A new series is a hit on Netflix, and it comes from us! Deserved success for this particularly explosive and ultra entertaining novelty. A must see for action fans!
Currently on Netflix, films and series are a hit in turn and are jostling for the top spots in each country. Lately, it’s a series from home that’s driving the platform’s counters into panic. A little less than ten action-packed, ultra-paced episodes. Together, they form an effective and extremely entertaining series at the crossroads of John Wick and Nikita.
A French series that explodes on Netflix!
France is often represented in Netflix’s global top rankings. We think in particular of the series Lupine which is highly appreciated all around the globe. Not long ago, another very French series made its mark and which continues to make the Top 10 in several countries almost two weeks after its release. Netflix recorded nearly 7.9 million hours of viewing over the last week, 47 million in total since its launch and the program is Top 1 in more than ten countries, far ahead of other programs currently in the running. The name of this new series: Furies.
In Furies, we follow Lyna (played by Lina El Arabi), a young student who, overnight, loses absolutely everything. His father is murdered before his eyes on his birthday and his mother is seriously injured in addition to ending up traumatized. Lyna finds herself in prison despite herself having to pay for the crimes of her father, a mafia accountant. Behind bars, she plots her revenge. She knows who killed her father: the Fury. A killer who settles scores throughout the community and guarantees the smooth running of Parisian crime.
A deserved success? Yes, and we recommend!
Carried by a hyper charismatic Line El Arabi, beautiful as anything and with an incarnate game, Furies lets herself be followed from start to finish. Despite a few lengths here and there. Marina Foïs, known for her comedy and caustic humor, plays here a cold-blooded, calculating and flawless killer. At first, it’s confusing, very confusing, but we are forced to admit that she also bursts into the screen, even if we will regret her almost permanent “poker face”. But it goes with the character.
Among the second knives, two stand out from the rest. A duo both touching and comical: The Fixer (Steve Tientcheu) and The Muddy (Quentin Faure), the two men under the orders of the Fury. Although they generally hold the candle to the two women who take up all the space on the screen, the fact that they are two really nice characters. They offer some welcome moments of respite, but above all some good humor when the duo is well established. Too bad it took a few episodes. As for Mathieu Kassovitz, star of Hatewhether we like him or not, he does the job in the role of big thug, even if sometimes he veers a little into overkill.
The creators Jean-Yves Arnaud and Yoann Legave did not skimp on the means and on experimental inventiveness (by us). They dared what few French series dare. Furie excels above all in its staging. The series clearly embraces the mythology of crime in John Wick style. With its rules, its almost religious mantra and its colorful, often eccentric personalities. Well, in terms of consistency we’ll come back, it’s hard to imagine this kind of thing in the middle of Paris. Just like what John Wick was able to weave elsewhere.
A very effective Netflix series
Speaking of Wick, as in the film series led by Keanu Reeves, the cops are also almost invisible in Furies. Even though two of them are recurring on screen, including Lyna’s embarrassing boyfriend, Ellie (played by Jérémy Nadeau), who is only good for extending certain uninteresting subplots.
This is where Furies tends to go wrong. Its background plots drag on and are never really interesting, and some French-style dialogue breaks the rhythm or puts us in uncomfortable positions. On the other hand, the action scenes are seriously tough. Whether it’s Lina El Arabi who drips with charisma and ardor in combat or Marina Foïs (yes yes) who executes her enemies in a clear and precise manner, the rendering is frankly great on the screen. It’s extremely entertaining. A parallel can quickly be made with video games, as with John Wick once again. It’s constantly gaining momentum, the series pushes the cursor ever further until it ends in apotheosis. Jubilant and effective.
Some sequences are also very successful, such as the commando attack. Unfortunately, some good ideas are dismissed too quickly. We think in particular of the infiltration into an extremely anxiety-inducing brothel or even a reality TV-style death race which would have deserved one or two more acts. Without forgetting a general fight in the heart of a prison which ends far too abruptly. However, when you’re in the middle of it, you get a huge kick. The camera is never vomitous and even allows itself some very stylish shots. We really feel that it is in the writing, or the direction, that there is a desire to dust off the genre in a violent way.
A must see if you are an action fan
The series has pretty huge potential. It can rely on a well-crafted universe supported by a frankly solid main cast. Excellent ideas, a brisk pace and very good action sequences, Furies is a frankly entertaining program which should please fans of John Wick and the genre in general. We hope now that the next release of the Furies will correct its few flaws to shine more. With such an open ending and such explosive success, it seems unlikely that season 2 will not arrive soon. We cross fingers !