The Professional

SDCE agent Josselin Beaumont is dispatched to Malagawi with a mission to assassinate Colonel N'Jala, the president-for-life who threatens French interests. He prepares for the operation, gathering intelligence and aligning with his contacts on the ground. The mission is pitched as a standard covert act, but it hinges on a favorable political climate.

Before action can be taken, the political winds shift in Paris. The French secret services decide they no longer want N'Jala killed and instead denounce Beaumont to the dictator, under orders from the Élysée. Beaumont is effectively sidelined as the operation collapses.

Beaumont is recalled, arrested, and subjected to a rapid trial. He is drugged into confession and condemned to forced labor in a brutal regime. The verdict seals his fate far from the operation he was sent to perform.

Beaumont endures two years of slavery, abuse, and torture in a Malagawi forced-labor camp as punishment for his failed mission. The ordeal tests his body and mind, shaping the resolve that will fuel his later revenge. He remains a captive with little hope of rescue.

Beaumont escapes from captivity and makes his way back to Paris, driven by a single obsession: to complete the mission he was denied and to avenge the betrayal by his own superiors. The return reopens old loyalties and enemies alike. He re-enters Paris with a plan to strike during N'Jala's next French visit.

Beaumont makes his plan known to himself and perhaps to allies: wait for N'Jala's diplomatic trip to France to strike when the dictator is most exposed. The plot reframes vengeance as a direct challenge to the top leadership and tests his loyalty to his own past.

Beaumont moves between his old life and his mission, visiting his wife Jeanne and his mistress Alice Ancelin, a fellow member of the secret services. The personal entanglements give him emotional cover as he hones the plan and taunts his former colleagues. The dual life heightens the tension around his real intentions.

Commissioner Rosen, head of the Repression and Intervention Brigade, leads the relentless pursuit but is outmatched. Beaumont defeats him in a brutal confrontation, eliminating a major obstacle to his plan. The success emboldens Beaumont to push forward.

To disappear from the hunt, Beaumont attributes Rosen's death to his own menacing alter ego and uses this ruse to slip away. He kidnaps Inspector Farges at the morgue as the detective comes to identify the presumed body. The ruse buys him precious time.

Beaumont closes in on N'Jala, who is sheltered at the Château de Ferrières. The final stage of the plan unfolds as he re-engages the dictator in a controlled trap. He aims to exploit the dictator's vulnerability and complete the mission.

In a carefully staged sequence, Beaumont presents an empty revolver to N'Jala and lures him toward a window. The tense moment anchors the climax as Farges misperceives the situation and fires. The stage is set for a final twist.

As Beaumont prepares to depart by helicopter with N'Jala's prostitute, a minister orders the stop. Martin transmits the order to Farges, who shoots Beaumont in the back, ending the mission and Beaumont's vendetta. The last act marks the price of institutional betrayal.