'Squad 36' Cast And Characters Guide

Director Olivier Marchal’s Squad 36 is a grounded, slow-paced thriller that meditates upon the very topical issue of police corruption. While the narrative focuses on the actions of individuals who abuse the powers they have been given to serve their own selfish means, the thematic significance of Squad 36 holds the rotting system and the seedy hierarchy of power accountable for creating an environment where such corruption festers. Characterization plays a key role in storylines such as this one, and it’s decent enough in the case of Squad 36. The issue is that the lead, whose POV guides viewers through the narrative, is way less interesting than the characters who remain off-screen most of the time and yet affect the story the most. For a movie that is over two hours long, it is surprising the film doesn’t even have a fleshed-out roster of main characters—a problem that is partially responsible for the overall lackluster experience. 

Antoine Cerda Played By Victor Belmondo

French actor Victor Belmondo is the grandson of renowned French New Wave actor Jean-Paul Belmondo. In his decade-long acting career, Victor Belmondo has acted in movies like Fly Me Away, Lie With Me, and Breaking Point, to name a few. In Squad 36, Victor portrayed the role of Antoine Cerda, a member of the S&I squad of French police. Antoine’s childhood was traumatic, to say the least, thanks to his abusive father—and Antoine carried forth the violence he was subjected to as, despite being a cop, he took part in illegal underground battles to let out his inner anguish and frustration by beating his opponents. 

Antoine had left the toxic household he was a part of at a young age, and he harbors a strong sense of remorse for leaving his mother in that hell. This resulted in Antoine’s abandonment issues, which is the major reason behind Antoine’s inability to stay connected with his friends/colleagues after getting transferred from the S&I squad. Another major aspect of Antoine’s character is his stubborn attitude, which drove his relentless efforts to pursue the truth—which came with a cost of putting the people he cares for in harm’s way. Despite being a morally upright character, Antoine is not really a likable lead. To make matters worse, Antoine unceremoniously dies at the end, which, although it highlights the futility of trying to bring change to the system and adds an element of realism through denied justice, ruins the character arc overall.

Sami Belkaim Played By Tewfik Jallab

French-Moroccan actor Tewfik Jallab began his acting career at a young age and took part in stage performances as well. Recently, he has become a part of the Has Fallen franchise, playing the lead in the TV series Paris Has Fallen. In Squad 36, he played the role of Sami Belkaim, the leader of the S&I squad who turns rogue by giving in to his greed. Sami is shown to bear resentment for the higher authorities who exploited the ones responsible for upholding the law by actively putting their lives in danger, and his disillusionment grew after Antoine was forced to leave the squad. As for why Sami decided to betray his ethics and morals as a cop and joined hands with Karim Mahmoudi, it might come down to the age-old excuse of ‘doing it for family,’ but given how downright evil and selfish Sami proved himself to be by killing his former comrades, that seems highly unlikely to be the real reason. Sami’s greed led him to dig his own grave, as he not only betrayed his code and responsibility, but he also made Mahmoudi an enemy by stealing his drug money and killing his nephew. Having set off down such a maddeningly destructive streak, it was hard to believe that he ultimately felt remorse for his actions and took his own life because of that.

Richard Esteves, played by Soufiane Guerrab

French actor Soufiane Guerrab has previously acted in movies like The Measure of a Man and Patients, in series like Visions, and in the Netflix mystery series Lupin. In the series, he played the role of troubled S&I member Richard Esteves—the only character in the series whose plight might have felt tragic to the viewers. Richard was dragged into Sami’s dubious schemes, became part of situations he had no control over—and till his final moments, when he was gunned down by his own friend/comrade, spent his days in regret, fear, and paranoia. Richard’s association with Sami even got his wife, Sofia, killed, and till the very end, Antoine couldn’t even meet Richard and help get him out of the mess he got himself entangled in. Richard’s situation is a reminder of what kind of mental pressure the people associated with law and order get subjected to and how lack of a proper emotional outlet ruins their lives. 

Miscellaneous Characters 

The supporting cast of Squad 36 can be considered as wasted potential, as interesting characters remain left on the sidelines without having a decent arc to themselves. Actor Juliette Dol’s Hanna Levasseur remains confined to being Antoine’s love interest/tough-as-nails comrade who ends up becoming a victim of her boyfriend’s overenthusiastic pursuit of truth. Actor Yvan Attal’s Chief Balestra is a practical, hard-boiled member of the force who defends his unit with everything he has but, at the same time, knows the importance of maintaining the narrative the system wants to project—even if it means burying the bitter truth. Erika Sainte played S&I unit supervisor, Alexandra, who knows full well to use the members of her unit to serve the system according to the demands of situations. Actor Jean Michael-Correia played the role of the drug lord Karim Mahmoudi; he should have received longer screen time—and the same applies for Lydia Andrei’s character, Commissioner Wagner. 

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