Jump to the good stuff: The Story | Some Thoughts | The Final Verdict
The Story:
7 Minutes (2020) is about a father searching for answers after his son and his son’s lover are found hanged in a hotel room.
The film opens with Maxime (Valentin Malguy) and Kevin (Paul Arvenne) in a hotel room doing drugs and having sex. When Kevin overdoses, Maxime is distraught. He finds a belt and decides to make it appear as if they hanged themselves.
After Maximes’s father, Jean (Antoine Herbez), gets the autopsy results back, he finds out that Maxime and Kevin died from an overdose of GHB. Wanting to know more about his son and how this happened, Jean looks for answers. His search brings him to a club frequented by Maxime where he meets Fabien (Clément Naline), who is a drug dealer. Not knowing that Jean is Maxime’s father, Fabien becomes attached to him. And with that, the story unfolds.
Some Thoughts:
7 Minutes is a foolish movie that starts like a thriller and ends up meandering around and going nowhere. The acting is passable, as is the cinematography. The biggest mystery in the film is what Jean’s doing hanging out at Maxime’s favorite club. He’s supposed to be looking for answers about Maxime’s death, but instead just wanders aimlessly and comes across as apathetic because of it.
Another problem with this movie is that we have no idea how close Jean and Maxime were. There are no flashbacks, and Jean doesn’t uncover anything that makes him look at Maxime differently, not that we know how he felt about his son prior to his death. He also doesn’t inquire about his son very much. And when he does, he doesn’t follow through. Because of this, the film lacks suspense.
Fabien and Jean have a strange relationship. Malguy and Arvenne lack chemistry, so their attraction to each other needs a purpose. This makes sense because Jean hangs out with Fabien to find answers about his son, and Fabien is only interested in Jean because he’s looking for someone to take care of him. This would be an interesting dynamic if the movie had a better script, and the director, Ricky Mastro, knew how to build tension. It also doesn’t help that the film lacks so much substance.
The Final Verdict:
7 Minutes is a tedious disappointment.
