wages of fear movie review

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This classic is opening in a restored version starting Jan. 20 in selected venues around the country.

When the great French thriller "The Wages of Fear" (1953) was first released in America, it was missing parts of several early scenes -- because it was too long, the U.S. distributors said, and because they were anti-American, according to the Parisian critics.

Roger Ebert

Roger Ebert was the film critic of the Chicago Sun-Times from 1967 until his death in 2013. In 1975, he won the Pulitzer Prize for distinguished criticism.

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The Wages of Fear (1955)

148 minutes

Yves Montand as Mario

Charles Vanel as Jo

Directed by

• Henri-Georges Clouzot

Based On The Novel by

• Georges Arnaud

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Stream It Or Skip It: ‘The Wages of Fear’ on Netflix, a Remake of the 1953 French Action Classic

Where to stream:.

• The Wages of Fear (2024)

• Action Movies

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Luc besson’s ‘anna’ is shooting up the netflix top 10. is it his farewell to gun-toting waifs, stream it or skip it: ‘dune: part two’ on vod, denis villeneuve’s grand action epic that easily bests its predecessor, stream it or skip it: ‘argylle’ on apple tv+, a spy satire that’s a worst-of-the-year candidate.

Last week’s remake of a classic movie featuring bareknuckle fighting was Amazon Prime Video’s Road House , and this week’s is Netflix’s The Wages of Fear . One more of these, and you’ve got yerself a TREND! (Note: That’s not an invitation to remake Fight Club , thank you.) Director Julien Leclercq ’s Wages is a modern reiteration of the 1953 film of the same name , in which an intrepid team of hard-luck dudes have to drive two trucks full of nitroglycerin across a treacherous landscape. The new film stars Franck Gastambide and Alban Lenoir as contentious brothers tasked with the dangerous endeavor; will they survive all the obstacles a plot can throw at them, or end up getting blowed up real good? We’re all on pins and needles here folks, pins and needles.

THE WAGES OF FEAR : STREAM IT OR SKIP IT?

The Gist: What country is this? I don’t know. Nobody ever mentions it. But it’s maybe one of the -stans or someplace in the middle east, a wartorn place where Clara (Ana Girardot) has to avoid the machine-gunfire of bandits in order to transport medicine across the desert to a village full of poor helpless villagers. Her partner in this endeavor is Fred (Gastambide), who I think is a mercenary of some sort. He knows what to do with a gun, at least, and I totally mean that as a double-entendre – dodging bullets and getting a trunkful of vaccines to sick people apparently gets them really horny because they’re barely out of the car before they find a quiet spot to release some of each other’s juices. How’d Fred end up here? It’s squishy and vague, but 9 MONTHS EARLIER, in a flashback that lasts too long but at least gives the movie another action sequence, he talked his brother Alex (Lenoir), an explosives expert, into trying to heist a safe full of cash from a total jerk. Alex got pinched and Fred didn’t, and now Fred feels like shit because Alex is in a hellhole prison and can’t be with his wife and sweet adorable daughter. Life is pain.

Back to the desert. At the tail end of Clara and Fred’s last vaccine run, a stray bullet hit the neighborhood oil derrick, and before you know it, WHOOMP, it’s spitting a constant 30-foot tower of flames. This is less than ideal. Pressure’s rising in the system and if something isn’t done about it soon, the entire village will be toast. The solution to this seems counterintuitive, but I guess it works: Blow up the derrick. The explosion will extinguish the flame and save the innocent villagers. Now, if the oil company only had 100 pounds of nitroglycerin, their problems would be solved. But they don’t have 100 pounds of nitroglycerin, and the only place to get 100 pounds of nitroglycerin is 500 miles away. That means loading 100 pounds of nitroglycerin into a truck and driving it through ludicrous terrain in hostile enemy territory, and considering 100 pounds of nitroglycerin is more sensitive than the most inflamed inner-thigh rash and a million times as explosive, this is a Dirty Job That Someone’s Gotta Do.

Cue Fred. Not only will he get a million bucks for this gig, he’ll get Alex sprung from prison, because Alex is an explosives expert who knows how to properly handle 100 pounds of nitroglycerin, which is, very very gently. Cut to the hellhole prison, where we get an overlong sequence that’s not entirely necessary, but hey, at least we get an entertaining and incredibly violent scene in which Alex proves to be the prison’s most brutal-ass bareknuckle fighter. When the bros finally get on the road, they’re accompanied by Clara, a jackass named Gauthier (Sofiane Zermani) and a variety of sub-characters who seem like the Star Trek redshirts of this group.

There’s actually 200 pounds of nitroglycerin they’re going to haul back, because I guess a backup load of 100 pounds of nitroglycerin is necessary in case the first 100 pounds of nitroglycerin explodes on the way, or ends up being a dud load of 100 pounds of nitroglycerine. So they load up two trucks with 100 pounds of nitroglycerin each, and they do it very very very very very very very very carefully – advice: don’t trip, don’t sneeze, don’t blink, don’t fart and don’t let a fly tickle your nose while you’re handling it – and it’s time to start the timer: 24 hours to cross the desert and deal with hostile checkpoints, snipers, landmines, oil spills, a mama duck and her baby ducks crossing the road and possibly (no spoilers!) a dust devil full of rabid spinning weasels before the villagers all die miserable horrible fiery deaths. No pressure!

What Movies Will It Remind You Of?: Haven’t seen a guy so delicately handle explosives in a desert since The Hurt Locker . And I haven’t seen such tense vehicle chases across a desert since Fury Road . (Note of clarification: this is no Hurt Locker or Fury Road .)

Performance Worth Watching: Is that a relatively complex emotion I see on Girardot’s face maybe two or three times during the movie? Yep. She’s pretty good at it, and stands out among the angry faces and stoic faces and oh-shit-we’re-in- peril faces that are a dime a dozen here. 

Memorable Dialogue: Alex tries to why-me himself out of the job:

Alex: Given where the nitro is, couldn’t you find a decent driver? Oil company a-hole: They all refused. Alex: You’ll understand if I refuse too. 

Sex and Skin: A short instance of toplessness and chest-up nookie.

Our Take: The Wages of Fear has more NITROGLYCERIN HIJINKS per square inch than any other movie you’ve seen in the past decade. Predictably, we get shots from inside the cargo hold of the crates of nitro jostling and clinking and somehow not being hit with bullets, and we’re supposed to be gritting our teeth the entire time. Leclercq ably creates a sense of tension, but I wasn’t really sweating it; it’s like watching the old Bugs Bunny cartoon where he tests warheads for duds by hitting them with a hammer, and we know even if one blows, one or some or all of the principals will survive it somehow. 

I haven’t seen the original film, but I’d be shocked if it was better than Leclercq’s. This Wages is a passable-enough timewaster filled with 2-D characters, a few relatively enjoyable action set pieces and an emotional arc that never gets much traction. And as the movie’s lead, Gastambide gives off big Vin Diesel Energy – read: emoting is entirely optional and when things explode Fred doesn’t even flinch – which means the emphasis here is on generating excitement with motion and danger and violence, not the performances. The film is ably, and sometimes quite skillfully, directed, but there’s nothing to set it apart from the variety of generic action-thrillers populating Netflix’s content menus. The original is on Max, so maybe that’s a more viable use of your time.

Our Call: All that said, this remake of The Wages of Fear is good enough as a professional filmmaking endeavor to warrant a marginal recommendation, faint praise be damned. STREAM IT.

John Serba is a freelance writer and film critic based in Grand Rapids, Michigan.

