The Wolf's Call (2019) Movie Script
1
NETFLIX PRESENTS
Human beings come in three kinds:
the living,
the dead,
and those who go to sea.
Aristotle
COAST OF SYRIA - TARTUS
One happy fishing boat.
That's merchant vessel 14,
still at slow speed.
Sorry.
I'd rather listen to the blue water.
Tired, Socks?
The name's Chanteraide, thanks.
Incoming transmission
on the swimmers' frequency.
Uniform.
Uniform. Bravo.
Ok, swimmers in position.
Stand by to dive.
Request confirmation of pickup.
- XO?
- Copy.
Run a sit-rep first.
Merchant vessel close, bearing 1-6-0.
Christened 14.
- 1,000 m, matched.
- Confirmed.
- Fishing boat, 1-9-0.
- 100 m, opening.
- Matched.
- Surface all clear
What's that?
Shit!
Frigate! Bearing 1-5-0.
Just started moving.
Contact. Frigate, bearing 1-5-1.
Send it over.
Holding on frigate at 8,000 m, 3 knots,
course 3-5-0.
- Keep on it.
- Copy.
Socks, give us more. Classification?
It transmitted with Polinom sonar
so the vessel must be Udaloy class.
- Or modified Udaloy.
- So, Russian.
Wait, I have ears on its prop.
Dry cavitation.
Galloping horse.
104 rpm. Counting blades.
Seven blades, so not Russian.
Iranian frigate.
Zarathustra, to be precise.
An Iranian vessel in Syrian waters?
Zarathustra is a heck of a toy.
Rapid, well-armed.
Torpedoes, rocket launchers, grenades.
And one hell of an active sonar.
High risk of detection.
Plotter!
When are we in its range?
Contact Zarathustra, bearing 1-5-4.
In one minute.
How long to swimmer pickup?
Four minutes.
Hairy picking them up
next to an Iranian frigate.
Could be fun.
Listen up!
Priority is avoiding counterdetection
by the frigate.
Assume Ultra-Quiet State.
Slippers on, not a sound.
Assume Ultra-Quiet State.
Swimmer pickup through torpedo tubes.
Copy that.
Delta, this is Control.
Clear tubes 3 and 4.
Flood the tubes
to recover swimmers, locking inboard.
This is Delta, copy.
XO, acoustics favourable.
We should slip through undetected.
Maybe ask Kiwi
to quit vacuuming Delta Section.
It's raising hell on sonar.
Delta, kill the vacuum.
It annoys our Golden Ear.
Copy.
Anything else?
Sure, the galley. As always.
Shit, guys, porn flicks for breakfast.
Mother Nature's remit.
At least, the hull's not vibrating.
Ask the CO to come to Control.
Captain, we're three minutes
from swimmer pickup.
Iranian frigate detected.
No counterdetection but it's tight.
Tubes 3 and 4 rigged for them.
Suggest confirming pickup to swimmers.
- Very good. Confirm.
- Copy, sir.
Check this trace.
It gives nothing on audio.
Uniform.
Wait.
Sea bottom noise.
- VTWA!
- Video Trace Without Audio!
I repeat, VTWA!
- On the 5.
- Bearing 3-5-5.
Track it.
Maybe something in the trace.
Very weak, shifting.
Very slow rhythm.
Four beats.
4-blade prop, weird.
- Just a cargo ship. We're good.
- No.
Slender trace, so it's running silent.
Gotta be a sub.
- There are no 4-blade subs.
- I know.
Hold on, transient sound, same trace.
Decide, this isn't the UN.
Hear it?
Got the transient
but for me it's biological.
- Sperm whale?
- A sick one.
I don't want poetry.
Whale or not? Sub or not?
The pickup is a go or not?
- Analysing.
- Move it!
- Quit fussing.
- Sonar.
Well-run, a sub is quieter than the sea.
The swimmers!
Romeo.
Receiving code urgent.
- They're in danger. Captain?
- Stand by.
I want Golden Ear's classification first.
Sir, blue procedure.
Break away and come back in six hours.
Classify it!
Something or nothing? Moving or not?
It's no game. Speed it up.
Come on, Socks!
Four blades, so not a sub.
But way too silent to be a cargo ship.
Concentrate, Chanteraide.
Go with your instinct.
For me, it's nothing.
Just another sperm whale.
- We're overthinking.
- Back off.
SIGNATURE UNKNOWN
I trust you.
Ok, it's not a submarine.
I declassify.
Good, no sub. Let's go!
- Chops, confirm pickup.
- Copy.
Confirmed. Swimmers will be at pickup.
A sperm whale sub! Some golden ear!
In position, one minute!
Captain takes the boat.
Sonar, bearing of the ping?
Swimmers bearing 0-4-0. Come right.
Confirmed. On the ping.
Closing on datum Charlie 2.
- Go!
- Come right 15. Bearing 0-4-5.
- Come right 15. Bearing 0-4-5.
- Copy.
Helm, come right 15. Bearing 0-4-5.
Very good.
0-1-0.
0-2-0.
0-3-0.
Bearing 0-4-5.
- Very good.
- 1,300 m from swimmers.
In five seconds, engine astern 3.
- Go!
- Engine astern 3, reduce speed over 200m.
Engine astern 3 adjusted.
Speed 5 knots.
4.8 knots, 4.5...
Shit!
Your sick sperm whale?
Transient.
It's back and it's no cargo ship.
Possible sub, bearing 3-4-7.
Coming left, four blades.
- No sub has four blades.
- I know.
Poss-sub, bearing 3-4-7!
I want a solution in five seconds!
Five seconds for the solution.
Silence! Possible sub!
- Solution?
- Solution on poss-sub, at 2-2-0.
Speed 5 knots. 3,000 m.
Better solution.
5.5 knots for 2,900 m plotted.
Solution adopted.
Christened Sierra.
Sierra adopted.
Classify poss-sub, bearing 2-1-0.
2,900 m, 5.5 knots.
Getting a blade beat.
Glug-glug cavitation!
Poss-sub level 2 for Sierra.
3-4-6 for Sierra.
Identify it!
No more fuckups.
It's deviated!
Level 3. Poss-sub 3 for Sierra.
Classified poss-sub 3!
Unidentified sub means Echo procedure.
Break away.
Swimmer pickup is our mission.
Speed it up!
Sonar, keep tight on Sierra.
- Torpedo, make ready a tube.
- Tube 1!
Sir, 70 rpm, could be Chinese.
4-blade Chinese? No.
I know it's a stretch
but maybe Russian Cougar.
- The Cougar isn't operational yet.
- Exactly.
I don't see what else.
Four blades, it's something new.
Sick sperm whale? Baby cougar?
You're losing it!
We need you. Focus and identify.
Get to work!
Shit.
Baby cougar transmits encrypted.
Sir, I can't demodulate.
It's giving us to the Iranian.
- The wolf's call.
- The Iranian?
- Their active sonar. It's detected us.
- XO...
- Close up action stations.
- Action stations!
Let's go, guys!
Control, action stations. Put it out!
Action stations!
Get that kit on!
Engine ahead 5.
Control! Action stations closed up!
So, never let Socks classify
without triple-checking.
- What's that?
- A cuckoo!
Don't let me see a scrap of skin!
Gloves not good!
It'll pass right over us.
Sir, with the chopper buzzing us,
break away.
Swimmers can't come in the tubes.
I can't hold station under a chopper.
Match in 700 m.
Adopted. In 700 m.
It's hopeless, we gotta go.
- Where's the RPG the swimmers left?
- The unilateral?
Go get it!
Wolf's call, bearing 3-5-5.
Sonar flooded. Fixing our position.
What depth to escape their sonar?
Three splashes on sonar!
Depth charges!
- Back from the screen!
- Shield your eyes!
Damage reports to Control!
Check all systems!
We've lost sonar.
Damage report? Do we have prop and helm?
We've got the helm.
Alert systems active? Sonar in how long?
Alert systems active.
In less than one minute, he's back.
- Stand by to dive.
- No, surface!
- That's suicide.
- With a chopper sitting on us!
Sir, the RPG!
Get the automatic! Surface now!
- I'll go.
- No, me!
XO, take the boat!
We don't know the RPG works.
XO takes the boat.
Engine ahead 6.
Take her up. It'll be bumpy.
Ahead 6, take her up.
Blow all ballast!
Climbing.
Surface in 50 metres!
40 metres!
30 metres!
Chopper holding station.
Fixing our position.
Christened Hotel 3.
I can't unlock it!
Fire!
- XO, swimmers closing.
- Engines to zero.
- Shoot here!
- Fire!
No!
... worse hour by hour.
Finland calls for international support
against two Russian divisions
that invaded its southern tip
yesterday morning.
