Friday is series (and movies too). On the eve of the weekend, the Parisian offers you a selection of fictions, feature films, documentaries not to be missed on online video platforms. On the program in particular this week: a series inspired by the son of Stephen King, another from Belgium, a multi-award winning Oscar film…
NETFLIX
The fantastic series: "Locke & Key"
Behind this play on words (“Under lock and key” means “under key” in English) hides a series clearly intended for the public which has made a triumph at “Stranger Things”, namely teenagers and young adults. "Locke" is the name of a family whose father has just been killed and who arrives after the tragedy in the gigantic house he owned. This obviously contains many secrets.
And the keys are those hidden everywhere in the building that allow access where you want, even in a parallel dimension! A fantastic theme for all audiences, with however some surprisingly cruel scenes, but also many humorous passages, taken from a comic book signed by Joe Hill, the son of Stephen King.
EDITOR'S NOTE: 3/5
“Locke & Key”, an American fantasy series by Joe Hill, with Darby Stanchfield, Connor Jessup, Emilia Jones… 10 x 50 min.
The dramatic film "Moonlight"
"Moonlight" recounts three major moments in the life of Chiron, a kid born in a poor city in Florida. In the first act of this triptych, the child is around ten years old. Crushed between a drug-addicted mother and classmates who call him a "swatter", the boy finds refuge with a drug dealer. The other two acts show a teenager still being persecuted, discovering an upset sexuality, then an adult seeking his place in the world.
Each of these three parts ends abruptly, as if the director had not wanted to soften by staging effects a violent and relentless reality. Signed by the American Barry Jenkins and awarded three Oscars, including that for the best film, "Moonlight" is inspired by an autobiographical play. Raised by a drug addicted mother in a poor Miami neighborhood, Jenkins films up close, almost like a documentary, the three actors who embody Chiron at different ages. They sometimes seem to be looking at the camera, making the character's painful quest for identity palpable.
EDITOR'S NOTE: 5/5
"Moonlight", an American drama by Barry Jenkins (2016). With Alex Hibbert, Ashton Sanders and Trevante Rhodes… 1h51.
AMAZON PRIME VIDEO
The cult series: "Ally McBeal", seasons 1 to 5
Since January, Amazon has been multiplying Proust's madeleines. We thus find there the most eccentric lawyer of the series: "Ally McBeal". A luminous judicial comedy, as wacky as it is endearing, which stages the delusions of heroin, played by Calista Flockhart, in hilarious quirky sequences. Over the course of the five seasons on a classy and fashionable law firm, the series - where we find Lucy Liu as a lawyer who does not like sex because "it is not hygienic" - has welcomed many guests from brand: Bruce Willis, Tina Turner, Elton John, Mariah Carey…
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EDITOR'S NOTE: 4/5
"Ally McBeal", American series by David E. Kelley (1997-2002) with Calista Flockhart, Lucy Liu…
The film of submarines: "The Pursuit of Red October"
Those who enjoyed "The Song of the Wolf", released last year, should definitely see this other standard meter of the submarine film, "The Pursuit of Red October", which dates from 1990. Sean Connery embodies it the captain of a Soviet submersible of the same name, who decides to defect and move west. What triggers a world crisis, the Americans fearing that it was a diversion before a nuclear attack… First of the films to stage the spy Jack Ryan, who will later return several times on the big screen, the feature has an impeccable sense of suspense and has aged very well.
EDITOR'S NOTE: 4/5
"Pursuit of Red October", American film by John McTiernan (1990), with Sean Connery, Alec Baldwin, Scott Glenn, Sam Neill… 2h15.
MYCANAL
The judicial series: "The Twelve"
In Ghent (Belgium), twelve jurors are designated for the trial in which a woman suspected of having committed two terrible crimes appears sixteen years apart: her best friend and her daughter ... Exceptional, this Flemish series, carried by a string of great actors, focuses on the lives of several jurors: a mother under the thumb of a monstrous and perverse narcissistic husband, a young woman who hides that her rich parents were murdered, a lonely old man, a dad who learns that her daughter is suffering from autistic disorders…
At the same time, the case they are judging is getting worse, and they end up having doubts - like the spectator - about the guilt of the accused, until the last episode, with the unexpected outcome. Terribly addictive because full of suspense, "The Twelve" is also a great social series, because by dissecting the personality of the jurors, it delivers a cartography of our modern society. Fascinating.
EDITOR'S NOTE: 4.5 / 5
“The Twelve”, Belgian series by Bert Van Dael and Sanne Nuyens, with Maaike Cafmeyer, Maaike Neuville, Tom Vermeir… 10 x 50 min.
SCO
The historical series: "Boardwalk Empire"
How to make a real bastard the endearing hero of a series, this is the risky and successful bet of this amazing series available in full at OCS, whose pilot episode was produced by none other than Martin Scorsese! In Atlantic City, a city close to New York, in the 1920s, "Nucky" Thompson, treasurer of the Republican party, was pulling the strings behind the scenes, elected officials and police officers all at their heels.
At the start of the series, he decides, while Prohibition is in full swing, to get involved in alcohol trafficking. And he stops at nothing, blackmail, threats, extortion, assassination if necessary. At the same time, "Nucky" supports Margaret, a penniless young widow ... Impeccable historical re-enactment, breathtaking stories, action and emotions, "Boardwalk Empire", a series packed with awards, is one of the greatest moments of TV in recent years.
EDITOR'S NOTE: 4.5 / 5
"Boardwalk Empire", an American series from Terence Winter, with Steve Buscemi, Kelly McDonald, Michael Pitt. 5 seasons, 56 episodes of around 50 minutes.
The punch film: "Utoya, July 22"
Seventy-two minutes of apnea, in the shoes of one of the victims of the July 22, 2011 massacre in Utoya, near Oslo. More than a film inspired by the drama that claimed the lives of 69 people gathered on this Norwegian island, "Utoya, July 22" is a real reconstruction. A shocking feature film, signed by the Norwegian Erik Poppe and produced under very specific conditions.
"Utoya, July 22" begins with a few images of video surveillance, but, very quickly, the camera hangs on Kaja, one of the activists present on Utoya for a summer camp organized by young Labor. For 72 minutes, the exact duration of the killing, we never leave the young woman, terrorized, obsessed with the idea of finding her sister, helping other victims and above all surviving.
EDITOR'S NOTE: 4/5
"Utoya, July 22", Norwegian drama by Erik Poppe (2018). With Andrea Berntzen, Elli Rhiannon… 1h33.