• Stream It Or Skip It

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Home » Movies

The Wages of Fear Review – This Netflix Remake Will Have Your Heart Racing

The Wages of Fear (2024) is a Netflix remake of the 1950s French action classic, with a story surrounding a team of four hired to drive trucks laden with nitroglycerine through the mountains as part of an operation to extinguish an oil well fire. The original is regarded as one of the most suspenseful action-thrillers ever. Does this redo hold up?

The plot is a classic (and basic) 24-hour “countdown to disaster”, bringing intensity and drama. What will appeal to modern audiences is that we’ve come a long way with CGI and stunts, which provide more action to this movie. 

After a n oil well catches fire in the middle of the desert it becomes a direct threat to the population. The oil well must be detonated with nitroglycerin within 24 hours. Enter our maverick heroes, who then take on the task of driving 800km away to transport 200kg of explosives in two trucks. It’s no easy task as we watch our team take on armed rebels, drive through rough terrain, and cross minefields. 

The Wages of Fear

Many who know the original film will notice the many changes that work to make this film different, allowing director Julien Leclercq to add his own flair. First of all, the location — The Wages of Fear was filmed in Marrakech — and more importantly, it’s not a team of four down-on-their-luck men this time, since there are women in this modern team. This makes the film more current and will appeal to more than just your average action-blokey audience.

I enjoyed the female characters (being a female myself), and the romantic aspects in the film do not take away from the plot, but give it a bit of spice. Who doesn’t love a bit of boobage on screen? Sex sells, after all. 

The acting is to a good standard. In an action film like this, I don’t expect Oscar-level performances, but I expect to be drawn in enough to make the extreme situations believable, and The Wages of Fear performances do that well.

And the extreme situations are constant, which drives the film and it does well to maintain its strong, fast pace. There are some thrilling vehicle sequences and some sections that will have your heart racing.

A question many might have is whether this film is better than the original, but I wouldn’t go into it thinking you’re getting a carbon copy or an updated version. Hamid Hlioua and Julien Leclercq have added and adapted pieces that give it a modern flare. With advances in CGI, this remake offers a different experience than the first. If you’re against remakes, t ake it as a brand-new film, and you’ll probably enjoy it.

You can read more about the ending of The Wages of Fear (2024) in our detailed breakdown, and also check out some movies like The Wages of Fear that you might also like.

Article by Romey Norton

Romey Norton joined Ready Steady Cut in June 2021 as a Film and TV writer, and since then, she has published over 400 articles for the website. With a Master of Arts Degree from the University of Leeds in 2017 and acting experience on screen, Romey uses her Film and TV knowledge to bring informative and detailed content for online publications and podcasting.

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Estimated reading time: 6 minutes

Henri-Georges Clouzot ’s 1953 thriller The Wages of Fear was so feared by American distributors that they needed a 27-minute edit be done before the film could be screened in theaters. The first half of the film’s political leanings, subversive discourse against neoliberalism, neocolonialism, and capitalism, plus a healthy dose of nudity was too threatening for audiences and the powers that be.

Set in a small impoverished Central American village called Las Piedras under the oppressive control of the U.S. Southern Oil Company, a motley group of mostly male European migrants scrounging for work mingle with indigenous people, and the Black and Latino locals. When Southern Oil Company puts out a call for a dangerous trucking job paying $2,000 per man for transporting nitroglycerin over some of the most dangerous terrain on the planet, the competition heats up to get the work and four men finally shake out as the team to get the work, Corsican Mario Livi (Yves Montand), Italian Luigi (Folco Lulli), German Bimba (Peter Van Eyck), and Frenchman Jo (Charles Vanel).

Clouzot sets up the interaction and backstory of the characters, both in the slow-build first hour of the film through flashbacks, lots of exposition, and tight-knuckled confrontations in the local watering hole. Moving into the second half of the film we get the most intense and thrilling action sequences that are brilliantly sustained. There is probably no more suspenseful and thrilling sequence other than the jewelry heist scene from Melville’s Le cercle rouge .

Yves Montand puts in a marvelously gritty performance while Clouzot’s wife Véra Clouzot (who also starred in Les Diaboliques ) is charming and sexy as the half-indigenous Linda. The film won international acclaim for Clouzot, including the Grand Prix at the Cannes Film Festival .

Purchase The Wages of Fear 4K Ultra HD from Amazon UK

The Wages of Fear is presented in a stunning restoration in a 1.37:1 HEVC 2160p (4K UHD) Dolby Vision encodement from the BFI. The stark black and white cinematography has beautiful contrast with a very natural and crispy layer of grain that yields palpable textural information from beads of sweat on crackly faces to etched rocks, dirt roads, and timber-strewn passes on the journey for the travelers.  Some scenes show a bit of film softness given the cameras and possible issues in the source but mostly this is a consistently good and richly detailed transfer. The Dolby Vision grading brings excellent contrast with inky blacks and bright whites with just the right pop in highlights.

The mono sound mix for The Wages of Fear is provided in lossless DTS-HD Master Audio 2.0. It is a more than acceptable audio track with little noise and intelligible dialogue. The sound effects do not hit with the same impact of a contemporary mix but one cannot and should not expect them to.

The Supplements

BFI includes a strong collection of bonus features on disc and a quality booklet with essays.

Bonus Features:

•  (First pressing only) Illustrated booklet with an essay by Andy Miller, original reviews from Sight & Sound and Monthly Film Bulletin, an appreciation of Clouzot by Paul Ryan, notes on the special features and credits
• Commentary by Film Critic and Writer Adrian Martin. Recorded in 2017.
• A Road Trip Out of Hell? Or Into It? – Purgatory and The Wages of Fear (1080p; 00:14:31) – A new video essay by filmmaker and photographer Nic Wassell. (NEW)
• Interview with Professor Lucy Mazdon (1080p; 00:34:59) – Professor Lucy Mazdon discusses the life and legacy of Henri-Georges Clouzot and The Wages of Fear .
• Interview with Assistant Director Michel Romanoff (1080p; 00:22:26) – The assistant director discusses his work during the two-year The Wages of Fear shoot in Camargue.
• Interview with Clouzot Biographer Marc Godin (1080p; 00:10:10) – Writer Mrc Godin discusses Clouzot’s career and the evolution of his style.
• The Guardian Lecture: Yves Montand in Conversation with Don Allen (4K; 02:33:02) – The actor discusses his illustrious career with Don Allen in this audio interview recorded at the BFI’s National Film Theatre in July 1989.
• Original Theatrical Trailer (1080p; 00:03:20)
• They Take the High Road
• Fire Checked by Explosives!
• Transporting Loads – With or without Roads

The Final Assessment

A masterpiece of cinema from Clouzot that looks sumptuous in this new 4K release from the BFI. This is a film that any cinephile should own and would surely enjoy. Highly recommended.

The Wages of Fear is out on 4K Ultra HD in the UK February 19, 2024 from the BFI

Purchase The Wages of Fear 4K Ultra HD on Amazon UK

• Rating Certificate: UK: 12
• Studios & Distributors: Compagnie Industrielle et Commerciale Cinématographique | Filmsonor | Vera Films | Fono Roma | BFI
• Director: Henri-Georges Clouzot
• Written By: Georges Arnaud | Henri-Georges Clouzot | Jérôme Géronimi
• Run Time: 153 Mins.
• Street Date: 19 February 2024
• Aspect Ratio: 1.37:1
• Video Format: HEVC 2160p (4K UHD)
• Max. Luminance: 1000 nits
• Min. Luminance: 0.0001 nits
• Primary Audio: DTS-HD MA 2.0 Mono
• Subtitles: English

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The Wages of Fear

Where to watch.

Watch The Wages of Fear with a subscription on Max, rent on Prime Video, Apple TV, or buy on Prime Video, Apple TV.