Europe's capitals are resigned
to total apathy from America.
The president of the Commission announced
that Russia's aggression
should not go "unanswered".
So this evening, what does Russia want?
Are we at war?
FOUR BLADES
From the whole crew of the Titan.
To France's best CO.
Thanks.
Sorry about that classification.
I'll find what it was.
Put it out of your mind.
We're small cogs in a big machine.
Rest up now.
I can't even close my eyes.
Without hearing the wolf's call.
Damn sonar!
The wolf's call.
That'll be my soundtrack
when I check out.
For the Titan...
To the Titan!
Come in.
Morning, captain.
Captain, I request permission
to continue research ashore
and confirm my hypothesis
about that transient.
Your hypotheses are done, Chanteraide.
It's our job to take over analysis.
Russian Cougar? Blind alley.
It's no time to dump on the Russians.
It's a powder keg.
So what was the transient?
Most likely, a drone.
I thought of that too.
But I heard an epicycloidal reducer.
Drones don't have reducers.
And there was life on board.
I heard it.
Well, you...
You hear life. Great.
We calculate. Calculations work.
We identified the drone model.
The constructor.
The signature. It all checks out.
I've revoked your database access.
I don't understand, sir.
I'm just asking to look.
- I promised captain Grandchamp...
- Bullshit promises.
Your flawed classification
nearly cost us a submarine.
Here at CIRA, we hang our heads in shame.
Once and for all, Chanteraide,
this is the military.
Not art school.
Morning, captain.
- What does he want?
- It's the chopper, I guess.
We're in shit, right?
Check flies.
All clear.
You heard the President's speech?
Morning, admiral.
At ease.
One lemon, two lemons, three lemons.
Jackpot.
First lemon.
You provoke a crisis in Syria.
Based on a flawed classification.
Result...
A chopper downed in blue water.
Our sub barely makes it back.
Plus the chief of staff flips his lid.
A biggie.
Second lemon.
The President dispatches
ground forces to Finland.
The Russians threaten our ambassador
with an atomic warning.
First time ever,
all lines of communication down.
Third lemon.
Presidential orders
to reinforce our posture.
In other words,
one nuclear ballistic sub in the water.
Effective immediately.
So three lemons in a row. Jackpot?
Gentlemen, cancel your turkey orders.
Fact is, you guys pulled off
an act of incredible bravery.
When I commanded Titan,
I'd have done the same.
So,
Grandchamp...
you are promoted
to a nuclear ballistic missile submarine.
The Navy's pride and joy is yours.
The Formidable.
Make immediate preparations.
A 10-week patrol, give or take.
Admiral,
I promised my wife not to sail again.
Grandchamp,
we're at alert level 6.
Deterrence for now. No more, no less.
But those submarines are my children.
Only the best will do for them.
Whatever a president says.
Remember when I recruited you?
I said that one day I'd be thanking you.
At your command, admiral.
D'Orsi,
you take command of Titan.
You have a problem with that?
- At your command, admiral.
- Very good.
You'll escort Formidable
until it goes stealth in blue water.
Then await instructions.
Conversation ended.
A 3RD FAILURE WILL RESULT IN ALERT.
At CIRA, we listen,
we analyse and we interpret.
We listen, we analyse and we interpret.
After 60 days at sea?
Don't you have a wife
to walk in the woods?
Top secret.
A wet noise.
A feeling of mass.
May I introduce...
A wet noise.
May I introduce
my wife.
- My wife!
- Beatrice.
Hello.
BEATRICE7.
A 3RD FAILURE WILL RESULT IN ALERT.
Change your password.
Or your wife.
"Drone F-15.
"Analysis by Fourier Transform."
"Fourier Transform."
Harmonic Spectra.
- It's a classic.
- Never heard of it.
Not my field.
Ask my colleague who's in tomorrow.
It's urgent, actually.
- Virginie? Diane's in?
- Upstairs.
- I'll go see. Maybe she'll know.
- Thanks.
Was it you, looking for a book?
Diane, the bookshop owner.
But I can come back later.
No...
Sure, sorry, yes.
The Maths book. That's me.
- Harmonic Spectra?
- Yes.
The database says we have it.
But I can't find it right now.
Can you come back tomorrow morning?
At what time tonight?
Say,
when is my meeting with that publisher?
Sorry about the book.
In theory, I had it.
Turns out, not.
Why a book on spectral harmonies?
To analyse a sound.
You're a musician?
- I should've guessed.
- No, not a musician, an AWA.
Sorry...
Acoustic Warfare Analyst.
No kidding.
In real terms, what is acoustic warfare?
Is it dangerous?
It's identification
of acoustic manifestations.
Sound signals.
Sounds.
You have perfect pitch?
Yes, but it's irrelevant.
That's something else.
Alright.
Sorry.
It's intrusive. We don't know each other.
No problem.
- My actual first name is Prairie.
- Sorry?
My parents thought
it was a typically French name.
In fact, it sounds weird.
So here I go by Diane.
Prairie?
Alright.
Sorry, what did...
I can't...
hear a thing.
The military is redeploying defence forces
with the mobilisation
of three infantry regiments.
Two squadrons of fighter pilots
are on constant alert.
A nuclear ballistic missile submarine
will soon leave port.
Its departure from Brest is imminent
and its route is top secret.
Michael, can Europe
assure its own defence?
That's the big question.
Many wonder
if Finland is worth dying for.
The President has made a decision.
"It is not a question
of dying for Finland,
"but saving the very idea of Europe,"
he declared a few hours ago
at the Brussels summit.
So that's acoustic warfare.
I'm trying to get my head around
you living in there.
Stroke of luck, meeting me.
Thank goodness
we couldn't find your Maths book.
Hold on...
You knew all along you didn't have it?
You planned it.
What?
No.
It was in my database.
We never clear the database,
that's the problem.
You don't believe me?
We have a procedure
that deletes automatically.
A procedure to delete what?
Books?
Dismantled submarines.
They're deleted
from the operational database.
But not from the physical archives.
EX-SOVIET BLOC
That's it.
Paired double prop.
That explains the four blades
and the transient.
Timour III.
The Soviet terror.
The hell they scrapped it.
You're out of your mind.
Captain...
Look!
Your cellphone.
You are under arrest.
Check that file.
Captain!
The transient is not a drone.
It's a Russian nuclear sub. Timour III.
Four blades, the same transient.
Identical acoustic signatures.
Including the asymmetry
due to shaft wear.
Decommissioned years ago, in theory.
In fact stowed away by the Russians.
Until deletion from our database
by the procedure.
And years later, there it is.
Untouched.
Unclassified, incognito.
Captain!
Shit!
Your analysis checks out.
The Brits faced the same rogue situation,
same transient.
Cross-referencing data
leads us to the Timour III.
Which sheds a different light
on your conduct,
even if it remains
technically reprehensible.
After discussions with the Admiral,
this goes no further.
This time.
It rankles to tell you,
but you may end up
on a nuclear ballistic missile sub.
Formidable's captain wants you aboard.
Formidable's captain wants me?
I don't know him.
The new one, you do.
Grandchamp.
He threw a hissy fit to get you.
Don't get over-excited.
There's a test first.
The Admiral has the last word.
Get into uniform. Training starts today.
Yes, sir.
Russian sonar, low frequency. Type Shark.
Vessel?
K-138.
New generation.
Plus five dolphins, two babies.
Something there.
Submarine.
Nuclear propulsion.
Attack submarine.
Not American.
Not British.
It could be the Kiev.
No, there's an egg-whisk tone.
Nuclear ballistic missile submarine.
SSBN.
Before going stealth.
If it had gone stealth,
you wouldn't hear it, Socks.
Even the machine wouldn't detect it.
Anyway...
FYI, it's...
Formidable.
Really?
Not Invincible?
They're identical, constructed together.
Check spectral analysis.
Formidable first.
Then the other.
You see any difference?
Was Formidable's turbine remachined
due to damage?
The dream team.
- Ok, Socks?
- D'Orsi.
Sorry, admiral, didn't see you.
Well...
Chanteraide, confirmed.
Boarding tomorrow, 4 am.
Well played, son.
- You did your medical?
- All good.
Not on antidepressants?
Shows up in your urine.
The SSBN
isn't the Love Boat.
The mission is, ready to fire
in under an hour on presidential orders.
You're the country's life insurance.
Copy that.
3,000 years of civilisation
did not bring peace.
Only deterrence...
Effective deterrence depends on
sailors keeping quiet.
"Diwel didrouz maro pa denn."
What's that?
The SSBN motto.
Your new home.
"Invisible and silent, I bring death."
Good luck, son.
Keep on the PIM.
Captain.
Titan, red company.
