Lost Bullet Recap: Everything To Know Before Last Bullet

The French action thriller movie series Lost Bullet asks a pretty simple question: what if the Fast and Furious movies were actually good? Don’t get me wrong, beyond some surface-level stereotypes, the Lost Bullet series is nowhere similar to the generic slop turned out by that franchise, thanks to its gritty narrative treatment, high-octane action coupled with sleek, tight storytelling, and brilliantly performed car chase/car action sequences. With the first two installments already setting a benchmark in the subgenre, the much-anticipated third and final part of the trilogy, Last Bullet, has to bear the burden of expectations. Before the release of the final entry later this week, let’s go through a quick recap of the major events so far.

Spoilers Ahead

The first installment, Lost Bullet, introduces viewers to Lino, the central lead, a mechanic by profession, who uses his crazy skills in modifying vehicles with turbochargers or armored exteriors for all the wrong purposes. Aside from an ailing adoptive mother whom we don’t get to meet in the course of the two movies, the only family Lino has is his adoptive teenage brother, Quentin, and both of them work for local hoodlum/garage owner Jacques. On one occasion, Lino takes Quentin along with him as he sets out to rob a jewelry store and demolishes four concrete walls using a modified Renault Clio—but fails to escape in time as the authorities have him surrounded. Quentin escapes, following the words of his brother, and Lino gets thrown into prison.

Captain Charas of the Anti-Go-Fast chase unit, which focuses on apprehending drug runners around the France-Spain border, is having a tough time keeping up with targets due to cop cars not being up to scratch Upon learning about Lino’s latest exploit, he decides to provide him a choice to work as an Anti-Go-Fast Squad mechanic in exchange for a reduced sentence. Eventually, Lino helps to transform the cop cars into armored super vehicles, using which Charas and his unit make several successful busts. During the couple of years when Lino operated as a mechanic for the squad, he became good friends with Charas, who, being a man of his word, talked with his boss, Moss, to negotiate an early acquittal. However, Charas was concerned that the cops were able to nab only a small percentage of the smuggled drugs, while the majority of it remained out of reach. Charas asked Lino to help him set up Jacques, who turns out to be involved in the drug-running operations as well, and promises to spare his teenage brother, Quentin. Once again, Charas shows his integrity while taking Jacques and his right-hand man, Kad, as captives, as he stops his unit members from arresting Quentin, who was working at the garage at that moment. 

However, things go terribly wrong when Areski and his partner, Marco, both members of Charas’ unit, turn against him. Leading a bunch of other crooked cops from the precinct, Areski was secretly profiteering off of drug runners like Jacques, and had Charas let Quentin go, he would have exposed Areski and others. Lino and Quentin escape and go their separate ways, and Areski instructs Jacques to get rid of Charas’ body by burning it with his car. Lino tries to contact Julia, the only member of the unit except Charas whom he could trust, but eventually gets caught and brought in front of Areski at the police station, who threatens to frame him for Charas’ murder. As Areski leaves Lino cuffed in the interrogation room to check up on the investigation regarding Charas’ murder, Lino is able to free himself—and in an epic, brutal fight scene, knocks out almost a dozen cops to escape from the police station. Later on, Lino returns to the unit garage to meet with Julia, who is revealed to have been in a brief fling with Charas. Julia, believing Lino to be the culprit, gets into a fight with him, but Lino manages to escape before mentioning he is framed by the Areski, who is the true culprit. Lino has also managed to catch a glimpse of Charas’ burned car, brought to the garage, and he mentions to Julia that he is able to recognize that it isn’t Charas’ favorite Renault 21 Turbo. To clear his name and bring Charas’ killer to justice, Lino needs to gather evidence from Charas’ car, which has the bullet shot by Areski lodged in its dashboard, to obtain which he returns to Jacques’ garage, ending up getting caught. Jacques had deliberately kept Charas’ car hidden to have leverage against Areski, knowing he would definitely betray him in the future. 

However, Quentin helps his elder brother to escape by knocking out Jacques and Kad by causing a car accident. Quentin reveals he hid Charas’ car in the first place and takes him to Jacques’ barn, where he had left it. In the meantime, Areski goes into full-on panic mode after learning about Lino’s escape, car switcheroo, and taking Marco along with him, and goes to pay Jacques a visit. A frustrated Areski kills Jacques, while Marco learns from Kad that Charas’ car has been hidden in Jacques’ barn. Unwilling to share this intel with Areski after fearing he will eliminate him as a loose end, Marco goes on his own to check the place out. Quentin, on the other hand, suggests he and Lino escape together, leaving their past behind, showing him the stash of money he has been saving up/stealing from Jacques through the years. However, Quentin’s dream of turning a new page never manifests, as Marco appears and shoots the kid to death. An anguished Lino beats Marco to a bloody pulp and has him cuffed at the barn. Mourning his brother for a while, Lino recovers Charas’ car and escapes. 

