I’m of two minds about that subgenre we call the hero/heroine with “particular skills” thriller.

The parade of Liam Neeson/Jason Statham/John Cena et al action pictures where this mobster, that rogue government or rogue government agency or creepy neighbor crosses this or that mild-mannered man or woman who turns out to be ex-CIA, a retired Marine, a former assassin or Navy SEAL has worn out its welcome.

Somebody effs around, somebody finds out they’ve “Taken” the wrong relative, crossed the wrong professional mayhem-maker. Yawn.

It’s always more interesting when somebody a lot more ordinary is tested by an extraordinary situation, and by people ostensibly a lot more capable of what Mr. or Ms. In Over Their Heads is attempting. “Three Days of the Condor” is the template for this sort of film. A more recent example is the snowplow operator tracking down and avenging himself on his son’s mob killers — “In Order of Disappearance.”

Throwing somebody with one “particular skill” that doesn’t include violence, criminal or espionage subterfuge or the like? As an exercise in screenwriting problem-solving that’s almost always a fun film to watch. That’s why I have high hopes for Rami Malek’s upcoming spring fling, “The Amateur.”

Let’s hope that’s as good as the lurid, violent and tight-as-a-drum Belgian thriller, “Night Call.” A young man (Jonathan Feltre) is tricked, trapped and life-or-death tested by one long night at work.

Mady is a student, we gather, and a native-born Belgian with a thing for Petula Clark ’60s pop — in French. His night gig is as a locksmith. On this one night, that job will get him into trouble despite his best efforts to avoid it. And his “particular skills” and the tools of his trade will come in handy just enough to make you mutter, “clever, clever boy” at the screen and what writer-diector Michiel Blanchart has cooked-up for his feature filmmaking debut.

Mady’s the guy you summon when you’ve locked yourself out of your car, business or flat in the wee hours. He’s professional, courteous and honest. No, the quoted price — 250 Euros — is all you owe.

He’s also careful. The young woman named Claire (Natacha Krief) summons him to a Brussels flat she’s locked out of. She doesn’t have the €250. It’s in her purse, in her flat. With her keys. No, that’s where her ID is, too. As she’s flirted, just a bit, and the streets all around them are consumed by Black Lives Matter protests because Black people die at the hands of white cops in Belgium, too, he takes her word for it.

Mady might be the last to figure out that her last lie, about “taking out the trash” (in French with English subtitles) and hitting the ATM downstairs, is her get-away. When she rings him up and warns him to “Get OUT of there” (in French with subtitles) he’s still slow on the uptake.

That’s when the apartment’s real resident, a musclehead with a punching bag and lots of Nazi paraphrenalia on the walls, shows up and tries to beat Mady to death. He fails.

But can a young Black man call the possibly racist cops about what’s happened and have them believe him? Maybe not. It’s when he’s trying to “clean” the scene of the “crime” that he’s nabbed, and his night of hell escalates into torture, threats and attempts to escape from the mobster (Romain Duris at his most sadistic) in pursuit of stolen loot and the “real” thief, the elusive but somehow conscience-stricken “Claire.”

As Hitchcock always said, “Good villains make good thrillers.” Duris, recently seen in the French “The Three Musketeers” and “The Animal Kingdom,” famous for “The Spanish Apartment” and “Chinese Puzzle,”, is the classic thriller “reasonable man” heavy.

“Either you become a friend, or a problem,” his Yannick purrs, in between pulling the garbage bag off the suffocating kids’ head, only to wrap Mady’s face in duct tape, a more creative bit of asphyxiation.

The spice that Blanchart seasons his thriller with is the backdrop — street protests, with Black protesters furious that Mady isn’t joining them and riot police pummeling and arresting every Black face in sight. That’s jarringly contrasted by the oasis-of-calm subway and unconcerned discos where Mady chases clues and Claire.

A getaway on a stolen bicycle, dashing through streets and down into a subway station, suspense via frantic escapes, frantic bits of outwitting or outfighting crooks and cops, a decent confrontation with the not-cute-enough-to-excuse-all-this Claire and a satisfying “ticking clock” finale?

That’s what makes a good thriller. And if those “particular skills” show up here and there, at least we know Mady’s learned something on a job that if he lives to finish school, won’t be his career.

Rating: unrated, graphic violence, sex scenes in a brothel

Cast: Jonathan Feltre, Natacha Krief, Jonas Bloquet, Thomas Mustin and Romain Duris.

Credits: Scripted and directed by Michiel Blanchart. A Magnet release.

Running time: 1:37

Awards season is upon us once again, with this Sunday’s 82nd Golden Globe Awards kicking off the televised awards race that will consume Hollywood through the Academy Awards in March.

Here’s what you need to know about the star-studded bash, which touts itself as Hollywood’s party of the year:

What time is the show? Where and how to watch

The 82nd Golden Globes will air live on Sunday at 5 p.m. Pacific time on CBS and will be streamed live and on-demand on the network’s streaming platform Paramount+ in the U.S. for subscribers to Paramount+ With Showtime. Paramount+ Essential subscribers can watch it on-demand the next day.

