It's the surprise of the new school year on Netflix. Between the much-awaited heavyweights such as "Tapie", season 4 of "Sex Education" or season 3 of "Lupin", a German miniseries monopolizes the top 10 of the most watched programs. Since its release at the beginning of September, "Dear Little" has been a hit among users of the streaming platform. And where the big productions have been helped by an XXL promotion, this fiction in six fifty-minute episodes has risen to the top of the rankings thanks to word-of-mouth alone.
"Dear Little", or "Liebes Kind" in German, is the screen adaptation of a novel by Romy Hausmann, published in 2019. Somewhere in Germany, a woman is discovered along a road in the middle of the forest. She was hit by a car. The driver fled the scene. Help arrives. Next to her, in the ambulance, a surprisingly calm and mature little girl who calls her "Mommy" takes her seat. DNA analysis quickly reveals that the two characters are not related. Who is Hannah? Who is Lena? Where do they come from? What are they hiding? The investigators will go from surprise to surprise in this story of breathless suspense.
A captivating storyline
From the very beginning, the complicit spectator arrives in the room where the two children live (because Hannah has a little brother) and this mother, who seems so frightened. There are no windows, the walls appear to be covered with soundproofing panels, and the furniture is rudimentary. It's understandable that they're being held there by a violent and perverted guy. One immediately thinks of the ordeal endured by Austrian Natascha Kampusch, who was held captive for more than eight years by a man, from 1998 to 2006, until she managed to escape during a moment of inattention from her captor and executioner, Wolfgang Priklopil.
Images of verbal, physical and psychological violence are sometimes unbearable. The series is not recommended for children under 16 years of age. The two child actors in the roles of Hannah and her little brother Jonathan were given an abbreviated and watered-down version of the script, so as not to disturb them.
An umpteenth detective series with a classic storyline and predictable twists and turns? None of that here. "Dear Girl" surprises with its impeccable script, which gently unwinds the thread, element by element, without ever losing the viewer. He is always one step ahead of the investigators, and he is pushed to the heart of the investigation. Flashbacks illuminate the story just right. At no point do we deplore any big strings, as is often the case in thrillers of this genre. The suspense is constant, the twists and turns never where you think. And despite a somewhat flat ending, it's hard to switch off once you've started watching, as the series is so captivating.
Characters with elaborate psychology
The quality of this creation also lies in the psychological depth of its characters. Over the course of the episodes, we understand the links between each other, some of whom have known each other in the past, without it seeming too big, as is often the case.
They are served by actors of great accuracy, with their flaws, their mysteries, their rough edges. Starting with the young Naila Schuberth, impressive in the role of Hannah. Her imperturbable calm, her large eyes, the chilling orders she sometimes slips into the hollow of her brother's ear, add to the sincerity of the story. We also salute the performance of Kim Riedle, moving as a traumatized victim, who tries to rebuild herself.
Editor's Note:
4/5
"Dear Little", German series by Isabel Kleefeld with Kim Riedle, Naila Schuberth, Julika Jenkins, Hans Löw. Six episodes of fifty minutes each.