July 10, 1982. Kalinka Bamberski, 14, is found dead at home of her German stepfather, Dr. Dieter Krombach, where she spent the holidays at Lake Constance with her mother. Determined to understand the circumstances of this sudden death, her father André discovers damning evidence in the autopsy report, which suggests Kalinka was raped. Quickly convinced of Krombach’s guilt, Bamberski embarks on a 27-year battle in Germany and France, which will eventually ruin his life but offer justice for his daughter.

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Vincent Garenq gets his idea from the headlines: his filmography includes a drama about a gay couple wanting to adopt (Comes les autres), a story based on the Outreau case (Guilty), The Clearstream Affair and now one based on the death of Kalinka Bamberski. Fascinated by the judiciary system, the director loves to expose and dissect it, but never seems to be able to overcome it. Au nom de ma fille rattles off a series of facts interrupted by ellipses and editing, reducing all the characters to superficial vehicles to move the story along, resulting in a cinematic investigation whose main interest is not cinema at all. Daniel Auteuil, who is more convincing than Gilles Lellouche The Clearstream Affair, is crushed by a simplistic narrative machine that is more concerned about facts than by humanity or the dimension of characters.