Attention!
Eyes front.
Company mustered and correct.
At your command, sir.
Welcome aboard.
Formidable blue company, attention!
XO,
take over.
XO, take over.
At ease.
Attention!
Roll call. Respond present and board.
- Abbad!
- Present.
- Aboulker!
- Present.
The doc found cannabis
in your urine sample.
He declared you unfit to serve.
I will not challenge it.
I must be able to rely on each man
operating at 100%.
Captain Grandchamp aboard!
Stop! Gates closing.
Fortress procedure!
Loc, give me a hand!
Move!
Coming through.
- What's going on?
- Nuke R-30. Fired from Bering Sea.
The Russians are moving!
Keep the info coming.
Faster!
President's office.
The President is at Jupiter Command.
Upgrade to alert level 10.
Tell Grandchamp to go stealth immediately.
Keep the info coming!
25 minutes left.
FORTRESS PROCEDURE ACTIVATED
Formidable at 6,000 m, opening.
Copy.
Very good.
What's that trace, north?
Nothing. The 15.
Identify contact 11.
We have 11, bearing 2-3-9.
Echo, Foxtrot.
Echo, X-ray.
Formidable assuming stealth mode,
thanks us for our company
and wishes us the best.
Salute Formidable's formidability
and wish her well.
Copy, captain.
Plotting priority on 12.
Mission accomplished.
No further instructions.
If not on watch, stand down.
Guys...
Now or never for a workout or shower.
Or even both.
In the right order.
Formidable, bearing 0-2-3. Losing her.
NATO satellites confirm impact
on French territory.
- Paris spoke to the US?
- They say it's 100% Russian.
Coming from Russian waters
doesn't make it Russian.
Russia signals it's not them.
It's not like they'd admit it.
Paris orders not to raise the alarm,
while impact can be avoided.
By interception with a ballistic missile.
They've tested that system?
- No.
- Clay-pigeon shooting.
I hate clay-pigeon shooting.
Sir, our sub in the Bering Sea says
it recorded missile launch.
- Launch vessel had a four-blade prop.
- Four blades?
Timour III. Put it on that machine.
I want its signature.
Where's CIRA and his ears?
Not inside here.
Fuck, we need him now!
We have no one to listen?
Admiral...
Socks, what the hell?
Isn't it spliff time?
Grab a seat and listen in.
Better and better.
I'm sending sub and launch audio.
Well?
I have audio.
Yes, that's Timour III.
You're sure?
- Grandchamp's in stealth mode?
- Affirmative.
Transmit info to the Chief of Staff.
Russian launch confirmed.
Here we go.
Buckle up.
Depth 500 m.
Captain, clear ahead, bearing 1-5-3.
Anti-tracking manoeuvres complete.
We're undetectable.
Very good.
Engine ahead 2.
- Assume Patrol Quiet State.
- Ahead 2.
All compartments,
assume Patrol Quiet State.
Report to Control.
- Machine room, copy.
- Torpedo section, copy.
Two incoming messages for CO and XO.
Superencrypted messages.
On my way for decryption.
XO.
Captain.
IMMEDIATE LAUNCH ORDER
J19.
6ZFU.
Authenticated.
K08.
AVY0.
Authenticated.
Initiating ballistic missile interception.
Arming launch pad.
Adjusting launch azimuth.
I have the R-30 recording.
Interceptor ready for launch.
Ten...
Nine...
Eight...
Seven...
Six...
Five...
- Four...
- Something's off with the R-30 launch.
One...
Interceptor launched.
Target at 150 km.
100 km.
50 km.
20 km.
Interceptor and missile intersect in...
Ten... Nine...
Eight...
Seven... Six...
Five... Four...
Three... Two...
One...
R-30 missile destruction failed.
Mission failed.
Estimated impact zone?
Update the scenario. Let's go!
- Admiral, an anomaly.
- What?
- There's a...
- Spit it out!
Missile first-stage separation is off.
- The booster should...
- Chanteraide!
Too late.
Admiral, I...
I've heard R-30 launches.
This is not one.
Not with a payload, at least.
Who let him in?
Check the spectral.
Is he high?
Please, just take a look.
Cut the crap here!
Go and listen!
Well?
He's right.
Weight-resistance ratio is off.
- The issue's the weight.
- Too heavy or light?
Too light. 20%.
No nuclear warhead?
Yes. That explains the ratio.
Come on. You too, Socks.
Get me the Chief of Staff
at Jupiter Command.
Admiral, can you hold?
No, get a message to him. It's urgent!
Suspend communications.
Incoming and outgoing.
Yes, sir.
Control to Radio, comms suspended.
Do not copy.
This is the captain.
A major attack is ongoing
on French territory.
Our orders have changed.
The President has ordered me
to effect a counterstrike.
I authenticated the order
with the executive officer.
XO, here.
I confirm authentication
of the President's orders.
Admiral?
General, a submarine
heard the R-30 launch in the Bering.
My analysts assert
nuclear payload is absent.
I repeat. The missile is empty.
You vouch for your analysts?
Yes.
Three hypotheses...
- General, Washington calling!
- I'll take it.
- General!
- Sorry, admiral, the Secretary of State.
Shit!
Why would the Russians
fire an empty missile?
A counterstrike is inevitable.
It's absurd!
- General?
- Equation's changed.
According to the Americans,
Two years ago, funds were wired
to an ex-Russian admiral,
formerly in command of the Pacific fleet.
120 million euros.
The going rate for a submarine?
For a scrapped Timour III, sure.
Via various offshore accounts,
the money came from Al-Jadida.
The US forgot to mention it.
- The Timour III is in jihadist hands?
- Looks that way.
That's why there's no nuclear payload.
And we have riposted.
They're triggering nuclear war.
Very smart.
I'll get back to you.
The perfect trap.
Down to the Timour III
buzzing you in Syria.
To be sure
we'd peg the launch on the Russians.
It was all so we'd reclassify it?
General?
I'm with the President. Cancel the strike.
The Navy has procedures
that we respect unfortunately.
But there is no procedure
for recalling an SSBN strike.
It's the principle of deterrence.
I know that.
Try to contact the submarine captain.
From reception of the strike order,
the sub's captain
must consider anyone who intervenes
as potentially working for the enemy.
Nobody can prevent Grandchamp
from launching that missile.
Not me, not you.
Not even the President.
Our only option
is to neutralise the captain.
General, I am under your command
but I cannot do what I cannot do.
How long before Grandchamp launches?
Less than one hour.
It's that or apocalypse.
From now on, our sole priority
is this strategic strike.
It's a turning-point in history.
We have all trained
for this situation.
The time has come
to do our duty. Your duty.
Formidable, blue company,
I'm relying on you. Over and out.
I spent my life
teaching kids to respect the procedure.
To keep the country safe,
trust the system.
Now I neutralise those kids?
Action stations!
You're head of our nuclear force.
Grandchamp will listen.
If we abandon procedure,
our deterrence will be discredited.
Grandchamp cannot obey me.
I could be manipulated.
It's why there's the procedure.
Admiral, you say it year after year.
It's drilled into us.
"If it happens,
there'll be doubts and decoys.
"And men demanding we recall..."
Hundreds of millions of lives
are at risk!
- Don't crack!
- Cut it out!
You think I don't know?
Formidable's gone stealth.
We've no idea where.
It just went stealth.
It can't be far from Titan.
No sonar can detect it.
What do you suggest?
It's now, admiral.
No, admiral.
Couldn't you wear normal shoes
on a day like this?
Base was out of them?
Going to the dogs.
Not surprising coming from you.
Didn't you spend three months
in a sub in your socks?
You certainly earned your nickname.
Nice. What goes around comes around.
Admiral, this is CIRA.
R-30 impact in the Compigne forest.
No damage reported.
No nuclear warhead.
Admiral, to what do I owe the honour?
To all hands, this is Alfost!
We fell into a trap.
Formidable was ordered
to fire a nuclear missile at Russia.
If the missile is launched,
the Russians counter.
I'll let you join the dots.
What I'm about to say
is hard to take in, and harder to say.
Our priority
is to stop Grandchamp launching.
By all means necessary.
This defies procedure, why trust you?
Your Captain speaking.
Action stations!
In position.
Formidable's last known position?
They went stealth in sector 7.
Sector 7?
In his shoes, where'd you go?
Grandchamp is pure reason.
He calculates for optimal outcomes.
Optimal in this case?
First up, whatever saves lives.
Saves lives? Meaning?
With nuclear missiles,
to avoid collateral damage
you reset position at launch?
It's not protocol but...
To keep the hit clean,
it's best to fix position before launch.
He'll do that.
For sure.
But he can't surface.
He needs a magic point.
