11.6

The figure of the title represents the 11.6million euros that a security driver managed to snaffle from his employers’ safe custody in what became a cause celebre in France in 2009.

The driver Toni Musulin (played by as an inscrutable loner by François Cluzet from Untouchable) ditched his armoured van before escaping to Monaco. What has been described as “the crime of the century” cost him a five-year prison sentence, which still has a couple of years to run.

Philippe Godeau, a producer on his second feature as a director, opens the film with Musulin turning himself in to the police in Monte Carlo. He is more interested in the psychology of the protagonist rather than contributing a traditional heist scenario.

Musulin is a taciturn character going about his daily routine without much joy in his life. He treats both his girlfriend Marion (Corinne Masiero) and his closest mate Arnaud (Bouli Lanners) without any real affection.

His act turns him into a national hero in certain quarters, among those who see the deed as revenge on the misdemeanours of the financial and banking community. Musulin may have been motivated by a grudge against his employers who cheated him out of some payments. He was prepared to throw everything away in a gesture of defiance against the people who barely recognised his existence.

More film noir than thriller, Godeau reveals facets of a fascinating and deeply troubled character who before the heist, manages to save enough to buy himself a red Ferrari for weekend trips as a perverse status symbol. Sleekly filmed in a colour palette of greys and blues the narrative presents a conundrum that proves immensely satisfying and riveting.