The French Mans

After being the only witness to a car crash, Vincent, who is in his thirties, answers a phone abandoned on the side of the road. He hears a message that isn’t meant for him: “If you aren’t here by 5 p.m., we’ll kill your wife.” Vincent, who isn’t very brave, would rather forget the incident as soon as possible. He has other fish to fry: winning back his girlfriend, for example, and making her forget the drunken messages he left her the previous day. But his colleague Alban, who delivers the mail in the building, sees it as a sign of a great destiny they are meant to achieve together. A fan of action films, Alban already imagines himself as the hero of the day and takes Vincent to the hospital to find the victim of the car accident and give them back their mobile phone.

Vincent and Alban have been kidnapped by Mr. Hermann, the man whose wife has been kidnapped. He accuses Alban and Vincent of stealing the phone—and the large sum of money that was with it, which was the ransom intended to free his wife. Hermann’s henchmen threaten to kill the two men if they don’t confess. But Hermann instead forces Vincent and Alban to rendezvous with his wife’s kidnappers, dangerous members of an Albanian gang, with an empty case instead of the money.

Vincent tries to reach a deal with the leader of the Albanian gang. But Alban, who hasn’t been kept in the loop, finds Mrs. Hermann and frees her. A chase ensues on the premises of the departmental council building in Meurthe-et-Moselle. They manage to escape, and Manon can finally go back to her husband. But no sooner are they reunited than a violent argument breaks out between them that leaves Mr. Hermann dead. Alban is forced to leave his fingerprints on the murder weapon.

Vincent and Alban realize they are in deeper water than initially thought when they find out that Manon Hermann is the daughter of Claude Becker, the sole investor in the eco-district project—a project that Louise has taken the lead on as part of her work with the departmental council. Manon blackmails them and demands that they retrieve a music box, which she considers precious, from the home of Marat Milankovitch, an oligarch who has fled Russia. After being intercepted by the leader of the Albanian gang, Vincent and Alban crash a party at Milankovitch's villa. Vincent keeps Milankovitch busy while Alban searches the villa for the music box.

France's foreign intelligence agency, the DGSE, has targeted Vincent and Alban and reconstructed their actions over the last 24 hours. A double agent who eliminated his colleague also hopes to frame them for the murder he committed. Meanwhile, Vincent and Alban prepare to return the music box to Manon. But Alban breaks it, and the two men uncover a conspiracy related to the eco-district project. Vincent is worried about Louise, his ex, who he is still in love with and who has devoted herself to this project. There's no time to warn her, as their enemies are in hot pursuit.

Vincent and Alban manage to escape being caught—for now. At the inauguration party for the new eco-district, Louise is attacked and abducted. Vincent and Alban confront Claude Becker, the brains behind the conspiracy, but he reminds them that he has their fingerprints on the salad bowl used to kill Mr. Hermann. Worse, Vincent is contacted and told Louise will die if they don't return a document in their possession. After an argument with Alban, Vincent tries to save Louise on his own.