Ben Affleck and Matt Damon in “The Proctor” Review

You can also listen to reviews in audio version.

miami, Florida, is⁢ definitely not a parade of drinks, nightclubs, and beach shirts⁤ this time. The dark action crime thriller “The Instigator” with Matt Damon and​ Ben Affleck, which can be ⁤seen on Netflix from Friday, offers no policemen with retro mustaches, pop songs, or the music video-like aesthetics of the 1980s police series Miami Vice or its subversive full-length version directed by Michael Mann in the new millennium. the author of “the Instigator,” Joe Carnahan, doesn’t look at the beach for a second.

the novelty takes place entirely at night. During the opening scene, the head ‌of the local anti-drug unit, Jackie, dies at ‌the hands of two masked men. In the middle of a corrupt city, it ⁢is not at all clear ​who could be behind this more or less execution. Cartels, or perhaps the police ‍themselves?

Everyone inside the ‌unit seemed to like⁣ jackie, as will become apparent during the ⁤following interviews to investigate what‌ could have caused ⁢the‍ tragic death. Her successor, Dane⁣ dumars,⁤ played by matt Damon, is visibly frustrated by procedures that lead nowhere.⁢ And Ben Affleck as his partner J. D. ⁣Byrne takes it even worse. He ⁢expresses⁤ his displeasure with⁤ the investigators by attacking one of them. Specifically, his brother, who works for the FBI.

Screenwriter and director carnahan from ⁢the very first

In the film, there is no room for perspective or levity. A feeling of paranoia prevails, the police force is decimated by both ⁤a situation that feels half-partisan and long-term conditions in an institution were there is⁢ no money ⁣for anything and many clearly need to profit from dirty dollars. but all of this only shines through between the lines. The blow ⁤focuses on the constructed situation and‍ its consequences.

When a‌ machine gun salvo from rapid-fire weapons finally breaks out, it feels⁢ almost⁤ relieving – like redemption from a claustrophobic stay in a house full of money.

The director subordinates almost everything to keeping the audience, along with the characters, in the ⁢middle of the​ present moment. And the question is what we are willing to overlook in order to⁢ be willing to spend the whole time in this moment. It cannot be overlooked how purposefully the individual actors ​are thrown into the shadow of suspicion. And how​ transparent their actions sometimes seem. When someone is playing others,‍ the viewer is ⁤frequently enough ahead and it is⁤ indeed clear to them that it is about