What to Know

An existential suspense classic, The Wages of Fear blends nonstop suspense with biting satire; its influence is still being felt on today's thrillers.

Audience Reviews

Cast & crew.

Henri-Georges Clouzot

Yves Montand

Charles Vanel

Peter van Eyck

Véra Clouzot

Folco Lulli

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The wages of fear, common sense media reviewers.

Bland action thriller has violence, language, sex.

A Lot or a Little?

What you will—and won't—find in this movie.

Do what's best for your family. Try to save those

Fred is an honorable person who wants to do the ri

The film is French and the primary cast is White.

A fair amount of gun violence, shooting, and some

One sex scene shows a naked woman on top of a man

Strong language includes occasional use of "f--k,"

Adults smoke cigarettes.

Parents need to know that The Wages of Fear is a dramatic French action thriller (and a remake of a 1953 film) about two brothers trying to save a village from a disaster. In order to save a village full of innocent civilians, they must drive two trucks full of nitroglycerine through a dangerous desert full…

Positive Messages

Do what's best for your family. Try to save those who are in need. Don't make decisions based on profit. Forgive those who have made honest mistakes.

Positive Role Models

Fred is an honorable person who wants to do the right thing after making a mistake that sent his brother to prison. Fred's brother, Alex, is also a decent man trying to do the right thing after having a second chance at life. Clara is a thoughtful and supportive humanitarian also trying to help those in need.

Diverse Representations

The film is French and the primary cast is White. A few supporting characters are Black, but the biggest role gets killed halfway through. One female character is a love interest and isn't represented as a fighter like all the men. Many unnamed and vague enemies of the film are Middle Eastern and represented simply by their Arabic language or how they dress.

Did we miss something on diversity? Suggest an update.

Violence & Scariness

A fair amount of gun violence, shooting, and some killing. Shoot-outs kill people, and a few scenes show headshots. Some scenes of hand-to-hand combat, stabbing, punching, kicking, throwing, etc. One man gets his head stomped on. Another scene features fighting in a prison. A character steps on a mine and explodes into nothing. A car drives over a mine and explodes. Other explosions kill soldiers but nothing is too graphically shown. Car chases with gunfire. A man purposefully drives a truck into a huge fire, killing himself.

Did you know you can flag iffy content? Adjust limits for Violence & Scariness in your kid's entertainment guide.

Sex, Romance & Nudity

One sex scene shows a naked woman on top of a man (bare breasts shown). Some romantic kissing. Later, the woman tells a colleague that she and the man "f--k" each other.

Did you know you can flag iffy content? Adjust limits for Sex, Romance & Nudity in your kid's entertainment guide.

Strong language includes occasional use of "f--k," "f--king," "motherf----r," "s--t," "a--hole," "ass," "bastard," and "damn."

Did you know you can flag iffy content? Adjust limits for Language in your kid's entertainment guide.

Drinking, Drugs & Smoking

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Parents Need to Know

Parents need to know that The Wages of Fear is a dramatic French action thriller (and a remake of a 1953 film) about two brothers trying to save a village from a disaster. In order to save a village full of innocent civilians, they must drive two trucks full of nitroglycerine through a dangerous desert full of enemies. There's a fair amount of gun violence, shooting, killing, explosions, and car chase sequences. Characters get shot (including in the head), exploded (a man steps on a land mine), and stabbed (in hand-to-hand combat). Other explosions kill people. One sex scene shows a naked woman on top of a man (bare breasts shown). Adults smoke cigarettes. Strong language includes "f--k," "f--king," "motherf----r," "s--t," "a--hole," "ass," "bastard," and "damn." To stay in the loop on more movies like this, you can sign up for weekly Family Movie Night emails .

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What's the Story?

In THE WAGES OF FEAR, one brother tries to redeem himself, while another brother tries to get back to his family. Together, they try to save a village of innocent civilians from an impending explosion that will wipe out everyone. They have only 24 hours to make a dangerous journey across a hostile desert. Will they make it in time?

Is It Any Good?

There isn't much here to justify this remake. The characters in The Wages of Fear are incredibly thinly drawn, and there's nothing here action-wise or thrill-wise that audiences haven't seen many times before. Not much is established about the main characters except for the fact that they got mixed up in some bad decisions in a previously tumultuous geopolitical environment that led to one of them suffering in a prison. But somehow, this someone is also the only person with special knowledge of a particular kind of explosive, so he is freed from prison (and his sentence?) and is paired up with the very same brother who accidentally got him sent to prison in the first place.

This setup is brief, and not much else is explained, but the main takeaway is that this team led by two brothers needs to transport two trucks of highly explosive nitroglycerine across a hostile desert (full of nameless and faceless Middle Eastern enemies) and do so under a strict time limit. Perhaps most confusing is how the film doesn't fully explain why the villagers in the village (who are in danger) can't simply be moved and evacuated to another place (which, while certainly difficult, couldn't possibly be more difficult than the above setup). Nevertheless, on the team's dangerous journey across the desert, violence ensues, people die, and the movie plods along to its inevitable climax.

Talk to Your Kids About ...

Families can talk about violence in action thrillers. Did any of the violence in The Wages of Fear shock or surprise you? Did the violence add to the excitement of the film?

How do you feel "the enemy" was portrayed? Who do you think were the main villains of the movie and why?

Were you satisfied with how the movie ended? Why, or why not?

Movie Details

• On DVD or streaming : March 29, 2024
• Cast : Franck Gastambide , Alban Lenoir , Sofiane Zermani , Ana Girardot
• Director : Julien Leclercq
• Inclusion Information : Female actors
• Studio : Netflix
• Genre : Action/Adventure
• Run time : 104 minutes
• MPAA rating : NR
• Last updated : April 19, 2024

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The Definitives

Critical essays, histories, and appreciations of great films

The Wages of Fear

Essay by brian eggert september 10, 2008.

Opening on a boy torturing cockroaches in the street, The Wages of Fear ’s first shot expounds the entire film. Deprived, the child suddenly follows after a shaved-ice merchant pushing his cart and announcing flavors. The boy longs for that which he cannot afford and upon realizing this he returns to his roaches, finding a vulture has claimed his afternoon entertainment. Within hopeless situations such as this, Henri-Georges Clouzot constructed films of incredible suspense, harsh commentary, and unforgiving cynicism; these are all evident in his agonizing portrayal of human nature, his 1953 masterpiece The Wages of Fear ( Le Salaire de la peur ). Clouzot was perhaps the best French filmmaker from his era, earning a place alongside names in the French canon like Jean Renoir, Jacques Tati, and Max Ophüls. Probing into his disillusionment with human nature, he explored how we rarely live up to our own promise, and within The Wages of Fear , presents an antitheses for human potential. Ahead of his existential subject, however, Clouzot’s film embodies the arrangement and execution of a draining white-knuckle thriller—a work of art that challenges the viewer’s sense of insight into its characters, or potential saddening apathy to dismiss them.

Clouzot’s film confronts us with more than merely a brief anecdotal setup, but an in-depth examination of his focus—four tramps paid $2,000 a piece by an American oil company to haul two truckloads of nitroglycerin across desolate, volatile terrain, to blow out a smoldering drill site. Laid to waste in the squalid and impoverished South American village of Las Piedras, Clouzot’s four drivers are painted deliberately unpleasant and yet curiously sympathetic. Each is dead-broke, jobless, skulking about, waiting for an opportunity to get out of their own hell. They are not heroes, otherwise their station would not be begging for work in a muddy village; these men have long since helped their own cause. And yet, they are the film’s “heroes” in the narrative sense that they are protagonists, thus we care about their fates. Clouzot’s four men—Frenchmen Mario (Yves Montand) and Jo (Charles Vanel), the Italian Luigi (Folco Lulli), and the German Bimba (Peter Van Eyck)—similarly take a fleeting, hopeless look at the impossible opportunity presented to them by the American oil company stationed in the village, and find everything they have hence taken away.

