France 3 launches this evening “Off season”, its back-to-school mini-series carried by Marina Hands and Sofiane Zermani as a duo of cops launched on the trail of a serial killer. A thriller with a singular scenario, which stands out and never ceases to surprise us.
What is it about ?
Les Cimes, a small ski resort in the Dents du Midi region. It’s the end of the season, vacationers are leaving, the snow is melting… and the horror is revealed in broad daylight: the corpse of a murdered woman in an intriguing and macabre staging.
It is the Swiss captain Sterenn Peiry who is in charge of the case, soon supported by the French investigator Lyes Bouaouni who reveals to her that another body was found in a similar condition on the other side of the border. As the mystery deepens, the investigator discovers that her son accidentally killed his girlfriend in a car. Sterenn’s life is turned upside down: how far will she go to protect her son?
Every Thursday at 9:10 p.m. on France 3 from September 1, and already available in full on Salto.
6 episodes seen out of 6.
Who is it with?
Sterenn Peiry and Lyes Bouaouni, the two cop heroes of Out of seasonare embodied by Marina Handswho is becoming more and more accustomed to the series after myth, Blank Zoneand tabooand by Sofiane Zermani (alias Fianso), who we saw on the small screen in The Savages and Algiers Confidential. And who will hold in a few days the first role of the film Under the influence on Netflix.
Facing them, viewers of France 3 will find in particular Cyril Metzger (The Event, A young girl who is well) in the role of Jérémy, the son of Sterenn, Nicolas Wanczycki (Grand Hotel, The Art of Crime) in the skin of the ex-husband of the heroine, Isabelle Caillat (Crisis unit), Anna Pieri Zuercher (Double life), or Jean-Hugues Anglade in a rather surprising role.
Benoit Linder – FTV – Gaumont – Akka films
Well worth a look ?
Created by Sarah Farkas (Nina, Vortex), Marine Flores-Ruimi (Contact, Clem), and Claire Kanny (Prometheus), Hors saison has the merit of bringing a bit of originality and audacity to the seen and reviewed genre of thrillers against a backdrop of serial killers.
Result: this mini-series in six episodes which had been unveiled in preview at Séries Mania a few months ago has easily established itself as one of the most beautiful surprises of the year 2022 on French television. Who manages to keep us in suspense and to surprise us thanks to a very well written scenario which does not skimp on the surprises.
From its very first images, this co-production between France and Switzerland (via RTS), which falls somewhere between The Crimson Rivers and A man of honor by the themes it addresses, is already distinguished by the atmosphere that emanates from its decor: a small almost deserted ski resort, after the departure of the last seasonal workers, where the macabre of the discovery of a body buried under the snow, in a very specific staging, mixes with the intimate exploration of the traumas, secrets, and shenanigans of the inhabitants of the Cimes.
But, unique, Off Season is above all and above all at the very level of its plot, which is based on an unstoppable pitch that it would obviously be a shame to reveal in full.
Indeed, to the initial questions – Who is the edelweiss killer? What secret threatens to tarnish the large-scale real estate project that could revitalize the resort? – the authors of the series add an unexpected new script layer at the end of the first episode which turns everything upside down. And leads off season in an extremely well seen and enjoyable direction.
Jean-Claude Lother – FTV – Gaumont – Akka film
Already frankly disturbed by the death of her daughter three years earlier, how far will Sterenn, embodied to perfection by a multifaceted Marina Hands, go to protect her son Jérémy, who accidentally killed his girlfriend in a car accident ? This is the whole point of these six episodes which, despite a sometimes a little slow pace, manage to catch us and never let us go until the end.
Especially since a second rather huge twist intervenes halfway through and again rocks the series. To the delight of the spectator who never really knows where this snowy hunt will take him.
On the casting side, Marina Hands finds a strong partner in the person of the comedian and rapper Sofiane Zermani, magnetic and with crazy accuracy, which confirms all the good that we already thought of him for his performances in Les Sauvages or more recently on the stage of the Théâtre du Châtelet in a new musical adaptation of Gatsby the magnificent.
While Cyril Metzger, Anna Pieri Zuercher, brilliant as a calculating businesswoman – and incidentally ex-best friend of Sterenn -, or even Jean-Hugues Anglade are not left out. In front of the camera Pierre Monnard (Neumatt) which, through its raw and authentic production, brings the necessary coldness and darkness to this chilling thriller which promises to make you spend a scary end of summer on France 3.