Crime and tragedy. At 9:25 PM on Rai 1, tonight the film A Step Away from the Truth is airing, a Franco-Belgian production broadcasted in 2021 on TF1. Directed by Yves Rénier, it tells the story of Michel Fourniret, who in the early 2000s became infamous after being accused of being a serial killer.
Based on a true story already told in the book La mésange et l’ogresse by Harold Cobert (2017), the film retraces the police investigations that led to the conviction of the man, who died in May 2021, and who would come to be known as the more than eloquent nickname of “the ogre of the Ardennes.”
A Step Away from the Truth, the plot of the film tonight on Rai 1
On June 26, 2003 in Belgium the police arrested Michel Fourniret (Philippe Torreton). The man was handcuffed after attempting to kidnap a minor, who fortunately managed to escape in time and later recognized him once taken to the police station. When questioned, Fourniret denies all charges: he simply claims to have taken her home.
The police do not believe his version and link the incident to others that occurred in the past. Investigators are certain that Fourniret is not a novice at kidnapping; rather, they suspect he is a serial killer wanted for years in France. However, they have no evidence to support this theory. Initially the charges against Fourniret are not the most serious: the man risks at most a few months in prison. The potential serial killer shows no signs of yielding or providing useful details.
There is only one person who could prove useful for the investigations: Monique Olivier (Isabelle Gélinas), Fourniret’s wife. What does she know? Is she complicit? The questions multiply as investigators must answer the most pressing question. How to convince her to talk? They initiate a relentless hunt (la traque, not coincidentally the film’s original title) to make them crack.
“A Step Away from the Truth,” Philippe Torreton as Michel Fourniret (TF1).
The true story of Michel Fourniret, the ogre of the Ardennes
A Step Away from the Truth tells the judicial saga of Michel Fourniret, nicknamed “the ogre of the Ardennes.” The nickname comes from the French region, bordering Belgium, where he lived. The arrest dates back to 2003, but the confession only came a year later, in 2004, when he revealed to have murdered eight girls between the 1980s and the 2000s after abducting and raping them.
The plot revolves around the silence of the murderer and the figure of his wife, Monique Olivier. She was the one who reported him and thus brought the truth to light after discovering through the news that judges had convicted Michelle Martin, the wife of the serial killer Marc Dutroux, also known as the “monster of Marcinelle” – likely motivated by the fear of suffering the same fate.
Later, Fourniret was charged with murder, pedophilia, sexual violence, kidnapping, and concealing a corpse, which during the trial turned into a life sentence. The serial killer died on May 10, 2021. On several occasions, he acted in conjunction with his wife who, despite having reported him, was sentenced to life for being his accomplice in at least six murders.
A Step Away from the Truth, the differences between the film and the actual events
The saga of the ogre of the Ardennes resonated so widely that it became of international interest. A few years after the monster of Marcinelle, public opinion was once again in shock at the brutality and multitude of crimes committed by a single man against a host of young women. Eight murders are confirmed, but the French police have always suspected that the man was responsible for another five crimes committed between 1990 and 2000 in Belgium, France, Denmark, Germany, and the Netherlands.
The film, more than analyzing the true story of the confirmed victims, focuses on the figure of the killer and the police investigations. The credit for solving the cold cases later traced to Fourniret, in fact, is due to the intuition of the investigators and their determination to seek the truth. In A Step Away from the Truth, they are played by François-Xavier Demaison and Mélanie Bernier, in the roles of Commissioner Declerck and Captain Margaux Nielsen, respectively.
The cast also includes François-David Cardonnel (Joris Delhaye), Lilea Le Borgne (Louise Nielsen), Arnaud Henriet (Etienne Lambert), Juliette Poissonnier (Christine Lambert), Laurence Oltuski (Judith Colbert), Sylvain Charbonneau (the forensic doctor) and Lola Zidi-Rénier (Chloé).