Series Mania 2022 Day 5: we saw Martin Freeman (Sherlock) as a depressive cop and a bloody odyssey with Nicolas Duvauchelle

The Responder (Panorama International)

The Responder tells us the story of Chris Carson, a morally corrupt British police officer in the midst of an existential crisis, who goes on night patrols.

While trying, somehow, to keep his head above water, at work and in his personal life, he finds himself forced to take under his wing a young recruit, Rachel, who risks putting his plans in danger.

Written by the British Olivier Marchal, Tony Schumacher, a former night patrol policeman who signs his first screenplay here, The Responder is a dark series that offers us a realistic vision of the profession through the story of Carson, brilliantly portrayed by Martin Freeman, a complex man who will have to face his demons if he wants to save his life and his career.

If the tone of this detective thriller is dark, the main character having to face situations that are difficult to say the least, Tony Schumacher has managed to bring a touch of lightness thanks to some well-felt dark humor. Broadcast last January on the BBC, The Responder has already been renewed for a second season.

Coming soon on Canal+

The Black Butterflies (French Competition)

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After Maroni, which had two seasons in 2018 and 2021, or the film Furie, released in theaters in 2019, director and screenwriter Olivier Abbou returns with the series The Black Butterfliesco-written with Bruno Merle, which will undoubtedly be one of the events of the coming months on Arte, well represented this year at Series Mania with also season 2 of In Therapy and The World of Tomorrow.

Carried by an exceptional duo, namely Nicolas Duvauchelle and Niels Arestrup, Les Papillons noirs focuses on Adrien, a tormented writer lacking in inspiration, who is hired by Albert, an old man determined to tell him his most great love story: Solange, the story of a life. But, very quickly, Adrien understands that Albert’s story actually turns out to be the confessions of a couple of serial killers who left many corpses on their way through France in the 1970s.

Oscillating between sticky thrillers and a bloody and torrid odyssey centered on the love story and macabre actions of a couple Bonnie & Clyde fond of murder, Olivier Abbou’s series is one of the good surprises of the festival, both disturbing, burning, full of poetry, and totally surprising thanks to the many twists that constitute its narration.

A separate thriller, led by a lovely cast (Axel Granberger, Sami Bouajila, Alice Belaïdi, Marie Denarnaud, Alyzée Costes) that we can only recommend and whose sequel we can’t wait to discover.

Soon on Arte

The Dark Heart (Panorama International)

Head to the forests of southern Sweden to experience this dramatic Romeo and Juliet that promises to chill your blood. The Dark Heart follows 21-year-old Sanna and 18-year-old Marcus, two young adults who grew up on nearby farms, who fall head over heels in love.

While Sanna’s father, Bengt, is an influential village figure, millionaire and landowner, Marcus’ family is penniless. But during the summer of 2012, Bengt mysteriously disappears, after offering his daughter an ultimatum: leave Marcus or say goodbye to his inheritance.

Two years later, the police have still not made any progress on the investigation. It is then that Sanna’s sister contacts the Missing People organization so that they try to solve the investigation. Private detective Tanja becomes obsessed with the case and to solve it, she starts dating Marcus, risking her life.

Adapted from the novel by Swedish journalist and author Joakim Palmkvist, The Dark Heart is a timeless series about a love story made impossible by the grip of a father stuck in the past.

Directed by Gustav Möller, to whom we already owe The Guilty, this detective series is based on an oppressive atmosphere which, although it puts the investigation, whose resolution we know from the second episode, in the background, manages to captivate us from beginning to end.

Soon in France.