AKA (2023 film)

AKA is a 2023 French action crime film directed by Morgan S. Dalibert, written by Morgan S. Dalibert and Alban Lenoir and starring Lenoir, Eric Cantona and Thibault de Montalembert. It is about an undercover agent (played by Lenoir) tasked with infiltrating a crime gang that is connected to a Sudanese terrorist bombing suspect.

Plot
Adam Franco (played by Alban Lenoir) is an undercover special ops agent working for the French government under the helm of a shadowy intelligence officer, Kruger (Thibault de Montalembert). After finishing a mission in Tunisia, he is assigned a new task by Kruger under the direction of a Senator Marconnet (played by Philippe Résimont): to flush out and eliminate a Sudanese warlord, Moktar Al Tayeb (played by Kevin Layne), who is the prime suspect of a bombing in a Paris hotel.

To get closer to his target, he infiltrates the Pastore crime syndicate and earns the trust of the gangster boss, Victor Pastore (played by Eric Cantona), who has known connections to Al Tayeb. Adam works his way up the ranks by demonstrating his physical capabilities during altercations with a rival gang, led by Egyptian gang leader Amet. He also develops a friendship with fellow gangster Pee Wee (played by Saïdou Camara), who is connected to Al Tayeb. Whilst working for Victor, Adam also unexpectedly bonds with Victor's step-son, Jonathan (Noé Chabbat).

During a birthday party for Jonathan, Adam is called away by Pee Wee to join a bank heist requested by Victor, making him unable to drive Jonathan to a day at the zoo. During their getaway drive, they are ambushed by Amet's gang, resulting in a firefight in the streets. After the shoot-out, Victor is furious, realising that there is a mole in his operation. Adam discovers it is Natalya (played by Sveva Alviti), Victor's wife, and warns her that she will soon be discovered.

Whilst out at the zoo with his sister Hélène (played by Lucille Guillaume), Jonathan is kidnapped by Amet's gangsters. Victor is furious and Natalya begs for him to pay the ransom fee, but he declines. Whilst carrying out a stake-out on Pee Wee with a fellow agent, Cisko (played by Vincent Heneine), Adam is informed about the kidnapping and leaves to infiltrate Amet's gang compound. After fighting his way through the compound, Adam is able to save Jonathan and kill Amet, but not without being badly wounded.

While Adam is away, Cisko spots Al Tayeb and confronts him, only to be killed by Pee Wee. Later, after realising Cisko has not been responding to his calls and finding his car abandoned, Adam breaks into a shop nearby to view security footage of Cisko's murder. Notified by the shop security alarm, police arrive to arrest him, but Adam explains that he is undercover and provides his badge number. The scene is observed by Youssef (played by Steve Tientcheu), one of Victor's lieutenants, who realises that Adam is a mole. Youssef gathers some of Victor's men to execute Adam while he is recuperating at his apartment. Youssef's call to his team is intercepted by Mona (Adam's colleague and surveillance operator, played by Natoo (YouTuber)) who takes out Victor's men, alerting Adam but also being mortally wounded in the process.

Adam decides to go and finish his mission, finding Pee Wee and Al Tayeb in a makeshift hospital. Al Tayeb reveals that he has been framed by the French government – he was invited to France under pretense of discussing Sudanese politics, but was the victim of an assassination attempt which claimed the life of his wife and grievously injured his daughter. This is due to past connections with Senator Marconnet, which the Senator wants to keep hidden. Al Tayeb has been gathering funds (hence the bank heist) for the medical treatment of his daughter, whilst the government has branded him a terrorist. Meanwhile, Kruger wants to clean up and has sent two units of elite commandos to kill Al Tayeb, Victor, and everyone connected to the operation, under the direction of Senator Marconnet. As the commandos enter the hospital, they murder Al Tayeb, but Adam and Pee Wee are able to kill the commandos and escape with Al Tayeb's daughter. Kruger himself leads a second team to dispose of Victor and the other gang members. Kruger also attempts to murder Victor's children, but Adam arrives in time to kill Kruger and reunite with Hélène and Jonathan. Lastly, Pee Wee and Adam expose Senator Marconnet's connections to Al Tayeb, which makes front page news.

Critical reception
On Rotten Tomatoes, AKA  has an approval rating of 75% based on 8 reviews and an average rating of 5.4/10. Noel Murray of the Los Angeles Times wrote that AKA does not innovate in the undercover genre, but he praised the Florent Astolfi's moody cinematography and Etienne Forget's score for adding texture and drive. Roger Moore rated it 2 stars out of 5 based on the fact that the "incidents, relationships and even the intrigues here are all over-familiar tropes, which prevents this competently-made thriller ever rise to the level of engaging." Eric Debarnot from Benzine, a French language cultural web magazine, wrote about a worldwide and well-deserved, if albeit surprising, success.