In the meantime, Julia learns about Areski’s recent actions, and recognizing major discrepancies, she starts believing in Lino’s words. Lino, modifying Charas’ car with a front harpoon rig, plans to go to the police station to present it as evidence and informs Julia about it. In his anger, Lino also throws an open challenge to Areski, who prepares a barricade to stop Lino. However, using an ingenious maneuver, Lino uses one of the cop cars as a shield by attaching it to Charas’ modified Renault 21 turbo, which he is driving, from behind and breaks through the barricade. As Areski catches up to him, Julia’s timely intervention allows Lino to evade him. However, as Lino decides to deliver a beatdown to Areski, he throws a grenade in Charas’ car, setting it ablaze. Lino drives a burning car straight into the police station garage, with the evidence tying Areski to Charas’ murder still remaining intact. 

Realizing there is no way to escape the repercussions of his actions any longer, Areski leaves his wife and child and flees with the drug money at his disposal. Julia hands Lino over the release papers approved by Moss, clearing Lino of all the charges he was framed for by the corrupt cops. Charas’ car, stationed at the police garage, remains as a memorial where his colleagues pay their respects. 

Lost Bullet 2 takes place six months after the final moments of the original entry, as Lino is seen recuperating from his injuries in the hospital. With Areski on the run, having practically disappeared like a ghost, Lino gets disappointed to learn that the cops haven’t been able to nab Marco either, whom Lino had cuffed at the barn back then. In his desperation to get justice for Charas and Quentin, Lino obsessively stalks Areski’s wife, Stella, in hopes that he will return to her sooner or later. Julia continues to plead with him to stop his mad pursuit and join the force to do things the right way, to no avail. However, one night, when Lino is watching over Areski’s household, Stella and her child get attacked by a bunch of thugs—possibly sent by Areski—and Lino rescues Stella by taking them down. This proves to be a turning point in Lino’s life, as this time, he adheres to Julia’s request of returning to the force and taking the keys of Charas’ car from her, modifying it into a literal electrifying beast. A year passes, and Lino, now a key member of Julia’s Anti-Go-Fast unit, has turned his life around as a cop. Lino has started a relationship with Stella, who trusts him enough with the safety of herself and her child as well. During an operation, Lino meets with Alvaro, a Spanish cop who was a good friend of Charas’. Alvaro mentions informing Lino if Marco or Areski ever come up on their radar, given he is a wanted fugitive in Spain as well due to involvement in drug-running shenanigans in the border area.

Things take a wrong turn when a member of the narcotics division misguides Lino into visiting his ailing adoptive mother, only to lure him to a secretive hideout where Marco is living under protective custody. As it turns out, the chief of the narcotics division, Alexander Resz, had his crooked agents, and Areski and Marco were working for him to profit off of the drug-running syndicate. Police Chief Moss wanted to build a case against the narcotics division and Resz by keeping Marco out of the public eye, and given how Lino had a personal score to settle with him, she considered it wise to not inform him, ignoring Julia’s advice against doing so. As Lino drags Marco to the police station, Moss confesses that she made a deal with Marco to allow him to go scot-free in exchange for cooperation in the investigation against Resz. Lino is devastated, knowing Charas and Quentin will not get justice, and also due to how much he trusted Julia, and she too betrayed him despite knowing everything. 

At the same time, Yuri, one of Resz’s subordinates, arrives at the police station with his unit to take Marco with them. Knowing of Lino’s bitter enmity with Marco, Yuri had one of the corrupt members of his division call and lure him to the hideout in order to have Lino either kill him or bring him out in the open for them to eliminate him. However, Marco engages in a brutal fight with both his comrades and narcotics unit agents and manages to escape in Charas’ car, holding Marco captive. He informs Alvaro that he has captured Marco. Knowing he will not be tried in France, Lino is planning to have the murderer handed over to Spanish police. Lino calls Julia to share his disappointment with her—and also ends up revealing his intentions with Marco. Julia, desperate to stop Lino, gets on his tail.

A prolonged, exciting chase begins between Lino, the narcotics agents, and Julia, but Lino manages to secretly hand Marco over to Alvaro before getting himself captured by Julia. However, Alvaro faces trouble while clearing a checkpoint set by the narcotics division, as Resz becomes desperate to capture Marco by any means. Lino helps Alvaro to evade the narcotics agents by wrecking their car using the electrifying new mechanism of Charas’ hot rod, but eventually Julia manages to nab Marco by stopping Alvaro and takes Lino into custody by wrecking Charas’ car. 

As the narcotics unit led by Yuri pours in in numbers, a gunfight ensues between them and Julia’s squad, and using this as an opportunity, Marco flees with a captive Lino. However, Lino still manages to overpower Marco after freeing himself and drags him into a Spanish restaurant on the other side of the border. However, a momentary lapse of concentration results in Marco stabbing Lino, who gets saved thanks to Julia’s timely interference. As Julia battles with Marco, she accidentally shoots him to death—thereby burying the investigation against Resz by eliminating the only evidence they could have gotten. An injured Lino decides to take the blame on himself, requesting Julia to take care of Stella and her kid. Lino is taken into custody, and Moss decides to run with Marco’s narrative in order to escape accountability. A disgusted Julia opts to quit the force in retaliation. 

During the final moments of Lost Bullet 2, Areski is shown to have returned, buying a car from the junkyard owner where Charas’ vehicle is getting dismantled. The final part of the trilogy will possibly see Areski trying to make a similar deal to one Marco made, giving up Resz to escape the repercussions of his actions. Needless to say, Lino will be there to stop both of them, and this time, Julia will be by his side.