Aahana Swrup
‘Ad Vitam’ is a French action film that revolves around a former special forces agent whose past life catches up to him and puts his family in the mouth of danger. Franck Lazareff has been settling into a civilian life of normalcy with his pregnant wife, Leo. However, after a group of mysterious armed men attack the couple’s home, she ends up getting taken hostage. Their leader, Vanaken, is after an important relic from Franck’s past. Consequently, it’s up to the ex-GIGN officer to find a way to save his wife without putting the key to a brewing conspiracy in the hands of the wrong people. Ripe with thrilling chase scenes, tragic backstories, and no pulled punches, this film offers an exciting adventure that culminates into a rescue mission that will have the audience on the edge of their seats. SPOILERS AHEAD!
Ad Vitam Plot Synopsis
Franck Lazareff has always had one dream: joining the GIGN like his father. Naturally, the day of his initiation remains one of the best days of his life as he gets the chance to wear his father’s old patch on his own new uniform. As a GIGN officer, he engages in various investigative and combat scenarios, including task force attacks, undercover work, and hostage situations. His colleague, Leo, one of the only women on the team, is particularly masterful with the latter mission, skilled in her skills as a negotiator. The pair orbit around each other for almost two years before finally jumping into an actual relationship.
Unlike their other friend from the service, Nico, Franck, and Leo seem to be satisfied with their life as it is, claiming no plans of becoming parents in the future. Nonetheless, nine years into their careers—and almost as many into their relationship—Leo finds out that she’s pregnant. On the night that she tries to tell Franck about it over the phone, she’s she’s robbed of the opportunity by another emergency call. As it turns out, something shady seems to be unfolding in the upscale Trianon hotel, where the staff overhears gunshot sounds.
Even though Franck and his team, who are returning from a different mission, don’t have the clearance to intervene, he decides to call it in and change routes toward the Trianon. In turn, his boss asks him to wait outside for police backup before making any big decisions. Still, Franck ventures into the hotel’s premises to evaluate the scene. However, as soon as the GIGN walks into the place, they notice two suspicious men. As they attempt to stop them from leaving the establishment, the men quickly pull out their guns, initiating a firefight in the hotel. The altercation takes everyone by surprise. As such, even though the GIGN leader manages to terminate one of their enemies, several officers—including Nico and Ben—get injured.
In fact, Nico—who takes a bullet to the neck—ends up dying on the hotel floor. Franck is devastated at the turn of events, blaming his own reckless decision-making for his close friend’s death. His superior holds the same opinion and concludes that Franck’s judgment can no longer be trusted. The boss holds him accountable for an unsanctioned mission that led to the death and grave injury of two of their agents. Since the GIGN relies on the trust they foster among themselves, the boss has no choice but to fire the other man from his position.
As a result, Franck takes his exit from GIGN, leaving everything but his father’s patch behind. Shortly afterward, Leo also quits the force. However, her decision isn’t entirely because of her husband. Instead, she quits her job due to her pregnancy. Even though neither of them initially wanted any kids, Leo has now realized she wants to have this kid and watch them grow up. As such, a departure from her high-risk job remains the only viable option—one that she is happy to make. Thus, the two former agents begin a new civilian life, full of day jobs and doctor’s appointments.
Nonetheless, subtle dangers continue to lurk around in their lives. Their apartments get ransacked multiple times a week, with the robbers suspiciously leaving behind expensive items. Furthermore, the danger even follows Franck into his job as someone tries to kill him and frame his death as an accident. Even though he insists he has no idea why these things are happening, the truth remains far from it. As it turns out, Franck is hiding a coveted key that hides a very vital secret. As a result, Vanaken and his men carry out an all-out attack in pursuit of the same key. Thus, the man ends up kidnapping Leo, holding her as ransom to force her husband into turning over the key.
Ad Vitam Ending: Do Leo and Her Baby Survive?
Initially, Franck keeps the truth about the key from his wife because he doesn’t want to burden Leo with such a heavy responsibility while she’s pregnant. The key he’s stashing away opens a safe that holds his father’s patch. After the attack at the Trianon, Franck had grown suspicious of the police reporting, which was making the shootout seem like a face-off between GIGN and some low-level burglars. Nonetheless, having witnessed their skills, he knew something bigger was at play. For the same reason, he got the blood on his path—which belonged to one of the perpetrators—tested under the radar.
