SERIELAND RECO - "The Serpent", the new Netflix series tells the true story of serial killer Charles Sobhraj.

In the 1970s, in Asia, this great manipulator would have murdered dozens of tourists.

Before her, "Mindhunter", "In their eyes" and "Laetitia" on Salto, were also inspired by real various facts.

Why do the series take hold of "True Crime"?

What is the part of fiction in "The Serpent"?

And why do these criminal cases fascinate viewers so much?

To answer these questions, Eva Roque surrounds herself with journalist Margaux Baralon and Sonya Lwu, a criminology student who shares her fascination with criminal cases on her YouTube channel.

Little Grégory, Jack L'Eventreur, Guy Georges… Major criminal cases have the gift of making headlines.

They arouse fear but also a certain fascination.

Many documentaries deal with morbid various facts but, these cases also inspire the creators of series.

From the birth of profiling in

Mindhunter

to judicial errors in In their eyes, through the Charles Sobhraj affair in

The Serpent

… How do directors stage real crimes?

Through these fictions, how do they look at the treatment of justice, the psychiatric universe and the consideration of the families of the victims? 

In this episode of SERIELAND, Eva Roque is interested in the thrilling series inspired by "True Crime".

She surrounds herself with the serivorous journalist Margaux Baralon and Sonya Lwu, graduate in psychology, student in criminology and author of a YouTube channel of deciphering criminal cases. 

Recce of the week:

The Serpent 

In the 1970s, in Asia, Charles Sobhraj was suspected of having murdered young tourists.

False trader in precious stones, this fine manipulator is a real snake who constantly escapes the police… The Serpent tells about the chase between the criminal and Herman Knippenberg, a young Dutch diplomat.

The series inspired by a real criminal case wields the art of suspense.

The brilliant interpretation of Tahar Rahim, in the role of Charles Sobhraj, arouses a strange fascination for this serial killer.

We regret that the director uses and abuses the temporal comings and goings which complicate the narration.

Strange scenario, the companion of Charles Sobhraj, Quebecer, speaks a French which is difficult to understand and is not always dubbed.

Pity. 

8 episodes of approximately 55 minutes to watch on Netflix. 

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The backstage column: When 

Special Unit New York

stages the DSK affair

New-York Special Unit

, the detective series broadcast on TF1, is regularly inspired by real news items in its episodes.

In 2011, the first episode of season 13 featured a legendary affair, that of the Sofitel in New York involving Dominique Strauss-Kahn… 

SERIELAND also recommends: Season 2 of

Mental 

Mental

tells the daily life of young people hospitalized in the child psychiatry department of the Primevères clinic.

Marvin, a teenager who multiplies the crimes, is interned there following a judgment, a decision he does not understand at all….

In this second season, a new character enters the scene, it is Max, a teenager with eating disorders.

She is played by the remarkable Déborah Lukumuena, actress who was awarded her first role in Divines.

Mental

denounces the institutional violence of psychiatric structures.

Despite the seriousness of the subject, the series manages to make us smile by featuring the escapades of these endearing young people.

Mental

takes a benevolent and poetic look at these adolescents on the margins of society. 

2 seasons, 20 episodes of 20 minutes to watch on Salto. 

The guest: Sonya Lwu

Sonya Lwu graduated in psychology.

A student in criminology, she is passionate about news and shares her fascination with these cases on YouTube. 

The crush of the guest:

Euphoria 

Adapted from the Israeli series of the same name,

Euphoria

tells the story of Rue Bennett, a high school student fresh out of a drug rehab center, and Jules Vaughn, a young transgender woman.

Around them gravitate a crowd of high school students, prey to identity, sexual and existential questions. 

In this "teen series", produced by rapper Drake, alcohol flows freely, drugs circulate and sex is omnipresent.

Yet the series avoids falling into a caricature of adolescence.

Euphoria

helps to understand the ailments of young people.

The series tells with benevolence and without judgment the questions of a generation and tackles subjects as varied as consent, toxic masculinity and gender injunctions.

The neat and spangled staging is very successful. 

1 season, 10 episodes of about 1 hour to watch on OCS. 

The SERIELAND team: 

Author and presentation: Eva Roque

Columnist: Clémence Olivier

Director: Christophe Pierrot

Editorial project manager: Timothée Magot 

Distribution and publishing: Salomé Journo

Preparation: Magali Butault