Paradise Beach
released 2019
www.ink2quill.com

“Paradise Beach” is a French, action, heist, thriller produced by Isaac Sharry, Philippe Aigle, Severine Lathuilliere and Bruno Petit. It was directed by Xavier Durringer who also wrote the screenplay with Jean Miez. It stars Sami Bouajila, Tewfik Jallab, Melanie Doutey, Hugo Becker, Kool Shen, Hubert Kounde, Seth Gueko, Flore Bonaventura, Nessbeal, Dorian N’Goumou dit Dosseh, Hache P., Nicolas Lopy, Dominique Cache, Arthur Fleutot, Olivier Khellafi, Gael Larvor, Datdrion Lopy, Benoit Meynard, Laurent Persin, Benoit Rousselin, Thierry Tripodi, Sonia Couling, Chalad Na Songkhla, Sahatchai ‘Stop’ Chumrum, Karnpitchar Ketmanee, David Ismalone, Nopparut Archeeva and many more.

Paradise Beach IMDb webpage

“Paradise Beach” is the story of ex-con Mehdi, played by Sami Bouajila, who goes to Thailand to reconnect with his brother and childhood friends after his release from a 15 year prison sentence. Fifteen years earlier him and his friends committed a robbery worth 2.5 million euros where he was the only one caught. His brother and friends fled to Thailand and basically lived in paradise with a new life and plenty of money. Mehdi and the group grew up in a rough neighborhood under rough circumstances and so turned to crime as a way out. Everything seemed to work like on rails until Mehdi shows up demanding his 400,000 euro cut of the money. It is then that the story unfolds and we realize that their new life is not the paradise it would appear to be. As it turned out the gang wasted a lot of the money and were also shaken down by the Thai system, which is slanted against foreigners, and crooked Thai officials. It’s important to say that Mehdi made no deals with the French authorities for a lighter prison sentence. He did not betray anyone.

I watched this movie for the first time for ten minutes then turned it off because I thought it would be one of those films that shows French people of Arabic ancestry in a negative light. I thought it would be predictable, social engineering that would add to the negative treatment of a group of French People. I was wrong and I’m glad that I decided to watch the whole. Yes, there are flaws in the screenplay but this is a good film worth watching. The themes and character arcs are really very good.

So what are some of these themes that make this story so good. Firstly, is the theme of how a person is often held captive by their mentality. A person’s mentality will influence how they see the world and how they handle adversity. This could not be more true in this group of people, especially Mehdi. Some of the characters shine and others flounder and take down everyone around them. I submit that this is especially true in the case of Mehdi’s brother Hicham, played by Tewfik Jallab.

Another theme in this story can best be summed up by the expression from a Star Trek film is “Vengeance is a dish best served cold.” There are many ways to interpret this expression but the way I see it is that someone should be ready to sacrifice everything for vengeance. And that is a sad theme to see in a story. When Mehdi learns how his brother was shaken he sets out to get the money back. When his friend Franck, played by Hugo Becker, criticizes Mehdi and calls him Satan Mehdi ends up slandering him and killing him. He doesn’t let go of his past and choses the path of revenge at all cost. Maybe Mehdi is some one who has lost too much, to the point where nothing but revenge matters anymore. His is a sad character arc.

Another thing I liked about the story is its unpredictability. At first Mehdi comes across as a well grounded person who survived hell intact. This is sadly not the case and as the story progresses we see his decisions lead to very dangerous outcomes. This leads to the very sad conclusion that he did not survive his sentence intact. He lost some of his humanity and that’s always a sad thing to see.

“Paradise Beach” is a good film worth the watch. Check it out.

John Ink2Quill

I2Q Blogs / The Visual Medium