Bring up nearby magic points.
- Magic points?
- True, we don't have them.
Only SSNBs do.
I commanded an SSNB. I need to remember.
Sector 7.
Sector 8, two of them.
Mapped peaks.
Calypso here and Circe here.
ETA?
Calypso, for him, ten minutes.
For us, 13.
- Too late.
- Circe...
We arrive pretty much simultaneously.
We need him to go for Circe.
Circe.
- Chops...
- Admiral?
Transmit to base
to send two aircraft over Calypso.
They cover the sea
with sonobuoys and crank it up.
See if the octopuses like AC/DC.
Yes, sir.
Transmitting code 5, confirmed Alfost.
Grandchamp winds up in a moshpit
and has to swing over to Circe.
XO, take us to Circe.
Romeo.
Plotter, bearing to Circe?
Alpha.
2-3-2.
CALYPSO MAGIC POIN 47N 8W
Analysis?
Sonobuoys. Type Dicasse.
Lots of them.
Dicasse, that's our Navy. What the hell!
It's weird.
It's gotta be Alfost.
Captain?
Distance from Magic Point 2?
Circe, 6,000 m at 2-8-4.
Captain takes the boat.
Set course 2-8-4. Ahead 5.
Captain, someone's messing with us.
Maybe we should fire with less precision.
Time's short.
No, we continue the sequence.
- I'll be in position.
- Very good.
Missile room. Running checks.
Magic point 2,500 m.
Why no insignia?
Don't you want to die looking good?
What's this eyesore? You need comfort?
You're ballet dancers?
If the computer's bust,
why isn't it replaced?
Because this is France.
Only one works.
Arriving at Circe. Let's reset now.
- Chops, take over.
- Yes, sir.
Stand by to reset.
Ready.
Reset.
Reset complete.
Position margin of error, 100 m.
Optimal margin reached.
Attain launch depth.
When we're there, we fire the missile.
Waking missile.
Magic point 1,000 m. Entering reset zone.
At this distance,
try the underwater phone.
Wait!
Do that and it's simple.
They'll hear and locate us.
Either they answer or they apply protocol
and torpedo us.
Stand by to engage.
Heuristic, as methods go.
Quit the philosophy.
Yes, sir.
But it's Grandchamp.
- Torpedo, prepare to fire.
- Copy.
Tubes one to four ready.
Transmitting by TUUM.
Copy that. TUUM.
As soon as you hear a sound,
give the alert.
Copy.
I have three frequencies, no bearing.
- Check the lawn.
- Marked frequencies?
Yes. Possible submarine.
Watch out, poss-sub!
Control, get me the XO.
XO, get back here to Control.
Poss-sub contact.
Copy that.
Examine each trace.
TUUM!
The poss-sub. Plot it.
Bearing on TUUM? Cross-check.
- 0-2-8.
- Bearing 0-2-8!
- 1,000 m.
- Torpedo standing by.
Bravo Charlie 3.
This is Zulu Delta 4.
Do you copy?
Zulu Delta 4, that's Titan. We take it.
Captain, we have orders to launch.
There are rules.
- No TUUM.
- It's D'Orsi. My men!
Why's he want us to transmit?
- To detect us.
- D'Orsi wouldn't do that.
Why did they surface earlier?
Someone boarded. Who?
This is Zulu Delta 4.
Do you copy?
Do you copy?
The President's order is irrevocable.
This is Zulu Delta 4.
Deactivate TUUM.
Captain to crew!
We continue launch procedure.
200 m from launch depth.
In any case, it's impossible.
Formidable, stealth, Grandchamp.
Three lemons.
Slightly stronger background noise.
No engine information.
No information is information.
It's him.
Bearing 2-3-9.
- Formidable at 2-3-9.
- Maximum distance 1,200 m.
At that distance, he heard our call.
He's ready to launch.
We have no choice but to engage first.
Hold on, I...
I've lost him.
Shit!
Find him, Chanteraide.
Time's burning up. Let's go!
Come on, Chanteraide.
Death's only beauty is victory.
We must engage.
We must engage!
I'm trying.
We must engage.
I can't do it.
Son, come back here.
Get the other AWA. Stay focused.
- They're our brothers.
- No!
They're sailors with orders to launch.
Come on, we have them.
They're right there.
Come on.
Control,
prep torpedo tube for underwater vehicle.
- What for?
- To talk to Grandchamp.
You knock in Morse, he lets you in?
Your options, besides firing?
The pressure's too extreme.
Titan submariners love pressure.
Bullshit! This is real life!
With that logic in Syria, we'd be dead.
I know what I'm doing.
Take care of Titan.
They're my children, too.
D'Orsi.
Good luck.
Track him.
Stay focused. Come on!
Delta section, prep vehicle.
No questions asked.
Last chance.
Very strange noise, bearing 0-1-5.
Like a propeller with flippers.
A combat swimmer.
Clearly, Titan is hostile
and its manoeuvres are offensive.
We must engage.
Captain?
Torpedoes ready.
Standing by to engage, captain.
Engage Titan!
Fire!
Delta section!
Fire in Delta section!
Masks on!
Admiral, hull's intact.
We're watertight
but fire in Delta section.
Send more men to Delta.
- We've lost Formidable.
- White noise.
Need a fixed position!
Where's D'Orsi?
Only your ears can save us.
I trust you.
Chanteraide! Breathe!
Inserting splice.
All clear?
Standing by.
Very good.
Weapons officer?
When you're ready, sir.
Control, this is XO.
Ready to enter President's code.
Copy that.
Captain,
when you're ready.
Countdown to enter President's code.
Ten... Nine...
Enter President's code.
Code confirmed.
Code confirmed.
Three minutes!
Let's go.
Silence!
Missile alignment underway.
Maintain course.
- I repeat, maintain course.
- Copy.
Helm is at 2-7-0.
Open missile door!
Copy.
Torpedo.
Torpedo alert!
Fired by Titan. Captain, break away.
Negative. Alignment underway.
- How long to launch?
- 160 secs!
- How long to torpedo impact?
- 120 secs.
- Torpedo is wire-guided.
- We must break away.
Let's make that wire snap. Torpedo!
Engage Titan!
Urgent launch, tube 2!
Bearing 0-5-9!
TORPEDO FIRED
Torpedo alert!
Headed straight for us, 900 m!
Quiet.
Quiet!
We expected it.
- We must break away.
- It's what he wants.
To snap the wire. I stay put.
Maintain course.
Go on, back off!
Snap your fucking wire!
Captain, Titan is not breaking away.
Torpedo, 700 m.
- 700 m!
- Accelerating on audio.
Veer right. Dive!
Chops!
Veer right! Dive!
Chops, what the hell!
Break away. We're gonna die!
Don't let me down.
Cut it out!
We gotta break away!
- We're gonna die!
- Stay focused.
Focus on your screens!
Captain, we're gonna catch it.
Masks on!
Hallowed be thy name
Masks on!
Your will be done
On Earth as it is in Heaven
Men!
It was an honour to sail with you.
We'll see this through!
I'll take guidance on manual.
Bring up torpedo telemetry.
Torpedo headed straight for target.
Time to missile launch?
40 seconds.
Buy ten more.
Deploy decoy!
FORMIDABLE
Solution uncertain. Target moving.
- No, that's a decoy.
- Sure, sir?
- Machine says no decoy.
- Come left.
- I know. Formidable's my baby.
- Coming left.
Captain, torpedo headed straight for us.
Cut engines and sonar. We play dead.
- It's gone!
- Watch. It'll reappear there.
Hold on.
Missile!
Launch authorised in 20 secs!
Torpedo impact, 15 secs.
It's over, sir.
FORMIDABLE
- Adopted!
- On target, solution positive.
Target reached, 10 secs!
Blow air tanks. Create double target!
Captain, launch authorised!
Survivors?
Anyone?
Anyone answer me?
Socks!
C'mon, Socks!
LAUNCH AUTHORISED
Control room, XO here. Do you copy?
Captain, do you copy?
Control, do you copy?
Control, answer me!
TUUM active. Sending distress message!
Negative, Chops.
First, we launch the missile.
No air in circuit!
Masks off!
Monoxide.
Air's contaminated, sir!
Evacuate control room.
Evacuate!
Come on, captain.
Stay with me. We're going up.
Captain...
Captain, Chanteraide here.
If you hear me...
You always trusted me.
Trust me one last time.
I beg you, do not launch a missile.
It would be a grievous error.
Most likely, these are my last words.
I hear the wolf's call.
Farewell, captain.
Take it.
- You, admiral.
- No, we'll get you out of here.
Socks, put it on. Now!
Your ears will blow.
Say goodbye to your eardrums.
In there!
Let's go!