The 2025 edition of the show, taking place at its usual haunt, the Beverly Hilton in Beverly Hills, will be the second ceremony for the organization since it came under new ownership in 2023 after a temporary fall from grace in 2021. That’s when a Times investigation uncovered a significant lack of diversity in the Hollywood Foreign Press Assn.’s membership and highlighted troubling ethics and financial misconduct. The report and the subsequent reorganization cast a pall on the show, evaporating its famous party atmosphere. The Globes’ original organizing body later was dissolved and converted into a for-profit enterprise.

Who’s nominated?

The Globes, which recognize a selection of projects across film, television and music (from movies), announced this year’s nominees in early December, with the Spanish-language film “Emilia Pérez” and FX’s chef-led series “The Bear” topping the nominees for movie and TV, respectively.

The Mexico-set “Emilia Pérez,” which stars Selena Gomez, Zoe Saldaña, Karla Sofía Gascón and Adriana Paz, scored 10 nominations. It was followed by “The Brutalist,” a drama starring Adrien Brody about a Hungarian emigré architect in America, with seven nods. The film category is divided between drama and musical/comedy. TV is separated into three categories: drama, comedy, and series, anthology series or TV movie.

EGOT winner Viola Davis has been named the recipient of the Golden Globes’ 2025 Cecil B. DeMille Award, a career honor that will be presented during a gala dinner at the Beverly Hilton on Friday. “Cheers” alum and three-time Golden Globe winner Ted Danson will be honored with the Carol Burnett Award, recognizing his “outstanding contributions to television on or off screen.”

The major nominees are:

Motion picture, drama

“The Brutalist”
“A Complete Unknown”
“Conclave”
“Dune: Part Two”
“Nickel Boys”
“September 5”

Motion picture, musical or comedy

“Anora”
“Challengers”
“Emilia Pérez”
“A Real Pain”
“The Substance”
“Wicked”

Television series, drama

“The Day of the Jackal”
“The Diplomat”
“Mr. & Mrs. Smith”
“Shōgun”
“Slow Horses”
“Squid Game”

Television series, musical or comedy

“Abbott Elementary”
“The Bear”
“The Gentlemen”
“Hacks”
“Nobody Wants This”
“Only Murders in the Building”

Television limited series, anthology series or motion picture made for television

“Baby Reindeer”
“Disclaimer”
“Monsters: The Lyle and Erik Menendez Story”
“The Penguin”
“Ripley”
“True Detective: Night Country”

Who’s hosting?

Comedian Nikki Glaser will emcee Sunday’s Golden Globes ceremony.

(Jennifer Rose Clasen)

Nikki Glaser is making history as the first woman to host the Golden Globes on her own. Fellow comics Jo Koy, Ricky Gervais and Jerrod Carmichael have hosted in recent years, as well as the duo of Amy Poehler and Tina Fey. The self-deprecating Glaser won over audiences with her brand of comedy during last year’s live “Roast of Tom Brady.”

In a recent interview with The Times, Glaser said she learned a lot from the roast about how to approach big events like the Globes.

“I now know I can show up, and given the right amount of time leading up to it, kill it the way I did before,” she said, noting that she’s approaching the ceremony the same way she did the roast: by watching everything.

“I’m consuming and trying to find what my opinions are about these people and these projects. I’m really just trying to immerse myself in that world. I’m trying to do a lot of visualization of what it’s gonna be like to walk out there too. Who am I gonna see? Thinking about what the tone I want to hit is and thinking about overall goals of the evening,” she said.

Her goal: to walk off the stage after the monologue and then feel like the rest of the show is “a cakewalk.”

“I’m gonna make headlines for the right reasons of maybe saying some shocking things, but not upsetting anyone,” she said. “You know, I’m not going to have to avoid anyone at the afterparty. The most successful thing I can do is just say the things I want to say. Speak some truth, possibly get some groans, claps, and ‘Whoa, she went there.’ I’m not up there to call anyone out or make some audacious political statement. I just want to have a good set.”

Who’s going to be there?

Aside from the majority of this year’s crop of nominees, additional celebrities will be on hand, including past winners and those trying to promote their latest projects. Here’s who has been announced to present at the ceremony:

• Andrew Garfield
• Anthony Mackie
• Anthony Ramos
• Anya Taylor-Joy
• Ariana DeBose
• Aubrey Plaza
• Auliʻi Cravalho
• Awkwafina
• Brandi Carlile
• Catherine O’Hara
• Colin Farrell
• Colman Domingo
• Demi Moore
• Dwayne Johnson
• Édgar Ramírez
• Elton John
• Gal Gadot
• Glenn Close
• Jeff Goldblum
• Jennifer Coolidge
• Kaley Cuoco
• Kate Hudson
• Kathy Bates
• Ke Huy Quan
• Kerry Washington
• Margaret Qualley
• Melissa McCarthy
• Michael Keaton
• Michelle Yeoh
• Miles Teller
• Mindy Kaling
• Morris Chestnut
• Nate Bargatze
• Nicolas Cage
• Rachel Brosnahan
• Rob McElhenney
• Salma Hayek Pinault
• Sarah Paulson
• Seth Rogen
• Sharon Stone
• Vin Diesel
• Viola Davis
• Zoë Kravitz

Times staff writer Tracy Brown contributed to this report.

‘Cunk on Earth’ (2023), a mockumentary series on BBC, was hailed for its laugh-aloud mockery of pretentious documentaries and Morgan’s razor-sharp comedic timing — British droll at its very best.