As such, Franck discovered that the shooter was a French special forces agent who was involved in an operation with a CIA operative. While this news would shed some truthful light on Nico’s death, it also has the potential of gross international conflict between France and America. However, despite his initial decision to keep quiet about the whole thing for his own family’s safety, Franck ends up disclosing the information anonymously to a reporter. His actions are born from the persisting injustice that Nico’s family—especially his oldest son, Antoine—has to tolerate. Nonetheless, the ex-GIGN agent’s efforts to right past wrongs only put him on the radar of the country’s Prime Minister, who has been trying to contain this scandal since the beginning.
The Prime Minister hires Vanaken to retrieve the patch and clear Franck from the game board. For the same reason, the former kidnaps Leo and frames her husband for murder to push him into doing his bidding and bring him the key. Nonetheless, when Franck sneaks into his apartment—now crawling with cops in the attack’s aftermath—he realizes the key is missing. As a result, without any other options, he reaches out to Ben for help. Ben has also been put out of the GIGN commission after sustaining a big injury in the hotel shootout. Nonetheless, he readily agrees to help out his friend once he realizes Leo’s life is in danger.
Consequently, Ben and Franck come up with the plan to create a fake bloodied patch to exchange with Vanaken for Leo’s safety. Even though the leader falls for the trick, he refuses to hold up his end of the bargain and orders his men to kill Leo and Franck. Fortunately, Ben is able to ambush the Vanaken’s men and save his friends. Nevertheless, the other man catches on pretty quickly, leading to a high-speed car chase throughout the street of the countryside of Paris. Worse yet, shortly after Leo catches a bullet to her arm, she ends up going into labor under the weight of the tense situation.
In order to divert some of the firepower from his wife’s way, Franck jumps out of the car to draw Vanaken’s men away from Ben’s car. While this lessens some of the pressure for the latter, he still finds himself being chased by goons as he tries to get Leo to the hospital in time. Meanwhile, Franck gets into a more personal chase against Vanaken, and he is able to escape with the help of a parasail. While this unique chase with a hospital as its final destination unfolds, the GIGN are deployed to deal with what has steadily become a great threat to civilian lives.
In the end, all three parties—Leo and the others, Vanaken and the GIGN arrive at the hospital around the same time. While Franck is able to incapacitate Vanaken, he still has to face his old team, which is now against him in battle. Yet, instead of fighting, he simply carries Leo out of the car and gets her to the emergency center. After the medical professionals take her away to the operating room, Franck has no choice but to surrender himself to GIGN. He can’t afford to become a fugitive, especially since it would take him away from his family and put them at risk. Therefore, he goes willingly as the GIGN arrests him. Even so, he can rest easy in knowing that he has saved the lives of his wife and their newborn daughter.
Where is the Key? Does the Truth About Nico’s Death Come Out?
Even though Franck manages to save his family, the complication of the key remains at large. Initially, it’s easy to assume that the police must have gotten their hands on it during the sweep of his apartment. If that’s the case, then it won’t be long before the Prime Minster acquires the key and the evidence that it unlocks. Therefore, she can once again bury the truth about Nico’s death and keep Franck incriminated for crimes he didn’t commit in the process. Fortunately enough, the key has a much different fate in store.
Rather than the authorities, the key is actually with Leo. As it turns out, she snatched the key during the initial attack on the apartment and has been stowing it with her all this time. Even though she doesn’t know what the key opens, she is confident it must be something important if her husband is willing to risk everyone’s lives for it. For the same reason, she holds on to the key until the very last moment.
In the aftermath, while Franck is in custody, Leo uses the key—likely with Ben’s help—to access the patch that holds the truth about Nico’s death. Afterward, she uses the key to fight Franck’s case and prove his innocence in the eyes of the law. By doing so, she also reveals the government’s corrupt attempt to hide a conspiracy. As a result, the truth about Nico’s death comes out, proving that he didn’t die at the hands of petty thieves but rather a highly trained agent.
What Happens to Ben and Franck?
In the end, Leo successfully proves Franck’s innocence. Previously, during his face-off with Vanaken, the latter had planted several false evidence tying Franck to some murders. However, once Leo proves that the whole thing had been a scheme to keep her husband from revealing the truth about the patch, his criminal charges naturally come under questioning. Likewise, the revelation of what actually happened at the Trianon Hotel altercation clears his record further.
Consequently, in the end, Franck’s case is resolved, and he’s released from custody as an innocent man. Outside, his wife and daughter wait for him, and the family finally reunites without a glass shield between them. Similarly, Ben, who survived the injuries he sustained in the chase against Vanaken’s men, is also happy to see his friend released. Ultimately, everyone gets to go back to their now-civilian lives. Franck and Leo always used their dangerous jobs as the reason against having children. Therefore, now that they are officially new parents, they will likely never go back to that life. Instead, the couple will build a new life for themselves as a family.
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