The film traces the history of this group, from its formation to the arrest, trial by a German military court and execution of its members in 1944.

Trying to respond to public anger about the executions and discredit the resistance fighters, the Vichy government distributed and put up thousands of posters, known as L'Affiche rouge because of the red background, with photos of ten of the men and data about their backgrounds, to portray the migrants as terrorists and criminals.

[citation needed] In Paris Match, Alain Spira said the film suffered from classicism and that emotion had trouble reaching the audience.

[citation needed] In one of the more negative reviews, Pierre Murat wrote for Télérama that while respectful, the film was insignificant and looked like a TV movie.

[citation needed] The Army of Crime fared well with international critics, with the website Screenrush awarding it a score of four out of five based on six major British reviews.

[citation needed] In some of the worst reviews, The Sun compared the film to Inglourious Basterds, stating that Tarantino's film was "a lot more fun,"[citation needed] and The Financial Times's Nigel Andrews mused that it felt "like every resistance movie you have ever seen".