In that time, Clouzot avoids establishing backstories and instead outlines the contemptible manner in which each man fails to see what lies in front of him. In Mario’s case, he overlooks the film’s one female character and his own love interest, Linda, played by the director’s wife, Véra Clouzot. She seems to pant like a dog for Mario’s affections, quite literally crawling on all fours to greet him, though her doting love is not returned in favor of a senseless opportunity, which represents itself to Mario in the form of Jo, a would-be well-to-do. Jo puts on airs, but he’s in the same sinking boat as everyone else in Las Piedras. Perhaps an inkling of reserved homosexuality leads to Mario’s mistreatment of Linda, as many scholars have proposed. Indeed, the relationships between the four drivers in Clouzot’s film are close, but no direct instance or line of dialogue confirms that label. Some have suggested Clouzot is simply a chauvinist, but no. Rather, look at Mario’s disregard for Linda as a testimony to his blind longing to find something else besides a resigned life with a poor girl, besides just making it in Las Piedras. Mario and the others do not accept their fates; they fight, however fruitlessly, for something better. They have no idea of what that might be, and so anyone not bent on forward motion drags them behind, woman or otherwise. If so, there is meaning behind Clouzot casting his wife in the role of Linda. He shoots her from two conflicting subjective points of view: from that of a husband depicting his wife’s beauty, and that of a director placing an actress in a narrative. Clouzot ensures his wife’s face is always clean, even when she falls in the mud, and her neckline remains low and revealing. And yet, her character is treated like an animal. She is wholly obedient and subservient—a typical, uncomplicated male fantasy. Still, Mario tosses her aside. Inside Mario’s rejection, Clouzot delineates the fatalistic drive pushing Mario and his fellow drivers to ignore the value of their current lives for the potential of the mythical greener grass. Furthermore, for Clouzot, given his adoration for Véra, whom he would next cast in the starring role of Les Diaboliques (1955), such a refusal must have denoted insanity to snub a woman he dearly loved offscreen.

That Clouzot’s protagonists select a fatalistic mission makes the road no less daunting, or involving, or thrilling for the viewer. Split between two trucks, the men divide themselves as an insurance policy. Should one truck suddenly detonate, the other could still make it through. Mario and Jo take the lead, with Luigi and Bimba following a half an hour behind. Each man is stripped down to the barest version of himself once on the road, as fear removes layer after layer of built-up fronts, disrobing him until nothing is left but the raw man. Herein we see where some endure and others fall to pieces. Charles Vanel’s performance as Jo is the film’s best illustration of this; his character loses the most, having masqueraded himself as a brave, experienced workman to hide his cowardly interior. Clouzot originally hoped to fill the role with France’s equivalent to Humphrey Bogart, Jean Gabin from Grand Illusion (1937) and Touchez pas au grisbi (1954), but the screen icon turned down the role, worried that playing a coward might tarnish his onscreen reputation. Furthermore, surely Gabin would have stolen the picture away from Yves Montand in the central role by presence alone; whereas Vanel, who disappears into his harrowing performance, committing himself to the depths of spinelessness and turmoil the role demands.

Such trials include an abrupt turn the trucks can only get around by backing onto a rickety platform of rotting wood dangling over a rocky chasm. Later, a boulder in the road must be removed by detonating a thermos-full of nitro. Each of these sequences is accomplished with temperance and nerve-racking precision by Clouzot. In the film’s most calm, genial moment, Jo rolls Mario a cigarette as they shove along. All at once a flash, the tobacco is blown from Jo’s paper—up ahead, a dusty mushroom cloud fills the air. The other truck is gone. Clouzot has delivered his punch. These masterful strokes are only outdone by Alfred Hitchcock himself, who Clouzot undercut twice in his career when attempting to secure rights for filmic properties—first with The Wages of Fear , second with Les Diaboliques . Hitchcock had attempted to buy the rights to both films, and in both cases, the French director prevailed, first because author Georges Arnaud preferred to have a French filmmaker adapt his novel, second because Hitchcock’s bid came a mere few hours too late. The two directors are inescapably linked by their ability to force their respective audiences to the breaking point of suspense. Though, Hitchcock’s oeuvre is clearly the more fertile and was not met with the same thematic criticism of Clouzot’s fiercely controversial subjects.

More than its politics, Clouzot’s film is an antithetical figurehead for every optimistic or romanticized story ever told. His pessimism seems to bleed from the screen, particularly after just the one truck remains. Mario and Jo approach where their fellow drivers exploded and find wiped-out trees, a gaping crater, and a broken oil pipe gradually making the hole into a dense, slippery lake. Fed up with Jo’s peaking fear, Mario sends him into the oil lagoon to check its depth and creeps behind in the truck, unable to stop for fear of getting trapped. Jo suddenly finds himself stuck by a submerged tree branch, powerless to get free, and driving Mario cannot slow, and so at a seemingly deliberate pace, grinds the wheels over his partner’s leg, crushing it. Vanel, coated in oil, is a black ghost screaming in pain. Back on the road after winching the truck out of their slippery hovel, both men are covered in slick, and Jo is dying. Minutes before reaching their destination, he passes, leaving Mario the only survivor of the four.

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Netflix’s The Wages of Fear: What Inspired the French Thriller?

Netflix’s ‘The Wages of Fear’ is a thoroughly captivating movie that keeps its audience on the edge of their seats throughout. Directed by Julien Leclercq, it unfolds in a remote and nondescript village in Latin America, where a sparse population resides. The primary source of employment for the villagers lies with an oil company, offering one of the few prospects for work in the area. When a fire breaks out at the oil field, the company urgently requires individuals to drive two trucks loaded with highly volatile nitroglycerine through a perilous route in the desert to extinguish the blaze.

Due to the inherent dangers, this operation is undertaken covertly due to its extreme risks. Seizing the chance to earn enough money to escape their predicament, four people from different European countries stranded in the village volunteer for the task. The heart-pounding French thriller adventure that ensues makes for a gripping film that prompts speculation about its potential basis on any true story.

The Real Political Backdrop of The Wages of Fear

‘The Wages of Fear’ is a remake of the 1953 timeless French classic film directed and co-written by Henri-Georges Clouzot. Renowned for its tense atmosphere, gripping plot, and masterful direction, the 1953 version has left an indelible mark on the thriller genre. Its themes of desperation, moral ambiguity, and the human psyche under extreme pressure continue to resonate with audiences, cementing its relevance decades after its release.

In an interview, Julien Leclercq disclosed that his approach to remaking the film was never about replicating every character and scene from the original. Despite being a fan of the original, influenced by his father’s admiration for it, Leclercq acknowledged the necessity of adapting to modern moral standards and societal norms. Recognizing that certain aspects of the original film might not resonate with contemporary audiences, particularly concerning gender representation, he emphasized the need to reconstruct female roles and build the characters on his own.

The 1953 film is based on George Arnaud’s novel of the same name and is not inspired by any true events. Arnaud set his characters in Guatemala but Clouzot changed the location of his film to a fictitious village in an unspecified country in Latin America. This was done with the intent to make a social commentary about the presence of US corporations in Latin American countries. This was also one of the major reasons why the film was not properly advertised and screened in the US at the time of its release.

During the 1950s and 1960s, multinational corporations, particularly those from the United States, engaged in widespread exploitation of labor in Latin America. These conglomerates, often referred to as “banana republics” for their dominance in industries such as fruit production, mining, and oil, wielded immense economic and political power in the region. They capitalized on lax labor laws, weak governmental oversight, and sometimes even direct intervention to extract maximum profit at the expense of local workers.