THE WOLF'S CALL
NETFLIX PRESENTS
Human beings come in three kinds:
the living,
the dead,
and those who go to sea.
Aristotle
COAST OF SYRIA - TARTUS
One happy fishing boat.
That's merchant vessel 14,
still at slow speed.
Sorry.
I'd rather listen to the blue water.
Tired, Socks?
The name's Chanteraide, thanks.
Incoming transmission
on the swimmers' frequency.
Uniform.
Uniform. Bravo.
Ok, swimmers in position.
Stand by to dive.
Request confirmation of pickup.
- XO?
- Copy.
Run a sit-rep first.
Merchant vessel close, bearing 1-6-0.
Christened 14.
- 1,000 m, matched.
- Confirmed.
- Fishing boat, 1-9-0.
- 100 m, opening.
- Matched.
- Surface all clear
What's that?
Shit!
Frigate! Bearing 1-5-0.
Just started moving.
Contact. Frigate, bearing 1-5-1.
Send it over.
Holding on frigate at 8,000 m, 3 knots,
course 3-5-0.
- Keep on it.
- Copy.
Socks, give us more. Classification?
It transmitted with Polinom sonar
so the vessel must be Udaloy class.
- Or modified Udaloy.
- So, Russian.
Wait, I have ears on its prop.
Dry cavitation.
Galloping horse.
104 rpm. Counting blades.
Seven blades, so not Russian.
Iranian frigate.
Zarathustra, to be precise.
An Iranian vessel in Syrian waters?
Zarathustra is a heck of a toy.
Rapid, well-armed.
Torpedoes, rocket launchers, grenades.
And one hell of an active sonar.
High risk of detection.
Plotter!
When are we in its range?
Contact Zarathustra, bearing 1-5-4.
In one minute.
How long to swimmer pickup?
Four minutes.
Hairy picking them up
next to an Iranian frigate.
Could be fun.
Listen up!
Priority is avoiding counterdetection
by the frigate.
Assume Ultra-Quiet State.
Slippers on, not a sound.
Assume Ultra-Quiet State.
Swimmer pickup through torpedo tubes.
Copy that.
Delta, this is Control.
Clear tubes 3 and 4.
Flood the tubes
to recover swimmers, locking inboard.
This is Delta, copy.
XO, acoustics favourable.
We should slip through undetected.
Maybe ask Kiwi
to quit vacuuming Delta Section.
It's raising hell on sonar.
Delta, kill the vacuum.
It annoys our Golden Ear.
Copy.
Anything else?
Sure, the galley. As always.
Shit, guys, porn flicks for breakfast.
Mother Nature's remit.
At least, the hull's not vibrating.
Ask the CO to come to Control.
Captain, we're three minutes
from swimmer pickup.
Iranian frigate detected.
No counterdetection but it's tight.
Tubes 3 and 4 rigged for them.
Suggest confirming pickup to swimmers.
- Very good. Confirm.
- Copy, sir.
Check this trace.
It gives nothing on audio.
Uniform.
Wait.
Sea bottom noise.
- VTWA!
- Video Trace Without Audio!
I repeat, VTWA!
- On the 5.
- Bearing 3-5-5.
Track it.
Maybe something in the trace.
Very weak, shifting.
Very slow rhythm.
Four beats.
4-blade prop, weird.
- Just a cargo ship. We're good.
- No.
Slender trace, so it's running silent.
Gotta be a sub.
- There are no 4-blade subs.
- I know.
Hold on, transient sound, same trace.
Decide, this isn't the UN.
Hear it?
Got the transient
but for me it's biological.
- Sperm whale?
- A sick one.
I don't want poetry.
Whale or not? Sub or not?
The pickup is a go or not?
- Analysing.
- Move it!
- Quit fussing.
- Sonar.
Well-run, a sub is quieter than the sea.
The swimmers!
Romeo.
Receiving code urgent.
- They're in danger. Captain?
- Stand by.
I want Golden Ear's classification first.
Sir, blue procedure.
Break away and come back in six hours.
Classify it!
Something or nothing? Moving or not?
It's no game. Speed it up.
Come on, Socks!
Four blades, so not a sub.
But way too silent to be a cargo ship.
Concentrate, Chanteraide.
Go with your instinct.
For me, it's nothing.
Just another sperm whale.
- We're overthinking.
- Back off.
SIGNATURE UNKNOWN
I trust you.
Ok, it's not a submarine.
I declassify.
Good, no sub. Let's go!
- Chops, confirm pickup.
- Copy.
Confirmed. Swimmers will be at pickup.
A sperm whale sub! Some golden ear!
In position, one minute!
Captain takes the boat.
Sonar, bearing of the ping?
Swimmers bearing 0-4-0. Come right.
Confirmed. On the ping.
Closing on datum Charlie 2.
- Go!
- Come right 15. Bearing 0-4-5.
- Come right 15. Bearing 0-4-5.
- Copy.
Helm, come right 15. Bearing 0-4-5.
Very good.
0-1-0.
0-2-0.
0-3-0.
Bearing 0-4-5.
- Very good.
- 1,300 m from swimmers.
In five seconds, engine astern 3.
- Go!
- Engine astern 3, reduce speed over 200m.
Engine astern 3 adjusted.
Speed 5 knots.
4.8 knots, 4.5...
Shit!
Your sick sperm whale?
Transient.
It's back and it's no cargo ship.
Possible sub, bearing 3-4-7.
Coming left, four blades.
- No sub has four blades.
- I know.
Poss-sub, bearing 3-4-7!
I want a solution in five seconds!
Five seconds for the solution.
Silence! Possible sub!
- Solution?
- Solution on poss-sub, at 2-2-0.
Speed 5 knots. 3,000 m.
Better solution.
5.5 knots for 2,900 m plotted.
Solution adopted.
Christened Sierra.
Sierra adopted.
Classify poss-sub, bearing 2-1-0.
2,900 m, 5.5 knots.
Getting a blade beat.
Glug-glug cavitation!
Poss-sub level 2 for Sierra.
3-4-6 for Sierra.
Identify it!
No more fuckups.
It's deviated!
Level 3. Poss-sub 3 for Sierra.
Classified poss-sub 3!
Unidentified sub means Echo procedure.
Break away.
Swimmer pickup is our mission.
Speed it up!
Sonar, keep tight on Sierra.
- Torpedo, make ready a tube.
- Tube 1!
Sir, 70 rpm, could be Chinese.
4-blade Chinese? No.
I know it's a stretch
but maybe Russian Cougar.
- The Cougar isn't operational yet.
- Exactly.
I don't see what else.
Four blades, it's something new.
Sick sperm whale? Baby cougar?
You're losing it!
We need you. Focus and identify.
Get to work!
Shit.
Baby cougar transmits encrypted.
Sir, I can't demodulate.
It's giving us to the Iranian.
- The wolf's call.
- The Iranian?
- Their active sonar. It's detected us.
- XO...
- Close up action stations.
- Action stations!
Let's go, guys!
Control, action stations. Put it out!
Action stations!
Get that kit on!
Engine ahead 5.
Control! Action stations closed up!
So, never let Socks classify
without triple-checking.
- What's that?
- A cuckoo!
Don't let me see a scrap of skin!
Gloves not good!
It'll pass right over us.
Sir, with the chopper buzzing us,
break away.
Swimmers can't come in the tubes.
I can't hold station under a chopper.
Match in 700 m.
Adopted. In 700 m.
It's hopeless, we gotta go.
- Where's the RPG the swimmers left?
- The unilateral?
Go get it!
Wolf's call, bearing 3-5-5.
Sonar flooded. Fixing our position.
What depth to escape their sonar?
Three splashes on sonar!
Depth charges!
- Back from the screen!
- Shield your eyes!
Damage reports to Control!
Check all systems!
We've lost sonar.
Damage report? Do we have prop and helm?
We've got the helm.
Alert systems active? Sonar in how long?
Alert systems active.
In less than one minute, he's back.
- Stand by to dive.
- No, surface!
- That's suicide.
- With a chopper sitting on us!
Sir, the RPG!
Get the automatic! Surface now!
- I'll go.
- No, me!
XO, take the boat!
We don't know the RPG works.
XO takes the boat.
Engine ahead 6.
Take her up. It'll be bumpy.
Ahead 6, take her up.
Blow all ballast!
Climbing.
Surface in 50 metres!
40 metres!
30 metres!
Chopper holding station.
Fixing our position.
Christened Hotel 3.
I can't unlock it!
Fire!
- XO, swimmers closing.
- Engines to zero.
- Shoot here!
- Fire!
No!
... worse hour by hour.
Finland calls for international support
against two Russian divisions
that invaded its southern tip
yesterday morning.
