Film Review: Keep An Eye Out

Keep An Eye Out, or Au Poste! in its native French, is the latest film from oddball filmmaker, Quentin Dupieux. Taking place almost entirely in a police station, aside from the occasional flashback, it follows the interrogation of Louis Fugain (Grégoire Ludig) by Commissaire Buron (Benoît Poelvoorde). Louis discovered a dead body near his apartment complex, and reported it to the police, which makes him their first suspect. Buron is eager to get as much information out of him to see if he’s hiding anything, so he makes Louis give a minute-by-minute breakdown of his evening leading up to him finding the body.

Louis clearly has nothing to hide, and is innocent of any wrongdoing, despite Buron constantly pushing his buttons. However, the night takes a turn when Buron has to leave the room, making his co-worker, Officer Philippe (Marc Fraize), a one-eyed buffoon who overuses the word “actually,” watch over Louis until he gets back. Philippe accidentally kills himself, and Louis, who is already under suspicion through no fault of his own, now hides the body in the closet. Buron returns, and the interrogation continues, but now with the added element of keeping the body a secret for as long as possible.

While it all seems pretty straightforward enough, with most of the film being set in this room and propelled by a conversation between two people, Dupieux makes sure to pack as much absurdist gags and funny lines to keep things from getting too dry. It’s a very funny film, and while it is definitely a very weird and very idiosyncratic movie, it is arguably his most accessible film to date as well. The characters are broadly drawn, but it all serves to keep its tone and atmosphere light and full of Dupieux’s off-beat indulgences that you expect.

There are a lot of playful and inventive elements to the way Dupieux tells the story, and none are more apparent than the way the film does its flashbacks. Told from Louis’ point-of-view, it does a good job at exploring his state of mind during the investigation. He might make a comment about how he doesn’t remember the exact time, and in the flashback, Louis will look at the clock and the hands are moving around frantically. Sometimes his guilt will personify in those flashbacks, like when he says he was in bed watching TV with his wife, and suddenly Philippe shows up on TV, yelling at him.

The film does a good job at keeping you guessing as to where it will go, and the sense of escalation is subtle but effective. It does end up being somewhat suspenseful to see these characters bounce off each other as time goes on, especially as there are a couple close calls where the body in the closet comes close to being discovered, only for last second maneuvers – or just plain luck – keep Louis safe. The actors do a great job at really selling it all. The comic timing from Ludig and Poelvoorde is so sharp and refined it feels effortless.

Ultimately, a lot of your enjoyment on Keep An Eye Out will depend on how much you can get on Quentin Dupieux’s wavelength. Like I said, it is probably his most accessible to date, but that doesn’t mean he doesn’t challenge cinematic conventions in his own distinct way. The ending will sure throw you for a loop as it did with me. It sort of reminded me of the ending to Monty Python And The Holy Grail in how it feels like a joke on the audience as well as serving like a punchline to everything we just saw. But I was more than willing to go with it, and if you go in with an open mind, I think you will too. I had a really good time here, and with a brisk 73 minute runtime, including credits, it doesn’t overstay its welcome.

Keep An Eye Out is now out in select theaters and virtual cinemas.