Sightlines · reception
How Mesrine: Killer Instinct was received
2008 · Jean-François Richet · Mesrine: Killer Instinct on Sightlines
The arc
A two-part event release in France in 2008, it was a domestic box-office hit and swept the acting/directing Césars; abroad it arrived a year later to strong reviews and has settled in as the modern French gangster benchmark — still weirdly underseen outside France.
What’s debated
The perennial fight: does the film glamorize a real armed robber and killer — a charge relatives of Mesrine's victims raised at the time — or does its swagger indict him? (Plus the eternal Part 1 vs Part 2 ranking debate.)
Its footprint
It lives in film-fan shorthand as 'the French Goodfellas/Scarface' and as the peak Vincent Cassel performance, part of that late-2000s wave of sprawling two-part criminal epics alongside Che and Carlos.
Where it stands
A modern French crime-cinema staple and a 'you have to watch both halves' recommendation — the film cinephiles reach for when arguing Cassel is one of the great screen presences.
Did you know? Vincent Cassel gained roughly 20 kilos to play the older Mesrine, and the transformation won him the César for Best Actor; Jean-François Richet took Best Director the same night.