Many of these corporations employed tactics such as low wages, long hours, unsafe working conditions, and suppression of labor movements to maintain control and maximize their returns. This exploitation not only led to economic disparities and social injustices within Latin American countries but also contributed to broader patterns of neocolonialism and dependency on foreign powers.

The film masterfully evokes a palpable sense of dread through its cinematography, particularly in its depiction of the real Latin American desert landscape. The vast and desolate expanses of the desert, captured in hauntingly beautiful shots, serve as a metaphorical canvas for the characters’ perilous journey. The harsh, unforgiving terrain, with its scorching heat and endless stretches of sand, becomes a character in itself, intensifying the tension and foreboding that permeates the film.

‘The Wages of Fear’ has ingrained itself so deeply in the public consciousness that its characters and universe exude a sense of authenticity, despite being entirely fictional. While not directly based on real-life individuals, they resonate with audiences by reflecting on the struggles and dilemmas faced by many in similar circumstances. The perilous situations and difficult choices confronted by the characters parallel the harsh realities experienced by those leading such precarious lives.

Read More:  Netflix’s The Wages of Fear: Exploring All Filming Locations

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'The Wages of Fear' Review: Netflix's French classic reboot lives up to expectations with nail-biting suspense

PARIS, FRANCE: Reviving classic films often raises skepticism and apprehension among cinema lovers, given the history of some classics being mishandled in the process.

However, Netflix's remake of one of the greatest thrillers in cinematic history comes as a pleasant surprise that makes it worth our time.

'The Wages of Fear' follows two brothers embarking on a dangerous mission, risking everything to transport nitroglycerin across treacherous terrain to save a village from explosion.

The tension is palpable as they navigate a dangerous route, each moment fraught with the potential for disaster.

'The Wages of Fear' cast delivers standout performance

While the primary plot remains faithful to the original, director Julien Leclercq introduces subtle changes, adding his own flair to the narrative.

He assembles an outstanding cast including Franck Gastambide, Ana Girardot, and Alban Lenoir in pivotal roles.

Their performances are nothing short of exceptional, resonating deeply despite the unfamiliar setting and circumstances.

The supporting cast, featuring talents like Sofiane Zermani and Joseph Beddelem, further elevates the film with their contributions.

'The Wages of Fear' (2024) offers a thrilling ride

This remake breathes new life into a beloved classic, delivering a gripping experience that honors the legacy of the original while adding its own distinct touches.

The screenplay is masterfully crafted, reaching its peak as the trucks hit the road, presenting a series of gripping challenges that test the convoy's resilience.

This timeless classic has been skillfully revitalized, delivering a potent blend of social commentary and cinematic excitement.

'The Wages of Fear' is a thrilling ride that keeps you on the edge of your seat, your nerves taut and your adrenaline pumping.

The driving sequences are rife with suspense and the film's relentless intensity immerses you completely in the characters' harrowing predicaments.

The remake of one of the finest existential thrillers ever made, 'The Wages of Fear' remains as gripping and impactful today as it was decades ago. This gripping drama is a must-see for fans of intense cinema.

'The Wages of Fear' is available to stream on Netflix

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The Wages of Fear

In order to prevent a deadly explosion, an illicit crack team has 24 hours to drive two truckloads of nitroglycerine across a desert laden with danger. In order to prevent a deadly explosion, an illicit crack team has 24 hours to drive two truckloads of nitroglycerine across a desert laden with danger. In order to prevent a deadly explosion, an illicit crack team has 24 hours to drive two truckloads of nitroglycerine across a desert laden with danger.

• Julien Leclercq
• Henri-Georges Clouzot
• Jérôme Géronimi
• Georges Arnaud
• Franck Gastambide
• Alban Lenoir
• Sofiane Zermani
• 32 User reviews
• 33 Critic reviews

• Anne Marchand

• Homme d'affaires
• Gardien de l'homme d'affaires
• Policier en civil 1

• Surveillant
• (as Adil Aba Tourab)

• Copilote de l'hélicoptère
• (as Brice El Glaoui Bexter)
• Militaire 3
• All cast & crew
• Production, box office & more at IMDbPro

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• Trivia Remake of Henri-Georges Clouzot's classic "Le Salaire de la Peur" ("The Wages of Fear") 1953.

Fred : I've got nothing, Alex. I can't go back to France like this.

• Connections Remake of The Wages of Fear (1953)

User reviews 32

• ignatdanilchuk
• Apr 3, 2024
• How long is The Wages of Fear? Powered by Alexa
• March 29, 2024 (United States)
• Official Netflix
• Cái Giá Của Sự Sợ Hãi
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• Runtime 1 hour 44 minutes
• Dolby Atmos
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Director: Julien Leclerq Writers: Georges Arnaud, Hamid Hilioua, Julien Leclerq Stars: Franck Gastambide, Alban Lenoir, Sofiane Zermani

Synopsis: In order to prevent a deadly explosion, an illicit crack team has 24 hours to drive two truckloads of nitroglycerine across a desert laden with danger.

Has there ever been a modern remake as misguided as Julien Leclercq’s readaptation of Georges Arnaud’s The Wages of Fear ( Le salaire de la peur )? The question begs to be asked because there’s nothing retained from Arnaud’s text and Henri Georges-Clouzot’s 1954 adaptation, apart from the nitroglycerin of it all. Of course, some will say pitting a remake against its original source material is unfair, especially when the sociopolitical context is different, and filmmaking techniques have evolved. They may be right: holding the original to such a pedestal can, at times, draw unfair critiques between a modern, fresher take on the source material when pitted against the classic. 

But when the film was already reinterpreted for an American audience through William Friedkin’s Sorcerer , questions of Julien Leclercq’s latest take on the book (and, by extension, film adaptations) are raised, especially when the entire film looks and feels like it wants to be a Fast & Furious knockoff instead. The movie even begins with a massive car chase in the desert as we get introduced to Fred (Franck Gastambide) carrying a supply of life-saving vaccines to a small village for Dr. Clara (Ana Girardot). The two are romantically involved but are working to bring medical supplies to an unnamed village while terrorist groups attempt to kill them in their journey toward the village. 

The action is shot and staged with the energy of a Justin Lin-directed F&F film as if Leclercq used these movies as the primary point of reference instead of looking at what Georges-Clouzot and Friedkin brought to the table to reinterpret the material. Credit where credit is due: at least the action sequences are competently shot and staged, bringing some form of energy to an otherwise monotonously dull picture. The film’s best sequence involves Fred and his brother, Alex (Alban Lenoir), as they attempt to defuse mines (by sandwalking), with Fred ultimately stepping on a large anti-tank mine. The tension is palpable, and it’s the only time in which the movie feels like it has any connection with The Wages of Fear . 

The rest of the film is all over the place – after its odd F&F beginnings, it moves to then flashback to a James Bond-esque spy thriller where we learn more about Fred’s past as a bodyguard, with a (predictable) mission going wrong, which leads Alex to be imprisoned. Following this, an unnamed (shady) company reaches out to Fred and promises freedom for Alex if he helps them on the transportation of nitroglycerin from an NGO outpost to the village, where an oil well is about to explode and destroy everything in its sight. The only way to prevent cataclysmic destruction is to use nitroglycerin, a terribly unstable substance that can topple anything in its distance if not handled properly. 

Of course, the mission doesn’t go as smoothly as the company says it will, with terrorists on their tail and an unstable, unpredictable route making it difficult to control the nitroglycerin inside the trucks. The route is what mainly makes Clouzot’s The Wages of Fear and – by extension – Sorcerer such riveting pieces of anxiety-inducing cinema, but it’s the relationship between the main characters that ultimately gains your investment in those pictures. In Leclercq’s version, the relationship between the main characters is so thinly developed that Leclercq’s (and co-writer Hamid Hlioua’s) attempts to give each protagonist some form of humanity by recycling the most egregious clichés. 