Europe's capitals are resigned
to total apathy from America.
The president of the Commission announced
that Russia's aggression
should not go "unanswered".
So this evening, what does Russia want?
Are we at war?
FOUR BLADES
From the whole crew of the Titan.
To France's best CO.
Thanks.
Sorry about that classification.
I'll find what it was.
Put it out of your mind.
We're small cogs in a big machine.
Rest up now.
I can't even close my eyes.
Without hearing the wolf's call.
Damn sonar!
The wolf's call.
That'll be my soundtrack
when I check out.
For the Titan...
To the Titan!
Come in.
Morning, captain.
Captain, I request permission
to continue research ashore
and confirm my hypothesis
about that transient.
Your hypotheses are done, Chanteraide.
It's our job to take over analysis.
Russian Cougar? Blind alley.
It's no time to dump on the Russians.
It's a powder keg.
So what was the transient?
Most likely, a drone.
I thought of that too.
But I heard an epicycloidal reducer.
Drones don't have reducers.
And there was life on board.
I heard it.
Well, you...
You hear life. Great.
We calculate. Calculations work.
We identified the drone model.
The constructor.
The signature. It all checks out.
I've revoked your database access.
I don't understand, sir.
I'm just asking to look.
- I promised captain Grandchamp...
- Bullshit promises.
Your flawed classification
nearly cost us a submarine.
Here at CIRA, we hang our heads in shame.
Once and for all, Chanteraide,
this is the military.
Not art school.
Morning, captain.
- What does he want?
- It's the chopper, I guess.
We're in shit, right?
Check flies.
All clear.
You heard the President's speech?
Morning, admiral.
At ease.
One lemon, two lemons, three lemons.
Jackpot.
First lemon.
You provoke a crisis in Syria.
Based on a flawed classification.
Result...
A chopper downed in blue water.
Our sub barely makes it back.
Plus the chief of staff flips his lid.
A biggie.
Second lemon.
The President dispatches
ground forces to Finland.
The Russians threaten our ambassador
with an atomic warning.
First time ever,
all lines of communication down.
Third lemon.
Presidential orders
to reinforce our posture.
In other words,
one nuclear ballistic sub in the water.
Effective immediately.
So three lemons in a row. Jackpot?
Gentlemen, cancel your turkey orders.
Fact is, you guys pulled off
an act of incredible bravery.
When I commanded Titan,
I'd have done the same.
So,
Grandchamp...
you are promoted
to a nuclear ballistic missile submarine.
The Navy's pride and joy is yours.
The Formidable.
Make immediate preparations.
A 10-week patrol, give or take.
Admiral,
I promised my wife not to sail again.
Grandchamp,
we're at alert level 6.
Deterrence for now. No more, no less.
But those submarines are my children.
Only the best will do for them.
Whatever a president says.
Remember when I recruited you?
I said that one day I'd be thanking you.
At your command, admiral.
D'Orsi,
you take command of Titan.
You have a problem with that?
- At your command, admiral.
- Very good.
You'll escort Formidable
until it goes stealth in blue water.
Then await instructions.
Conversation ended.
A 3RD FAILURE WILL RESULT IN ALERT.
At CIRA, we listen,
we analyse and we interpret.
We listen, we analyse and we interpret.
After 60 days at sea?
Don't you have a wife
to walk in the woods?
Top secret.
A wet noise.
A feeling of mass.
May I introduce...
A wet noise.
May I introduce
my wife.
- My wife!
- Beatrice.
Hello.
BEATRICE7.
A 3RD FAILURE WILL RESULT IN ALERT.
Change your password.
Or your wife.
"Drone F-15.
"Analysis by Fourier Transform."
"Fourier Transform."
Harmonic Spectra.
- It's a classic.
- Never heard of it.
Not my field.
Ask my colleague who's in tomorrow.
It's urgent, actually.
- Virginie? Diane's in?
- Upstairs.
- I'll go see. Maybe she'll know.
- Thanks.
Was it you, looking for a book?
Diane, the bookshop owner.
But I can come back later.
No...
Sure, sorry, yes.
The Maths book. That's me.
- Harmonic Spectra?
- Yes.
The database says we have it.
But I can't find it right now.
Can you come back tomorrow morning?
At what time tonight?
Say,
when is my meeting with that publisher?
Sorry about the book.
In theory, I had it.
Turns out, not.
Why a book on spectral harmonies?
To analyse a sound.
You're a musician?
- I should've guessed.
- No, not a musician, an AWA.
Sorry...
Acoustic Warfare Analyst.
No kidding.
In real terms, what is acoustic warfare?
Is it dangerous?
It's identification
of acoustic manifestations.
Sound signals.
Sounds.
You have perfect pitch?
Yes, but it's irrelevant.
That's something else.
Alright.
Sorry.
It's intrusive. We don't know each other.
No problem.
- My actual first name is Prairie.
- Sorry?
My parents thought
it was a typically French name.
In fact, it sounds weird.
So here I go by Diane.
Prairie?
Alright.
Sorry, what did...
I can't...
hear a thing.
The military is redeploying defence forces
with the mobilisation
of three infantry regiments.
Two squadrons of fighter pilots
are on constant alert.
A nuclear ballistic missile submarine
will soon leave port.
Its departure from Brest is imminent
and its route is top secret.
Michael, can Europe
assure its own defence?
That's the big question.
Many wonder
if Finland is worth dying for.
The President has made a decision.
"It is not a question
of dying for Finland,
"but saving the very idea of Europe,"
he declared a few hours ago
at the Brussels summit.
So that's acoustic warfare.
I'm trying to get my head around
you living in there.
Stroke of luck, meeting me.
Thank goodness
we couldn't find your Maths book.
Hold on...
You knew all along you didn't have it?
You planned it.
What?
No.
It was in my database.
We never clear the database,
that's the problem.
You don't believe me?
We have a procedure
that deletes automatically.
A procedure to delete what?
Books?
Dismantled submarines.
They're deleted
from the operational database.
But not from the physical archives.
EX-SOVIET BLOC
That's it.
Paired double prop.
That explains the four blades
and the transient.
Timour III.
The Soviet terror.
The hell they scrapped it.
You're out of your mind.
Captain...
Look!
Your cellphone.
You are under arrest.
Check that file.
Captain!
The transient is not a drone.
It's a Russian nuclear sub. Timour III.
Four blades, the same transient.
Identical acoustic signatures.
Including the asymmetry
due to shaft wear.
Decommissioned years ago, in theory.
In fact stowed away by the Russians.
Until deletion from our database
by the procedure.
And years later, there it is.
Untouched.
Unclassified, incognito.
Captain!
Shit!
Your analysis checks out.
The Brits faced the same rogue situation,
same transient.
Cross-referencing data
leads us to the Timour III.
Which sheds a different light
on your conduct,
even if it remains
technically reprehensible.
After discussions with the Admiral,
this goes no further.
This time.
It rankles to tell you,
but you may end up
on a nuclear ballistic missile sub.
Formidable's captain wants you aboard.
Formidable's captain wants me?
I don't know him.
The new one, you do.
Grandchamp.
He threw a hissy fit to get you.
Don't get over-excited.
There's a test first.
The Admiral has the last word.
Get into uniform. Training starts today.
Yes, sir.
Russian sonar, low frequency. Type Shark.
Vessel?
K-138.
New generation.
Plus five dolphins, two babies.
Something there.
Submarine.
Nuclear propulsion.
Attack submarine.
Not American.
Not British.
It could be the Kiev.
No, there's an egg-whisk tone.
Nuclear ballistic missile submarine.
SSBN.
Before going stealth.
If it had gone stealth,
you wouldn't hear it, Socks.
Even the machine wouldn't detect it.
Anyway...
FYI, it's...
Formidable.
Really?
Not Invincible?
They're identical, constructed together.
Check spectral analysis.
Formidable first.
Then the other.
You see any difference?
Was Formidable's turbine remachined
due to damage?
The dream team.
- Ok, Socks?
- D'Orsi.
Sorry, admiral, didn't see you.
Well...
Chanteraide, confirmed.
Boarding tomorrow, 4 am.
Well played, son.
- You did your medical?
- All good.
Not on antidepressants?
Shows up in your urine.
The SSBN
isn't the Love Boat.
The mission is, ready to fire
in under an hour on presidential orders.
You're the country's life insurance.
Copy that.
3,000 years of civilisation
did not bring peace.
Only deterrence...
Effective deterrence depends on
sailors keeping quiet.
"Diwel didrouz maro pa denn."
What's that?
The SSBN motto.
Your new home.
"Invisible and silent, I bring death."
Good luck, son.
Keep on the PIM.
Captain.
Titan, red company.
Attention!
