From the chaste loves of the
Dawson
series to the female masturbation scenes of
Sex Education
,
sexuality has gradually imposed itself in the series until it has become the central issue of certain programs.
But who were the first to dare?
The rebellion began in 1998, when Carrie Bradshaw and her band sat down in
Sex and the City
to confide in their love, intimate, but also (and above all) sexual life.
Before them, the heroines of mainstream series did not address the question of female pleasure, and even less of their fantasies.
After that, we had to wait a short decade and the arrival of talented and cheeky screenwriters, such as Lena Dunham (
Girls
), Phoebe Waller-Bridge (
Fleabag
) or, more recently, Michaela Coel (
I May Destroy You
), to see stories appear on screen that moved away from heteronormative role models.
In full launch of its new edition, the Series Mania festival, in Lille, proves that the trend has not run out of steam.
Liberated, consensual or sudden relationships… the theme of sexuality is featured in new French or foreign series that already promise to make a big splash.
Les Papillons noirs,
sexuality as a final judgment
Full screen
Perversity
.
At the heart of Les
Papillons noirs,
the dark and passionate story of a couple of
serial killers
(played by Axel Granberger and Alyzée Costes) in 1970s France. Nicolas Roucou
Adrien (Nicolas Duvauchelle), tormented author of a first best-selling novel, struggles to create the second.
While waiting to find inspiration, he writes about the lives of strangers and thus meets an old man, Albert Desiderio (Niels Arestrup), who hires him to tell him his greatest love story: Solange.
But Albert's story turns out to be the confessions of a couple of
serial killers .
united in life and death in the France of the 1970s. Their macabre practice at the time?
During the holidays, the young woman attracted seducers under the complicit eye of her husband, and the duo left their prey alive or not, depending on his behavior.
Between fascination and repulsion, Adrien realizes that these memories have everything to make a good novel, but also understands that Albert did not choose him at random and that he too has a role to play in this story... by a cast of choice, this thriller dotted with flashbacks playing with the imagery of the Italian
giallo
of the 1970s reveals itself as breathtaking as it is aesthetic.
Les Papillons noirs,
by Olivier Abbou, in French competition, soon on Arte.
On video, the
Funny
series , the trailer
Tender flesh,
sexuality among intersex people
Sasha Dalca is new to high school.
Two weeks ago, Sasha was a boy.
Born intersex, she rejects her body and wants at all costs to hide her secret in her new life.
But soon to be 18, Sasha is thinking about having surgery.
Surrounded by a little sister to whom she is very close and overwhelmed parents who try to reason with her so as not to rush things (very fair Daphné Bürki and Grégoire Colin), Sasha (Angèle Metzger) has a few weeks to find out who she is.
Between the problems of ordinary teenagers and the trouble experienced by the central character,
Soft Chair
proves that France knows how to be bold in its fictions.
Tender flesh,
by Yaël Langmann and Jérémy Mainguy, in French competition, on francetv slash.
Spreadsheet,
sexuality managed on an Excel table
Full screen
Freedom.
In
Spreadsheet,
Katherine Parkinson plays Lauren, a lawyer with a liberated sex life.
Northern Pictures Pty Ltd and Screen Australia 2021
Freshly divorced, Lauren, mother of two little girls and much in demand lawyer, wants to try – a priori – the impossible: to combine sexual freedom, career, family and mental balance.
Having neither the time nor the patience to live a romantic relationship, she starts looking for non-binding relationships.
With her sidekick Alex (Rowan Witt), she therefore develops the "Spreadsheet", a database of sexual and personalized options to ensure good management of the subject in the midst of her chaotic life.
But as Lauren embarks on what she thinks is a sexual revolution, she finds herself having to deal with even more complications.
Free, funny and wildly endearing, Lauren (excellent Katherine Parkinson) stands out as the new modern and uninhibited heroine.
Spreadsheet,
by Darren Ashton and Sian Davies, in Comedies competition, on Paramount+.
Series Mania Festival, from March 18 to 25, in Lille.
seriesmania.com
Series Mania, the best of international series
In images, in pictures
See the slideshow05 photos
See the slideshow05 photos
“Chains have to take risks”
Analysis by Iris Brey, journalist and author of the essay and documentary
Sex and the Series.
“I perceived a turning point in the 2010s, because for the first time in American series we showed sexualities (especially female) that did not necessarily go well.
Sex then became a place of experimentation, of construction.
It was also at this time that female showrunners and screenwriters took over and started telling things that we hadn't seen before.
Series like
Girls, Fleabag, I Love Dick
and
Transparent
showed that sexuality was constructed, evolved, and that it was imbued with cultural and social references, but also with personal and family backgrounds... With these programs, we saw that the subject of sexuality was complex and that it was that made it interesting and enjoyable.
France remains very late on this side.
Even contemporary, our series have endings that are still very much based on traditional patterns.
The channels will have to take a little more risk and accept stories that do not all tell the same sentimental, family, romantic and sexual model.
I would like to see sex scenes that question the notion of consent, but also observe various bodies, different positions and scenes that are not focused around the male orgasm.
Listen: the editorial staff podcast
My viewing advice?
And Just Like That...
, the reboot of
Sex and the City,
which reveals daring lesbian sex scenes, but also
Normal People
,
a great series on the construction of desire and how consent can be eroticized.
Funny,
the new series by Fanny Herrero (creator of
Ten percent
) presented at Series Mania is likely to be a landmark, because it shows several very contemporary sex scenes in what it tells about relationships and female pleasure.
A first in France.
Iris Brey will give a conference with Ovidie, author and director of the animated documentary series
Libres!
on March 24 at Series Mania.
The essay
Sex and the Series
was published by Éditions Libellus.