Polytechnique

2009 [FRENCH]

Action / Crime / Drama / History

25
Rotten Tomatoes Critics - Rotten 76% · 17 reviews
Rotten Tomatoes Audience - Upright 76% · 1K ratings
IMDb Rating 7.2/10 10 20966 21K

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Plot summary

A dramatization of the Montreal Massacre of 1989 where several female engineering students were murdered by an unstable misogynist.

Director

Denis Villeneuve Photo
Denis Villeneuve

Top cast

Evelyne Brochu Photo
Evelyne Brochu as Stéphanie
Karine Vanasse Photo
Karine Vanasse as Valérie
Nathalie Girard Photo
Nathalie Girard as Injured Student
Melantha Blackthorne Photo
Melantha Blackthorne as Student
720p.BluRay 1080p.BluRay
706 MB
1280*544
French 2.0
NR
Subtitles fr  
23.976 fps
1 hr 17 min
Seeds 2
1.42 GB
1920*816
French 5.1
NR
Subtitles fr  
23.976 fps
1 hr 17 min
Seeds 25

Movie Reviews

Reviewed by xuenylomluap 7 / 10

Heartbreaking.

It's heartbreaking that this actually happend. The characters, for the film, were fictionalised, but Polytechnique shows a glimpse of what those innocent young people would have gone through. And it's truly saddening.Handled as delicately as possible as the subject matter dictates, Denis Villeneuve's film is a haunting, and a deeply moving account, of an event in close history, that should never have taken place.
Reviewed by steiner-sam 8 / 10

One of the most emotionally draining movies I've seen

This is a fictional account of the 1989 Montreal massacre in which 14 women who were engineering students were killed by a man who hated "feminists."The film follows four characters, mostly on the day of the shootings. The murderer (Maxim Gaudette) had tried to join the military but failed. He plans to kill women, followed by his own suicide.Valérie (Karine Vanasse) and Stéphanie (Evelyne Brochu) are roommates and classmates at Polytechnique Montreal. Valérie is applying for an internship in mechanical engineering. She succeeds but is treated condescendingly by the interviewer. They both attend a class that is the first one entered by the murderer.Jean-François (Sébastien Huberdeau) is in the same class with Valérie and Stéphanie, and has borrowed some classnotes from Valérie. When the murderer orders all the men from the classroom, Jean-François leaves with the rest, albeit reluctantly. He runs to the security office and asks them to call the police. He finally returns to the classroom and is devastated by what he sees. Over time he is unable to cope with his sense of guilt for leaving.The film then switches back to the experience of Valérie and Stéphanie and the murderer. Valérie and Stéphanie are both shot, but Valérie survives. Finally, we see the murderer's final rampage and his death.The film ends with Valérie in a good relationship and discovers she is pregnant. She has a good position but is haunted by dreams of the murderer every day.This is one of the most emotionally draining movies I've seen. It is enhanced by being in black & white, and the cinematography is excellent. So much is communicated by visuals; there are long sections without dialogue. "Quebec in winter" is one of the characters. And the terror of knowing what is coming is palpable.There are some questions about the storyline. Why did no one immediately pull a fire alarm? The police are never visible in the film.
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