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Simple and well acted, it has tension enough to knot the stomach.

I cannot think of one single thing that I would change about this film. The acting is incomparable, the directing deft, and the writing poignantly brilliant.

At first rather annoying in its heavy emphasis on reenactments, this movie ultimately proves fascinating, simply because the complicated, highly dramatic tale it tells still almost defies belief.

In Paris, the eighteen year-old Nathalie Magnan (Marie Gillain) works in a clothing store during the day and escorts successful men in a nightclub in the night. Nathalie lives with her boyfriend Eric (Olivier Sitruk) and his moronic friend Bruno (Bruno Putzulu) in an apartment she rents. Eric dreams on traveling to the United States with Nathalie to open their on business but his father does not finance him. Eric plots a scheme with Bruno, Nathalie and her friend Patricia (Clotilde Courau) to raise money. They should go with their costumers to their apartments and once inside the apartment, they should the door open so that they could rob the apartment. Things do not work well and Patricia decides to give up and not participate in the heists. But when their plan goes wrong, Eric and Bruno have to kill their victim."L'appât" is a French movie by Bertrand Tavenier that show an alienated youth in France that thinks in getting easy money despite killing their victims. The impressive story seems to be very realistic and when I saw it for the first time in the 90's, I was scared with the behavior of Nathalie, Eric and Bruno. Now the violence has increased worldwide and the impact of the murders reduces, but anyway, "L'appât" is still a great movie. My vote is eight.Title (Brazil): "A Isca" ("The Bait")

This movie inspired from actual events reminds me another film just released; guess what: 24 JOURS, the story of the abduction, torture and killing of Ilan Allimi, also a true event occurred in 2006. The schemes are very alike but not filmed in the same way. The Alexandre Arcady film is more tense, more suspenseful. And that doesn't reduce the efficiency of the Tavernier's piece of work. I like both. They are just made in two different ways. That's all. More than eighteen years are between the two of them. the best would be to watch them both one after the other, to compare at the best. A very interesting experience.

FRESH BAIT provides a most accurate portrayal of the feckless immorality of a certain category of youthful criminality. The film is based on the true story of three Parisian roommates; a young girl and two guys, who attempt to make a living by extorting wealthy men. The girl promises sexual favors at the rich man's home, and then the two young men arrive bent on robbery and mayhem. However, the three perpetrators' childish and uninformed moral sense overshadows, and far exceeds, the nature of their violently evil actions, and this makes the impact all the more shocking. The viewer is forced to ponder, "What were they thinking"?, and, by the end of the film, you realize that not one of the three felons had the slightest clue as to the implications of their actions. A MUST SEE.

This 90's oeuvre of well-known French director Bertrand Tavernier is certainly one of the most impressive dramas about alienated youth in movie history. The way Nathalie and her friends (excellent performances, especially from lead actress Marie Gillain!) behave towards each other and the human beings they encounter and destroy on their long trip downhill, raises deep questions about contemporary ethics and moral values. The story, based on a true account, is depicted in a cold, almost documentary style, which makes it even more disturbing. Not for the squeamish!