This is a flat story that begins with a promising start then quickly turns into a snoozefest and finishes with a whimper. The acting and cinematography are indeed above the average. The female police character is laughable cliche with 70's Peter Falk impersonation. Although it's classified as a thriller there's hardly any tension in the unfolding drama that fails to create a shred of suspense.

A luxury French hotel in the Pyrenees, is the setting for this thriller. Frederic Boissier, a young man recently released from jail for a minor charge, is hired to work at the luxury inn. The owner of the hotel, Jacques, wants to keep his guests in posh surroundings. As the story begins, he asks Paul, his son, to go for some wine supplies at a near town. The roads are covered with snow, traveling is difficult. On his way back to the hotel, Paul, accidentally kills a man on the road.

Frederic, about to leave for the day, witnesses as Jacques and Paul return the van which Paul was driving to the garage. Jacques, who realizes his young employee has seen them, decides to keep Frederic in a different position at the hotel, which surprises the young man. Jacques acts friendly toward his new employee, yet when an investigative woman detective arrives to question the hotel owner, and his staff about the death of the man who was a guest at this luxury hotel, his son, or even him, will be found out, so he goes into high gear to protect himself and his family from the scandal.

Sometimes drivers involved in hit and run accidents, such as the one Paul experienced, become paralyzed with fear for the consequences of their actions. It would have made more sense to report the accident, instead of trying to hide the victim, which ties Jacques to the crime. Directed by Jacques Jacoulot, "Avant l'aube" is a psychological thriller that shows exactly the type of mentality of a man that cannot face his responsibility after accidentally having caused the death of an innocent man on the road during inclement weather.

Co-written with Lise Macheboeuf, the film is worth watching because of all the elements the creators brought to the story. Shot in different locales between France and Andorra, the film gets the viewer's attention from the start. The casting of Jean-Pierre Bacri who plays Jacques, helps the film for the actor is lends an aura of mystery and elegance to the proceedings. Young Vincent Rottiers makes a good impression in the way he handles Frederic, the man whose involvement in the crime is null, but gets dragged into it against his will. Silvie Testud makes a good contribution to the film with her detective, which reminded us of Frances McDormand in "Fargo".

This film starts off with a lot of potential but rapidly loses its way and goes down in flames. The plot becomes progressively sillier and leads up to an ending that makes absolutely no sense. Viewers will feel cheated by the silly ending and the fact that they have wasted over an hour of their life watching this rubbish. Avoid at all cost!