Tonight, France 2 is broadcasting the first two episodes of “La Jeune fille et la nuit”, the adaptation of the eponymous novel by Guillaume Musso. But what is this thriller with Ioan Gruffudd and Grégory Fitoussi worth?
WHAT IS IT ABOUT ?
Côte d’Azur, winter 1997. A prestigious campus frozen in snow. A young girl carried away by the night. Three friends linked by a tragic secret. Spring 2022. Once inseparable, Fanny, Thomas and Maxime have never spoken to each other since Vinca disappeared that winter night in 1997.
When, 25 years later, Thomas decides to break this silence by going to a reunion of former students of the Saint-Exupéry high school, he will, without knowing it, put the lives of all those around him in danger, start with that of Maxime.
Because that night in December 1996, Thomas and Maxime committed a murder and immured the body in the high school gymnasium which will be destroyed in the coming days. How will the two friends manage to cope with the situation? Everything seems to be linked to Vinca’s disappearance. Disappearance to which Thomas still does not want to resolve.
From October 17 at 9:10 p.m. on France 2!
WHO IS IT WITH?
Adapted from the eponymous novel by Guillaume Musso, La fille et la nuit is a series in six 52-minute episodes directed by Bill Eagles from a screenplay by Marston Bloom.
And to bring Guillaume Musso’s characters to life, the production teamed up with Ioan Gruffudd (Dr Harrow, Liar), Grégory Fitoussi (Le Bureau des legendes) and Vahina Giocante (Skam), playing Thomas, Maxime and Fanny respectively. Ivanna Sakhno (Danger Zone) lends her features to the mysterious and enigmatic Vinca Rockwell.
Finally, Rupert Graves, Salóme Gunnarrsdóttir, Shemss Audat and Matthias Van Khache notably complete this cast.
WELL WORTH A LOOK ?
La Jeune fille et la nuit is not the first adaptation of a novel by Guillaume Musso, but the previous ones had never been the subject of a series. After having sold more than two million copies worldwide, the series adaptation of this thriller is therefore an event for the novelist’s fans and will not fail to keep viewers in suspense.
At the end of the 1990s, Thomas, Maxime, Fanny and Vinca carelessly enjoy their youth. One winter night, everything changes when Thomas and Maxime commit a murder before burying the corpse in their high school gymnasium and Vinca mysteriously disappears.
Bound by a terrible secret, Thomas, Maxime and Fanny will however continue to live their lives for twenty-five years until an event that they had not foreseen brings back the past. Indeed, when the theater of their crime threatens to be destroyed, Thomas, who has since become a successful novelist, will return to France and then break the silence at a reunion of former students.
Still haunted by the memory of Vinca, with whom he was madly in love, even obsessed, Thomas will then seek to understand what happened to him that night. One truth sometimes hides another, the secrets he is then about to discover will endanger the lives of those around him and shake the very foundations of what he was built on.
The plot set up, The young girl and the night takes us on a breathless story under the sun of the Côte d’Azur and its large opulent houses.
Very quickly, the questions are jostling… What happened to Vinca? Why are Thomas’s parents unhappy to see their son return to France and why are they so mysterious when told about Vinca? What is Fanny trying to hide?
As you will have understood, if Vinca Rockwell holds an essential place at the heart of this multi-band investigation, the mysteries and secrets that revolve around her disappearance are numerous.
Alternating between the past and the present, the series is full of twists until the last minute. But now, these are often pushed to the extreme or even superfluous. While the first part suffers from a few lengths, the last three episodes unfold at a frantic pace that would almost make you dizzy. Despite everything, we let ourselves be carried away in this quest for truth which offers its share of sufficiently captivating revelations to chain the episodes.
The ingredients of the thriller are therefore there, the staging is licked but ultimately, it is when it looks at more intimate questions about its characters that the series takes on thickness and reveals the most interest. . And yet, it is difficult to get attached to characters whose writing lacks warmth to create real empathy in the viewer.
In this mixed result, Ioan Gruffudd, Grégory Fitoussi and Vahina Giocante however interpret their roles impeccably. Ivanna Sakhno, the interpreter of the bewitching Vinca, is a promising young actress that it will not be surprising to see again in other big projects in the future. For their part, the supporting roles are not to be outdone and sometimes bring a welcome note of humor.
Failing to revolutionize the thriller genre, The Young Girl and the Night offers good entertainment and that’s ultimately all we ask for!