Target Number One (2020)

Target Number One is the kind of fact-based thriller that hooks you not with flashy twists, but with the slow, sickening realization of how easily a life can be misfiled, mislabeled, and discarded by people who should know better. Daniel Roby directs with a tight, controlled urgency, crosscutting the claustrophobia of a Bangkok prison with the dogged momentum of a journalist chasing the truth, and the film’s restraint makes every escalation feel earned. Antoine Olivier Pilon is heartbreaking as a damaged young man in over his head, while Josh Hartnett brings a weary, principled edge to the reporting that turns this from mere crime story into a fight for accountability. It’s grim and often infuriating rather than “fun,” but if you like intelligent, well-acted thrillers that leave you rattled for the right reasons, this one sticks.

Target Number One wants to be a righteous true-crime thriller about a powerless addict crushed by bureaucracy, and a journalist stubborn enough to poke the bear anyway. The story has real outrage and stakes, but the constant hopping between timelines and perspectives can make it feel choppy, like you’re always resetting emotionally just as a scene starts to land. A lot of the material plays in familiar “corrupt cops vs. lone truth-teller” beats, and some characters end up sketched rather than fully lived-in, which dulls the impact of what should be a gut punch. If you’re after a tight, propulsive prison thriller, you may find it muddled; if you can tolerate a messy structure for a solid cause-driven drama with strong performances (especially Hartnett’s dogged reporter energy), it’s worth a look.