Every character arc is seen a mile away, from the unbrotherly love shown by Alex (sucker-punching Fred as soon as they reunite) to their realization that they shouldn’t hold disdain for one another as Fred steps on the mine. And how about the film’s sole female character, reduced to being a sex object for Fred but isn’t given any form of agency or development beyond her attachment with the protagonist? Girardot tries her best to elevate the shoddy material she’s given, but unfortunately can’t overcome the trappings Leclercq and Hlioua put her in. 

It gets even more ridiculous when the film ends in the vein of a heist thriller, with endless double-crosses that ultimately hamper its emotionally stirring end for one of its protagonists, who already had his fate tattooed on his face as soon as the movie opens. Leclercq doesn’t even know how to effectively blend genres together that he attempts to riff on a plethora of action franchises instead of making his Wages of Fear adaptation an important reinterpretation of Arnaud’s original book, while also celebrating the legacy marked by Clouzot and Friedkin’s adaptations. 

Making it more action-driven isn’t necessarily a problem if the character relationships and the core of Arnaud’s story remain intact and as thrilling as they were. But there are little thrills to be had in this hackneyed version of a literary and cinematic classic, one that still inspires some of the best filmmakers working today, seventy years after its release. 

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The Wages of Fear has climbed to the top of the Global Netflix charts – but not everyone is loving Julien Leclercq's modern remake.

The original film, directed and co-written by Henri-Georges Clouzot, premiered in 1953 and centered on a group of four down-on-their-luck European men who are hired by an American oil company to drive two trucks loaded with nitroglycerine. The film won the prestigious Palme d'Or at the Cannes Film Festival – with Christopher Nolan later saying that it strongly inspired Dunkirk. Exorcist director William Friedkin remade the film in 1977 under the name Sorcerer. 

The 2024 remake, directed by French director Julien Leclercq, follows a similar premise and credits Clouzot as a co-writer. The cast includes Franck Gastambide, Alban Lenoir, Ana Giradot, Sofiane Zermani, Bakary Diombera, and Alka Matewa.

Despite reaching the no. 1 spot, the film currently sits at a 29% Critic rating and a 17% Audience score.

"As an action-thriller, Netflix's new Wages of Fear remake is solid. Some well-executed chases and shootouts (yes, shootouts) and it reinterprets a few of the classic sequences in clever ways. But it lacks the original's emotional and thematic core, and most of its tension," one viewer tweeted .

"Playing chicken with the desert, post-colonial corruption, and nitro. The highs are wonderful, and the lows are pretty tedious. There's so many aesthetic and narrative possibilities that go unrealized. Should have been a series," wrote another .

"This Wages is a passable-enough timewaster filled with 2-D characters, a few relatively enjoyable action set pieces and an emotional arc that never gets much traction," one critic review said .

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Hideo Kojima even weighed in on the film, writing : "I watched the Netflix remake (French production) of The Wages of Fear. It is different from both the historical masterpiece by Clouzot and the Friedkin masterpiece. The setting and everything is different [...] The pivotal situation of physical obstacles (avoid shaking) is not utilized very well. The worldview is also very Death Stranding or Mad Max-like, as it runs through deserts and rocky mountains."

The Wages of Fear is streaming on Netflix now. For more, check out our list of the best Netflix movies to watch right now.

Lauren Milici is a Senior Entertainment Writer for GamesRadar+ currently based in the Midwest. She previously reported on breaking news for The Independent's Indy100 and created TV and film listicles for Ranker. Her work has been published in Fandom, Nerdist, Paste Magazine, Vulture, PopSugar, Fangoria, and more.

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The Wages of Fear Parent Guide

There's an interesting premise here, but the scriptwriters desperately avoid any elements that could make the movie worth watching..

Netflix: To prevent an explosion at an oil well, a team need to transport large amounts of nitroglycerin across the desert.

Release date March 29, 2024

Run Time: 104 minutes

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The guide to our grades, parent movie review by keith hawkes.

Drilling oil is a dangerous business, made more perilous when a wellhead catches fire. Located next to a refugee camp in the North African desert, the site is so remote that there’s no way to get firefighting equipment there quickly. If the fire continues, it will overpressure the entire oil pocket, which will blow up the camp.

The only hope is to get some heavy explosives to the fire – the vacuum caused by a major blast will suck the oxygen right out of the fire, if it is placed near enough. Unfortunately, out in the desert, there aren’t any modern, stable plastic explosives; just 50 year old nitroglycerine – incredibly volatile, very easy to accidentally detonate – and 800 kilometers of unimproved desert roads, plagued by mines, bandits, and potentially most dangerously, potholes. Oh, and the emergency team is on the clock: if they don’t make it inside of the next 20 hours, there won’t be a camp to save.

Once the movie speeds along on the main plotline, things improve…somewhat. There are a few genuinely exciting scenes involving the delicate handling of obstacles, but most problems get solved when someone pulls out a gun, or just starts throwing jars of nitroglycerin at people like this is some kind of dodgeball for demolition experts. (I’m sure that’ll work out for the best.) Ultimately, the movie isn’t as interesting as its premise, falling back on the most familiar tropes of the genre and desperately avoiding anything that would make this worth the time it takes to watch.

There’s less profanity than you might expect with the TV-MA rating, but still enough to make family viewing inadvisable. Most of the issues here have to do with the frequent bloody violence, but there’s also a flagrantly unnecessary sex scene in the first ten minutes, which you can feel free to skip. Frankly, you can feel free to skip the first thirty minutes, but if it were up to me, I’d give the whole business a miss.

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The Wages of Fear Rating & Content Info

Why is The Wages of Fear rated TV-MA? The Wages of Fear is rated TV-MA by the MPAA for language, nudity, smoking, and violence.

Violence: People are frequently shot, stabbed, and killed in explosions. There are also frequent fistfights: during one a man’s neck is deliberately broken. Sexual Content: There is one sex scene early in the film featuring female toplessness. Profanity: There are 16 sexual expletives, half a dozen scatological terms, and occasional use of mild profanities and terms of deity. Alcohol / Drug Use: Adult characters are seen drinking and smoking tobacco.

Page last updated March 29, 2024

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The Wages of Fear (2024) Movie Review and Ending Explained – What Happens to Fred in the End?

Here’s a piece of unsolicited advice to movie directors interested in remaking classics of a bygone era: unless you can successfully replicate the period in which the film was set or the conflicts that could arise from geographical and geopolitical constraints, it is hard to differentiate your modern-day remake from a straight-to-video-action spectacle. The 2024 remake of Henri-Georges Clouzot’s 1953 nihilistic action film “The Wages of Fear,” an adaptation of the Georges Arnaud novel, has an uphill battle. It is doubly difficult considering its comparison is not just with the original but with its illustrious first remake, “Sorcerer” (1977), itself a nihilistic masterpiece with all the cynicism that the decade of the 70s could muster with director William Friedkin’s process-oriented, practical stunt work-laden visceral mayhem.

The Wages of Fear (2024) Movie Summary and Plot Synopsis

Justin Leclercq’s 2024 actioner opens in a desert near an oil pipeline. We see one of the workers in that empty stretch look up upon hearing gunshots. He sees a jeep, with the familiar symbol of an NGO emblazoned on its side, being chased by a presumably Arabian militia. The man gets up in his car and helps the NGO jeep from being stuck on the rocky terrain by pushing it over, and then escorts it to the refugee camp that is guarded by mercenaries. As the two jeeps drive inside the refugee camp, we see the soldiers shooting back against the Arab militia truck as it slows down and turns back.