Eyes front.
Company mustered and correct.
At your command, sir.
Welcome aboard.
Formidable blue company, attention!
XO,
take over.
XO, take over.
At ease.
Attention!
Roll call. Respond present and board.
- Abbad!
- Present.
- Aboulker!
- Present.
The doc found cannabis
in your urine sample.
He declared you unfit to serve.
I will not challenge it.
I must be able to rely on each man
operating at 100%.
Captain Grandchamp aboard!
Stop! Gates closing.
Fortress procedure!
Loc, give me a hand!
Move!
Coming through.
- What's going on?
- Nuke R-30. Fired from Bering Sea.
The Russians are moving!
Keep the info coming.
Faster!
President's office.
The President is at Jupiter Command.
Upgrade to alert level 10.
Tell Grandchamp to go stealth immediately.
Keep the info coming!
25 minutes left.
FORTRESS PROCEDURE ACTIVATED
Formidable at 6,000 m, opening.
Copy.
Very good.
What's that trace, north?
Nothing. The 15.
Identify contact 11.
We have 11, bearing 2-3-9.
Echo, Foxtrot.
Echo, X-ray.
Formidable assuming stealth mode,
thanks us for our company
and wishes us the best.
Salute Formidable's formidability
and wish her well.
Copy, captain.
Plotting priority on 12.
Mission accomplished.
No further instructions.
If not on watch, stand down.
Guys...
Now or never for a workout or shower.
Or even both.
In the right order.
Formidable, bearing 0-2-3. Losing her.
NATO satellites confirm impact
on French territory.
- Paris spoke to the US?
- They say it's 100% Russian.
Coming from Russian waters
doesn't make it Russian.
Russia signals it's not them.
It's not like they'd admit it.
Paris orders not to raise the alarm,
while impact can be avoided.
By interception with a ballistic missile.
They've tested that system?
- No.
- Clay-pigeon shooting.
I hate clay-pigeon shooting.
Sir, our sub in the Bering Sea says
it recorded missile launch.
- Launch vessel had a four-blade prop.
- Four blades?
Timour III. Put it on that machine.
I want its signature.
Where's CIRA and his ears?
Not inside here.
Fuck, we need him now!
We have no one to listen?
Admiral...
Socks, what the hell?
Isn't it spliff time?
Grab a seat and listen in.
Better and better.
I'm sending sub and launch audio.
Well?
I have audio.
Yes, that's Timour III.
You're sure?
- Grandchamp's in stealth mode?
- Affirmative.
Transmit info to the Chief of Staff.
Russian launch confirmed.
Here we go.
Buckle up.
Depth 500 m.
Captain, clear ahead, bearing 1-5-3.
Anti-tracking manoeuvres complete.
We're undetectable.
Very good.
Engine ahead 2.
- Assume Patrol Quiet State.
- Ahead 2.
All compartments,
assume Patrol Quiet State.
Report to Control.
- Machine room, copy.
- Torpedo section, copy.
Two incoming messages for CO and XO.
Superencrypted messages.
On my way for decryption.
XO.
Captain.
IMMEDIATE LAUNCH ORDER
J19.
6ZFU.
Authenticated.
K08.
AVY0.
Authenticated.
Initiating ballistic missile interception.
Arming launch pad.
Adjusting launch azimuth.
I have the R-30 recording.
Interceptor ready for launch.
Ten...
Nine...
Eight...
Seven...
Six...
Five...
- Four...
- Something's off with the R-30 launch.
One...
Interceptor launched.
Target at 150 km.
100 km.
50 km.
20 km.
Interceptor and missile intersect in...
Ten... Nine...
Eight...
Seven... Six...
Five... Four...
Three... Two...
One...
R-30 missile destruction failed.
Mission failed.
Estimated impact zone?
Update the scenario. Let's go!
- Admiral, an anomaly.
- What?
- There's a...
- Spit it out!
Missile first-stage separation is off.
- The booster should...
- Chanteraide!
Too late.
Admiral, I...
I've heard R-30 launches.
This is not one.
Not with a payload, at least.
Who let him in?
Check the spectral.
Is he high?
Please, just take a look.
Cut the crap here!
Go and listen!
Well?
He's right.
Weight-resistance ratio is off.
- The issue's the weight.
- Too heavy or light?
Too light. 20%.
No nuclear warhead?
Yes. That explains the ratio.
Come on. You too, Socks.
Get me the Chief of Staff
at Jupiter Command.
Admiral, can you hold?
No, get a message to him. It's urgent!
Suspend communications.
Incoming and outgoing.
Yes, sir.
Control to Radio, comms suspended.
Do not copy.
This is the captain.
A major attack is ongoing
on French territory.
Our orders have changed.
The President has ordered me
to effect a counterstrike.
I authenticated the order
with the executive officer.
XO, here.
I confirm authentication
of the President's orders.
Admiral?
General, a submarine
heard the R-30 launch in the Bering.
My analysts assert
nuclear payload is absent.
I repeat. The missile is empty.
You vouch for your analysts?
Yes.
Three hypotheses...
- General, Washington calling!
- I'll take it.
- General!
- Sorry, admiral, the Secretary of State.
Shit!
Why would the Russians
fire an empty missile?
A counterstrike is inevitable.
It's absurd!
- General?
- Equation's changed.
According to the Americans,
Two years ago, funds were wired
to an ex-Russian admiral,
formerly in command of the Pacific fleet.
120 million euros.
The going rate for a submarine?
For a scrapped Timour III, sure.
Via various offshore accounts,
the money came from Al-Jadida.
The US forgot to mention it.
- The Timour III is in jihadist hands?
- Looks that way.
That's why there's no nuclear payload.
And we have riposted.
They're triggering nuclear war.
Very smart.
I'll get back to you.
The perfect trap.
Down to the Timour III
buzzing you in Syria.
To be sure
we'd peg the launch on the Russians.
It was all so we'd reclassify it?
General?
I'm with the President. Cancel the strike.
The Navy has procedures
that we respect unfortunately.
But there is no procedure
for recalling an SSBN strike.
It's the principle of deterrence.
I know that.
Try to contact the submarine captain.
From reception of the strike order,
the sub's captain
must consider anyone who intervenes
as potentially working for the enemy.
Nobody can prevent Grandchamp
from launching that missile.
Not me, not you.
Not even the President.
Our only option
is to neutralise the captain.
General, I am under your command
but I cannot do what I cannot do.
How long before Grandchamp launches?
Less than one hour.
It's that or apocalypse.
From now on, our sole priority
is this strategic strike.
It's a turning-point in history.
We have all trained
for this situation.
The time has come
to do our duty. Your duty.
Formidable, blue company,
I'm relying on you. Over and out.
I spent my life
teaching kids to respect the procedure.
To keep the country safe,
trust the system.
Now I neutralise those kids?
Action stations!
You're head of our nuclear force.
Grandchamp will listen.
If we abandon procedure,
our deterrence will be discredited.
Grandchamp cannot obey me.
I could be manipulated.
It's why there's the procedure.
Admiral, you say it year after year.
It's drilled into us.
"If it happens,
there'll be doubts and decoys.
"And men demanding we recall..."
Hundreds of millions of lives
are at risk!
- Don't crack!
- Cut it out!
You think I don't know?
Formidable's gone stealth.
We've no idea where.
It just went stealth.
It can't be far from Titan.
No sonar can detect it.
What do you suggest?
It's now, admiral.
No, admiral.
Couldn't you wear normal shoes
on a day like this?
Base was out of them?
Going to the dogs.
Not surprising coming from you.
Didn't you spend three months
in a sub in your socks?
You certainly earned your nickname.
Nice. What goes around comes around.
Admiral, this is CIRA.
R-30 impact in the Compigne forest.
No damage reported.
No nuclear warhead.
Admiral, to what do I owe the honour?
To all hands, this is Alfost!
We fell into a trap.
Formidable was ordered
to fire a nuclear missile at Russia.
If the missile is launched,
the Russians counter.
I'll let you join the dots.
What I'm about to say
is hard to take in, and harder to say.
Our priority
is to stop Grandchamp launching.
By all means necessary.
This defies procedure, why trust you?
Your Captain speaking.
Action stations!
In position.
Formidable's last known position?
They went stealth in sector 7.
Sector 7?
In his shoes, where'd you go?
Grandchamp is pure reason.
He calculates for optimal outcomes.
Optimal in this case?
First up, whatever saves lives.
Saves lives? Meaning?
With nuclear missiles,
to avoid collateral damage
you reset position at launch?
It's not protocol but...
To keep the hit clean,
it's best to fix position before launch.
He'll do that.
For sure.
But he can't surface.
He needs a magic point.
Bring up nearby magic points.
