Where is Wanda ?*** (02/10) The small town of Sundersheim is preparing to celebrate the festival of the Nuppelwocken, a forest monster who, once a year, comes out of his lair to devour the prettiest girl in the area. That day, 17-year-old Wanda Klatt vanished into thin air. His family (with broken arms) decides to investigate alongside the police, breaking countless laws in the process. In a (black) comedy tone, British showrunner Oliver Lansley tackles a serious subject. We laugh a lot in this very stylized series. We are also moved by the clumsiness of Dedo, the father, played by the irresistible Axel Stein. A nice surprise is this first German production for Apple TV+. (IM)
Disclaimer** (11/10) – Presented in the official selection of the 81st Venice Film Festival a few weeks ago, Disclaimer is coming to AppleTV+. Five years after his Golden Lion for Roma (produced by Netflix), Mexican Alfonso Cuarón signs a 7-episode mini-series led by Cate Blanchett. The Australian star plays a great documentarian caught up in her past, through the publication by an old retired professor (Kevin Kline) of a book implicating her in the death of her son. A sexy and playful thriller, but with relative suspense… (HH)
Our review of “Disclaimer”
Before (25/10) – After the recent suicide of his wife, Eli, a child psychiatrist played by Billy Crystal, meets Noah (Jacobi Jupe), a troubled young boy who seems to have a disturbing link to the doctor’s past. He arrives at his house at all hours, stuck in his silence, but giving off a strange aura. Mini-series in ten 40-minute episodes.
until
Rematch*** (2/10) – By revisiting the meeting organized in 1997 between chess champion Garry Kasparov and the IBM supercomputer, Deep Bluethe series Rematch probes a pivotal moment in contemporary history, while offering a singular resonance to our current struggles with artificial intelligence. Carried by the electrifying performance of Christian Cooke (The Art of more), the series, available in six episodes, won the Grand prize of the international competition last March at Séries Mania. (KT)
Auvio
In the shadows*** (1/10) – Adapted from the eponymous novel by Edouard Philippe and Gilles Boyer, the series In the shadows was co-written and directed by filmmaker Pierre Schoeller (State Exercise). In six episodes, it explores behind the scenes of the French presidential campaign against a backdrop of suspicion of electronic voting fraud. Tensions, reversals and ideals at half mast: the staffs of the Republican right are in turmoil. A political thriller carried by a fine cast led by Melvil Poupaud, Swann Arlaud and the amazing Karin Viard. (KT)
TV
End of summer (on demand) – Summer 1984, in southern Sweden. In the beautiful province of Skåne, the weather is stormy. After an argument with her little brother, Vera flees on a bike. Billy heads back home, but will never get there: we lose his track on a dusty road. Twenty years later, when Vera has become a psychologist in Stockholm, a young stranger comes to her support group. What if it was Billy?
The Good mothers*** (6/10) – Presented in competition at the Berlinalethis Italian series, adapted from the book by Alex Perry, tells the story of the women who dared to challenge the ‘Ndrangheta, the Calabrian mafia. This project, signed Julian Jarrold (Jane, Brideshead Revisited…) et Stephen Butchard (The Last Kingdom), despite some length, clearly highlights the mafia system in which too many women have been trapped since the end of the 19th century. The result is a series with a dark and stifling atmosphere. (IM)
À Gentleman in Moscow (12/10) – Created by Ben Vanstone, this drama series led by Ewan McGregor, Mary Elizabeth Winstead and Alexa Goodall explores the contours of the Bolshevik revolution. It follows a Russian aristocrat, spared from death, but under house arrest for decades. From his attic hotel room, he helplessly watches the revolution taking place before his eyes. A series with a partly historical plot available in eight episodes.
The Curse (25/10) – It’s already Halloween time on channels and streaming platforms. Created by Benny Safdie and Nathan Fielder, this drama series focuses on the daily lives of Whitney and Asher, newlyweds who strive to bring their vision of environmentally friendly housing to their community. But, their efforts are hampered by a reality TV producer and a supposed curse. A cast led by Emma Stone, Nathan Fielder and Benny Safdie, who appeared in front of and behind the camera.
Disney+
Children are kings (23/10) – Freely adapted from the novel by Delphine de Vigan, this series presented at the start of the school year during La Rochelle TV Fiction Festivallooks at the fascination exerted by the “easy celebrity” promised by social networks. We follow the daily life of Mélanie, a mother who films her children every day and posts videos of them, until the day when… In the cast of this drama, we find Géraldine Nakache, Doria Tillier, Panayotis Pascot and Chantal Lauby, among others.
HBO Max
The Franchise** (07/10) – Armando Iannucci loves leaning on anything that gets stuck, scratches or slips. He proved it with the excellent series Veep about a blundering vice president of the United States who is always on the verge of a boredom attack. This time, he slips behind the scenes of the shooting of a superhero film, a “franchise” which is seriously slipping: delays, last minute changes, threats to the budget, tensions between actors,… Nothing seems to be spared the team over which Daniel (Himesh Patel) watches over with maximum goodwill. Are you ever surprised by the directions taken by certain films? The Franchise explains to you the underside of these slip-ups… (KT)
A devoted friend*** (11/10) – The actress Laure Calamy (Ten percent) delivers a breathtaking new performance in this four-episode adaptation of the novel by journalist Alexandre Kauffmann, The Mythomaniac of the Bataclan. Director Just Philippot (Acid) captures with great finesse the excesses of Christelle, a chronic confabulator, suffering from loneliness and an acute need for recognition, who gradually locks herself into lies in the aftermath of the November 2015 attacks in Paris. (KT)
Netflix
The Lincoln Defense, season 3 (10/17) – Unsurprisingly, the recent creation of David E. Kelley is part of a law office. Well, not quite… Because if Michael Haller (Manuel Garcia-Rulfo) is indeed a lawyer in Los Angeles, it is in the back of his car, a Lincoln Continental, that he works. Always between two courts, this skilled jurist is ready to do anything to help the low-level criminals he defends…
Beauty in black (24/10) – Created, directed and produced by Tyler Perry, this series stars Crystle Stewart and Taylor Polidore Williams as two women leading polar opposite lives. While one, Mallory, runs a successful business, the other, Kimmie, struggles to make a living after her mother kicked her out. By bonding with each other, their destiny will be transformed. Sixteen episodes are announced but only half of them will be offered in October.
The Diplomat, season 2 (10/31) – We remember the irruption on our screens of Kate Wyler, newly appointed ambassador from the United States to London. In this role of clumsy balancing act, actress Keri Russell performed prowess, flanked by a particularly cumbersome husband. Here she is again on track for a season 2 which promises to be as eventful as the first.
Prime Video
Citadel: Diana (10/10) – Citadel: Diana is the first addition to the extended Citadel universe imagined by the Russo brothers. After the success of the main series and while waiting for the second spin-off called Citadel : Honey Bunnythis Italian creation plunges into the world of international espionage in the wake of Matilda De Angelis, discovered in the series The Undoing.
Worship (18/10) – This series promises to make noise since it goes behind the scenes of the adventure Loft Story launched in 2001 in France. A reality TV show that would soon hit the headlines because of the escapades of the young people she observed from every angle, practically 24 hours a day. Marie Colomb (discovered in the heartbreaking series Laëtitia) takes on the role of the sulphurous Loana.