We realize that in this world in which director Leclercq is not going to emphatically state geographical locations but could very well be Algeria, the refugee camp is centered around an oil well. The NGO, led by Clara (Ana Giradout), is having a physical relationship with Fred (Franck Gastambide), the man who rescued her.   Alex is the lead we are ostensibly following. In a flashback taking place nine months ago, we are again dropped into an unnamed city on the verge of tearing itself apart from a coup that had already led to the president fleeing the country.

Fred, we learn, is part of a private security team and is currently responsible for aiding one of his rich clients in fleeing the country. We notice that the client is being visited by the CEO of one of those oil wells. She is escorted by a mercenary like Fred, by the name of Gauthier (Birol Tarkan Yildiz), with whom Fred is also familiar. As the two of them converse outside the building, they are attacked by a group of protesters. They make quick work of those protesters, but Fred is unable to forget what he had seen when he arrived to fetch his client—a safe filled with unregulated cash. Hatching a plan, he tries to convince his brother Alex (Alban Lenoir), a demolitions expert, to aid in one last job: cracking open the safe.  

Alex begrudgingly agrees and enters the building while the whole city is distracted, but Fred keeps guard outside. As Alex tries to blast open the safe with an explosive set to a timer, his luck runs out. During a routine check of the evacuated manors, the authorities come across Alex trying to break open the safe. Alex is too late to stop the timer from running out, and it blasts the door open, killing one of the cops in the process. Fred has been unable to warn Alex to escape in time, and he watches as his brother is taken away to prison.

Nine months later, we find Fred working as an oil rig man near the oil well, where a refugee camp has also been set up. Alex’s wife and daughter also stay there, under Fred’s care, with Alex’s wife teaching the kids of that village. Fred plans to earn enough money to take Alex’s wife and child out of the village, but his plan is interrupted by the oil well exploding.  

However, it hides the bigger problem, which representatives of the American oil company had figured out and had arranged for a million dollars for the security team to solve. There is a second pocket behind the oil pocket that caused the fire due to gas leakage. If the fire spreads to the second pocket, the resultant explosion could affect not only the oil well but also the village and the surrounding countryside. The plan to stop it is to hire a security team, transport 100 kilograms of nitroglycerin, and incite an explosion, which would total that area before the fire spreads into the second pocket. They have 24 hours to solve this issue.  

The chief of the security team takes Gauthier’s advice and hires Fred for the role, giving him an offer he couldn’t refuse: if he completes the mission, the company would fund Alex’s family’s evacuation from the village. The catch is hiring Alex for his expertise in bombing, and that would entail taking him out of prison on a “loan.” Meanwhile, Clara, the head of the NGO, and her assistant, Djibril, are hired as guides through the route because they conduct vaccine runs all the time.

Taking Alex out of prison is child’s play for Gauthier and his team; the reunion between the two brothers is less so, leading to a scuffle between the two brothers that would only be broken by Clara and the seriousness of the job at hand. Unrefined nitroglycerin is dangerous if not handled correctly, as evidenced by Alex throwing a drop of the liquid a few feet away and the liquid exploding on impact. The plan is to drive two trucks, each driven by one of the brothers, escorted by Gauthier and his team, and guided by Clara. The trucks would be filled with Nitroglycerin that would be forcefully taken from a solar panel factory.

The careful packaging of the Nitroglycerin, using crates reinforced together to the walls of the truck by cables holding it in place, goes off without a hitch, but as the two brothers drive the trucks out, one of the security guards who had been tied up frees himself and attacks one of the mercenaries guarding the factory. In the middle of that scuffle, one of the canisters containing nitroglycerin falls to the ground, destroying the factory.

The trip through the treacherous terrain is beset with different troubles. On the one hand, Gauthier’s attitude rankles Clara, who, in the middle of their trip, walks out of her car and joins Fred in his truck. On the other hand, they are stopped by a militia roadblock, who refuse to believe the trucks contain medicines. As the rebels, armed with guns, surround the convoy, the leader forcefully walks towards the truck to check its cargo, and Djibril tries to convince the rebels that they are a peaceful crew. None of it goes to plan, as the rebels attack the convoy, killing Djibril, and the crew fires back. They only manage to escape by cornering the militia towards a rocky road, whereby Gauthier, through his expert marksmanship, manages to kill the militia by toppling their cars.

The second hurdle they come across is when one of the mercenaries drives their unsuspecting ATV through an active minefield. Both Alex and Fred bypass this issue by utilizing chains. The two brothers connect the chains into a long steel net and drag it through the dusty road, managing to hit one of the mines. In the process, Fred steps onto one of the mines, which Alex barely manages to extricate him from by pulling him and jumping back simultaneously, only for the mine to not activate. In the middle of all these hullabaloos, they are attacked by a single sniper camouflaged within the terrain of the balding mountains. Gauthier, his comrade, and Fred manage to smoke the sniper out and kill her, but unbeknownst to him, Gauthier’s comrade steps on a mine and kills himself.

The crew has now dwindled to four, and so they split up: one truck would take the route going north, while the other would bypass by going west. One of the trucks carries Gauthier and Fred while Alex and Clara follow them going north. Here is where the movie truly becomes a homage to “Wages of Fear,” whereby the obstacle that Fred’s truck comes across is the oil leak that has effectively become a river. They manage to drive the truck through, but at the last moment, Gauthier betrays Fred for a larger share of the million dollars and shoots Fred, leaving him dead.

Meanwhile, Alex and Clara come across the other famous set piece from “The Wages of Fear”—the boulder trapping the hilly road. Alex manages to break through the obstacle by sucking in a few drops of nitroglycerin, inserting it inside the rock, and then pushing a stick through the hole. The resulting friction causes the boulder to explode, clearing the road of debris.

When they finally reach the oil lake, they notice the tire tracks of the other truck have already crossed through the lake, giving them confidence. They unfortunately witness the other truck, driven by Gauthier, being driven off the treacherous mountain road due to the faulty gear that had been hinted at since the beginning of the journey. Alex and Clara are heartbroken, having thought that Fred had been in the truck, only to be called forth by a villager. The villager had managed to drag the wounded Fred out of the lake.

As Clara and Alex drive the truck, with a wounded Fred in the middle of them, barely hanging on to dear life, the truck is attacked by another militia vehicle. The road is treacherous, bullets hitting the truck would risk hitting the nitroglycerin, blowing the truck and everyone in it sky high. Clara, in an act of daredevilry, climbs to the top of the truck and drops to the back. There, she unhooks one of the nitroglycerin canisters and throws them at the vehicle, following them. It is on her third try that one of the canisters hits the target, destroying the vehicle.

The Wages of Fear (2024) Ending Explained:

What happens to fred in the end.

Meanwhile, time is running out. The fire would be reaching the second pocket within an hour, and Anne Marchand, the leader of the security team of the American oil company, had kidnapped Alex’s wife and daughter. The reason was that her team had been unable to send the drilling team on time, which would bury the nitroglycerin and induce a controlled explosion. Thus, she had to resort to unsavory measures, namely, forcing the brothers to drive the truck into the oil well to save his family.

Alex, currently held literally under gunpoint, is forced into a dilemma. Unfortunately for him, he wouldn’t have to decide as the injured Fred shoots Anne and her security guard, holding Alex’s family hostage. Rescuing them and allowing Alex the opportunity to reunite with his family and resume his life, Fred says goodbye to Clara and drives the truck into the oil well, destroying the area and preventing the catastrophe from ever occurring. As the villagers rejoice in celebration due to Fred’s heroic sacrifice, Alex notices a helicopter landing, presumably to escort him and his family out of the village, as the film ends.