- Magic points?
- True, we don't have them.
Only SSNBs do.
I commanded an SSNB. I need to remember.
Sector 7.
Sector 8, two of them.
Mapped peaks.
Calypso here and Circe here.
ETA?
Calypso, for him, ten minutes.
For us, 13.
- Too late.
- Circe...
We arrive pretty much simultaneously.
We need him to go for Circe.
Circe.
- Chops...
- Admiral?
Transmit to base
to send two aircraft over Calypso.
They cover the sea
with sonobuoys and crank it up.
See if the octopuses like AC/DC.
Yes, sir.
Transmitting code 5, confirmed Alfost.
Grandchamp winds up in a moshpit
and has to swing over to Circe.
XO, take us to Circe.
Romeo.
Plotter, bearing to Circe?
Alpha.
2-3-2.
CALYPSO MAGIC POIN 47N 8W
Analysis?
Sonobuoys. Type Dicasse.
Lots of them.
Dicasse, that's our Navy. What the hell!
It's weird.
It's gotta be Alfost.
Captain?
Distance from Magic Point 2?
Circe, 6,000 m at 2-8-4.
Captain takes the boat.
Set course 2-8-4. Ahead 5.
Captain, someone's messing with us.
Maybe we should fire with less precision.
Time's short.
No, we continue the sequence.
- I'll be in position.
- Very good.
Missile room. Running checks.
Magic point 2,500 m.
Why no insignia?
Don't you want to die looking good?
What's this eyesore? You need comfort?
You're ballet dancers?
If the computer's bust,
why isn't it replaced?
Because this is France.
Only one works.
Arriving at Circe. Let's reset now.
- Chops, take over.
- Yes, sir.
Stand by to reset.
Ready.
Reset.
Reset complete.
Position margin of error, 100 m.
Optimal margin reached.
Attain launch depth.
When we're there, we fire the missile.
Waking missile.
Magic point 1,000 m. Entering reset zone.
At this distance,
try the underwater phone.
Wait!
Do that and it's simple.
They'll hear and locate us.
Either they answer or they apply protocol
and torpedo us.
Stand by to engage.
Heuristic, as methods go.
Quit the philosophy.
Yes, sir.
But it's Grandchamp.
- Torpedo, prepare to fire.
- Copy.
Tubes one to four ready.
Transmitting by TUUM.
Copy that. TUUM.
As soon as you hear a sound,
give the alert.
Copy.
I have three frequencies, no bearing.
- Check the lawn.
- Marked frequencies?
Yes. Possible submarine.
Watch out, poss-sub!
Control, get me the XO.
XO, get back here to Control.
Poss-sub contact.
Copy that.
Examine each trace.
TUUM!
The poss-sub. Plot it.
Bearing on TUUM? Cross-check.
- 0-2-8.
- Bearing 0-2-8!
- 1,000 m.
- Torpedo standing by.
Bravo Charlie 3.
This is Zulu Delta 4.
Do you copy?
Zulu Delta 4, that's Titan. We take it.
Captain, we have orders to launch.
There are rules.
- No TUUM.
- It's D'Orsi. My men!
Why's he want us to transmit?
- To detect us.
- D'Orsi wouldn't do that.
Why did they surface earlier?
Someone boarded. Who?
This is Zulu Delta 4.
Do you copy?
Do you copy?
The President's order is irrevocable.
This is Zulu Delta 4.
Deactivate TUUM.
Captain to crew!
We continue launch procedure.
200 m from launch depth.
In any case, it's impossible.
Formidable, stealth, Grandchamp.
Three lemons.
Slightly stronger background noise.
No engine information.
No information is information.
It's him.
Bearing 2-3-9.
- Formidable at 2-3-9.
- Maximum distance 1,200 m.
At that distance, he heard our call.
He's ready to launch.
We have no choice but to engage first.
Hold on, I...
I've lost him.
Shit!
Find him, Chanteraide.
Time's burning up. Let's go!
Come on, Chanteraide.
Death's only beauty is victory.
We must engage.
We must engage!
I'm trying.
We must engage.
I can't do it.
Son, come back here.
Get the other AWA. Stay focused.
- They're our brothers.
- No!
They're sailors with orders to launch.
Come on, we have them.
They're right there.
Come on.
Control,
prep torpedo tube for underwater vehicle.
- What for?
- To talk to Grandchamp.
You knock in Morse, he lets you in?
Your options, besides firing?
The pressure's too extreme.
Titan submariners love pressure.
Bullshit! This is real life!
With that logic in Syria, we'd be dead.
I know what I'm doing.
Take care of Titan.
They're my children, too.
D'Orsi.
Good luck.
Track him.
Stay focused. Come on!
Delta section, prep vehicle.
No questions asked.
Last chance.
Very strange noise, bearing 0-1-5.
Like a propeller with flippers.
A combat swimmer.
Clearly, Titan is hostile
and its manoeuvres are offensive.
We must engage.
Captain?
Torpedoes ready.
Standing by to engage, captain.
Engage Titan!
Fire!
Delta section!
Fire in Delta section!
Masks on!
Admiral, hull's intact.
We're watertight
but fire in Delta section.
Send more men to Delta.
- We've lost Formidable.
- White noise.
Need a fixed position!
Where's D'Orsi?
Only your ears can save us.
I trust you.
Chanteraide! Breathe!
Inserting splice.
All clear?
Standing by.
Very good.
Weapons officer?
When you're ready, sir.
Control, this is XO.
Ready to enter President's code.
Copy that.
Captain,
when you're ready.
Countdown to enter President's code.
Ten... Nine...
Enter President's code.
Code confirmed.
Code confirmed.
Three minutes!
Let's go.
Silence!
Missile alignment underway.
Maintain course.
- I repeat, maintain course.
- Copy.
Helm is at 2-7-0.
Open missile door!
Copy.
Torpedo.
Torpedo alert!
Fired by Titan. Captain, break away.
Negative. Alignment underway.
- How long to launch?
- 160 secs!
- How long to torpedo impact?
- 120 secs.
- Torpedo is wire-guided.
- We must break away.
Let's make that wire snap. Torpedo!
Engage Titan!
Urgent launch, tube 2!
Bearing 0-5-9!
TORPEDO FIRED
Torpedo alert!
Headed straight for us, 900 m!
Quiet.
Quiet!
We expected it.
- We must break away.
- It's what he wants.
To snap the wire. I stay put.
Maintain course.
Go on, back off!
Snap your fucking wire!
Captain, Titan is not breaking away.
Torpedo, 700 m.
- 700 m!
- Accelerating on audio.
Veer right. Dive!
Chops!
Veer right! Dive!
Chops, what the hell!
Break away. We're gonna die!
Don't let me down.
Cut it out!
We gotta break away!
- We're gonna die!
- Stay focused.
Focus on your screens!
Captain, we're gonna catch it.
Masks on!
Hallowed be thy name
Masks on!
Your will be done
On Earth as it is in Heaven
Men!
It was an honour to sail with you.
We'll see this through!
I'll take guidance on manual.
Bring up torpedo telemetry.
Torpedo headed straight for target.
Time to missile launch?
40 seconds.
Buy ten more.
Deploy decoy!
FORMIDABLE
Solution uncertain. Target moving.
- No, that's a decoy.
- Sure, sir?
- Machine says no decoy.
- Come left.
- I know. Formidable's my baby.
- Coming left.
Captain, torpedo headed straight for us.
Cut engines and sonar. We play dead.
- It's gone!
- Watch. It'll reappear there.
Hold on.
Missile!
Launch authorised in 20 secs!
Torpedo impact, 15 secs.
It's over, sir.
FORMIDABLE
- Adopted!
- On target, solution positive.
Target reached, 10 secs!
Blow air tanks. Create double target!
Captain, launch authorised!
Survivors?
Anyone?
Anyone answer me?
Socks!
C'mon, Socks!
LAUNCH AUTHORISED
Control room, XO here. Do you copy?
Captain, do you copy?
Control, do you copy?
Control, answer me!
TUUM active. Sending distress message!
Negative, Chops.
First, we launch the missile.
No air in circuit!
Masks off!
Monoxide.
Air's contaminated, sir!
Evacuate control room.
Evacuate!
Come on, captain.
Stay with me. We're going up.
Captain...
Captain, Chanteraide here.
If you hear me...
You always trusted me.
Trust me one last time.
I beg you, do not launch a missile.
It would be a grievous error.
Most likely, these are my last words.
I hear the wolf's call.
Farewell, captain.
Take it.
- You, admiral.
- No, we'll get you out of here.
Socks, put it on. Now!
Your ears will blow.
Say goodbye to your eardrums.
In there!
Let's go!
THE WOLF'S CALL