he is not their protagonist and that it is best the pair unite to thwart the real terrorists who are using a campaign of civil unrest to mask their real criminal intentions. James Watkins actually manages to keep the pace of this moving along quite well, but the story is far too thin and there is precisely no chemistry on screen between the gents, or between anyone and "Zoe" (Charlotte le Bon) who is also mixed up in all this mayhem. Eye candy can really help a film, and to a certain extent it does here but otherwise this is a standard made for television thriller that is light on just about everything. The condescending tones of the CIA in their dealings with their French counterparts was rather irritating too - no wonder Americans are not always overly welcome in Europe! If this was either man pitching to be the next Daniel Craig, then I'd not give up the day job.
r96sk2024-01-06
★ 7/10
Pretty good, for what it is. <em>'Bastille Day'</em>, or <em>'The Take'</em> for us in my neck of the woods, is a sound action thriller that suitably entertains. Idris Elba has played this sorta role many a time but there's no doubting how strongly he performs in such films. He and co-star Richard Madden are sporting distracting (at least to someone who knows them more for their native tongue) accents, but are a solid pairing... their (admittedly somewhat minimal) buddy cop-esque banter isn't the best, though. Elba also appears in the end credits singing... not to great effect, I gotta say. Don't get me wrong I know that guy <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2Qa5gB1tWK4" rel="nofollow">can very much do music</a>, it's just that <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0WShPOyXyW4" rel="nofollow">this song</a> is, erm, not his strongest work, let's just say that. It's largely predictable, though it does things in a manner that kept me interested and enjoying what I was setting eyes on. So it gets a pass from yours truly.