The Wages of Fear (2024) Movie Review:

It is certainly a choice to take what is essentially an existential, nihilistic text, an anti-capitalist story, and just strip it of all of its nuances. It is a choice to remake a classic film into a direct-to-streaming disposable fodder with the same color palette, the same amount of dodgy visual effects, and a similar utilization of editing. If there are positives that could be attributed to “The Wages of Fear,” it would be the cinematography, which is also a result of having been shot primarily in location. The other key positive would be the action sequences, the chase scenes in particular, which manage to look coherent on account of Leclercq’s handle on making competent choices in terms of designing action choreography.

Everything else in the movie feels strangely inert. The directorial choice to not highlight the geographical location could be traced back to the source material itself, where the primary conflict would be the class divide and how capitalism’s tendrils affect all of humanity’s strata. However, the choice to deliberately set two of the key characters’ backstories in a time of unrest and not point to any specific geopolitical and, consequently, geographical conflicts makes the movie seem strangely nebulous. The antagonists, as a result, feel ancillary, which is a major problem in this update.

Understandably, Leclercq would choose to highlight the conflicts faced by the crew in a much more visceral and fast-paced manner. Thus, frontloading the film with chase sequences is not one of the worst ideas. However, the nebulous identities of the antagonists (are they rebels or militia?) only serve to complicate and further muddy the waters. It also takes away from the anti-capitalist and anti-establishment sentiment that had been a staple of the original; by choosing to focus on an emotional connection between two brothers as well as introducing a female doctor as a love interest,

“The Wages of Fear” robs itself of the incisive commentary of brotherhood amidst dire circumstances, as well as the flimsy nature of said brotherhood when united under the common umbrella of capitalism. As a result, the movie feels strangely devoid of stakes, so burdened it is with the tropes of a typical actioner. As a result, even the familiar set pieces, serving as homages to the original, feel ancillary and half-baked. In the original, those set pieces were designed to elicit suspense as well as reveal the capabilities of all these characters under unimaginable pressure. Here, those sequences only serve to further the plot.

Clouzot’s film was a character study; Friedkin’s was a character study under pressure, straining the limits of realism-tinged process-oriented filmmaking. Leclercq’s film feels like an AI-paraphrased version of the Georges Arnaud novel, devoid of all thematic nuances and just coasting on a thrill ride. It is disposable fodder, but it isn’t “The Wages of Fear,” and it definitely isn’t “Sorcerer.”

Read More: Everything Coming To Netflix In April 2024

The wages of fear (2024) movie trailer.

The Wages of Fear (2024) Movie Links: IMDb , Rotten Tomatoes Cast of The Wages of Fear (2024) Movie: Sofiane Zermani, Alban Lenoir, Joseph Beddelem The Wages of Fear (2024) Movie Genre: Action/Adventure | Runtime: 1h 44m

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5 movies like Netflix's 'The Wages of Fear' but better

R emaking a classic movie is always a risky proposition, especially when it’s already been remade as a movie that is itself considered a classic. So French filmmaker Julien Leclercq was facing an uphill battle before he even got started on his version of “The Wages of Fear.” Georges Arnaud’s 1950 novel was previously adapted in 1953 by director Henri-Georges Clouzot, whose movie won the Palme d’Or at the Cannes Film Festival, and in 1977 by William Friedkin under the title "Sorcerer."

Leclercq’s film retains the set-up of a group of desperate outsiders driving trucks full of volatile nitroglycerin across treacherous terrain. Leclercq adds shootouts and car chases, awkwardly combining his lean action-movie style with the original’s slow-building psychological torment. 

The result is a frustrating misfire, although it’s been a success on Netflix since its March 29 release. For anyone disappointed with Leclercq’s efforts, here are five better movies to check out.

William Friedkin’s 1977 take on “The Wages of Fear” sticks closer to the tone of Clouzot’s film, focusing on the internal trauma of characters who live on the fringes of society, willing to take on the most dangerous work for enough money to raise them out of their dire circumstances. Like Leclercq, Friedkin includes some additional thriller elements, but “Sorcerer” still generates its suspense from the volatile cargo in the trucks the characters are hired to drive.

Roy Scheider stars as a wanted man hiding out in South America, whose sheer force of will carries him past seemingly insurmountable obstacles on his mission. Friedkin sustains white-knuckle tension for the entire journey, including a bravura sequence set on a decaying bridge, placing the audience alongside the harried, haunted men as they drive to their apparent doom.

Rotten Tomatoes score: 82%

Watch on the Criterion Channel  

‘Sentinelle’

He may have stumbled with “The Wages of Fear,” but Leclercq has built up an impressive filmography of gritty, elegant action movies, most recently with this revenge thriller starring Olga Kurylenko. She plays a French soldier who’s reassigned to a domestic terrorism surveillance unit after a botched overseas mission. Dealing with PTSD and guilt over failing to spot a bomb strapped to a young child, Kurylenko’s Klara channels her anger into seeking out the men responsible for a brutal attack on her sister.

Kurylenko conveys Klara’s anguish and rage, honed into a single-minded purpose, and Leclercq stages some savage close-quarters fights in cramped locations like a nightclub bathroom and a hospital basement. He doesn’t need high-concept source material to come up with an action movie that’s emotionally resonant and viscerally exciting.

Rotten Tomatoes score: 70%

Watch on Netflix  

Liam Neeson starred in his own rip-off of “The Wages of Fear” with the dismal 2021 Netflix movie “The Ice Road,” but this earlier Neeson snowbound survival thriller has a much better handle on similar material. Neeson still gets to show off his fighting skills, but director Joe Carnahan’s film is more about the internal struggles of a group of Alaska oil workers stranded in the wilderness following a plane crash.

There are plenty of external struggles, too, especially in the form of hungry packs of wolves, and Neeson’s John Ottway eventually has to fend off those wild animals. But John also has to deal with conflicts among his fellow survivors, and meeting basic needs like food and shelter as they cling to the hope of rescue. Carnahan delivers a stark, intense drama about the primal battle between man and nature.

Rotten Tomatoes score: 80%

Rent/buy on Apple or Amazon

‘The Treasure of the Sierra Madre’

John Huston’s Oscar-winning Western is a dark drama about greed and deceit, with Humphrey Bogart embracing nastiness as an American drifter in Mexico who becomes increasingly unhinged while prospecting for gold. Huston captures the seedy, underhanded side of the gold rush, as the characters quickly turn on each other when they believe that fortunes are at stake.

Bogart channels his natural charm into a heartless, cruel outlaw, with Tim Holt and Huston’s father Walter as his more honorable partners. All three of them are ultimately blinded by their lust for riches, placing them in harm’s way and leading to a bleak, rueful ending. There are no heroic showdowns or triumphant getaways, just the emptiness of a life spent chasing after supposed quick and easy wealth.

Rotten Tomatoes score: 100%

Set along the U.S.-Mexico border, director Denis Villeneuve’s crime thriller is an exploration of moral gray areas, with characters who carry out cold-blooded executions in the name of supposed law and order. The title refers to an assassin (Benicio del Toro) covertly working for the CIA to stabilize the drug trade across North and South America. Emily Blunt plays an FBI agent caught in the middle of the CIA operation, slowly realizing that she’s being used as a pawn.

The screenplay by “Yellowstone” creator Taylor Sheridan is layered and complex, shifting the audience’s perspective on who’s in control and who’s doing the right thing — if anyone. The movie’s centerpiece is a breathtaking action sequence that takes place at the crowded border crossing, with the same high-stakes pressure as the best moments of any version of “The Wages of Fear.”

Rotten Tomatoes score: 92%

Watch on Prime Video

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