Lupin Season 1 Review : This gentleman thief effortlessly slides into your hearts

Adapting literary works to the screen is not easy, harder still is blending these into the modern world of gadgets and social media. It has been done well by the makers of Sherlock before. And with Lupin, creators George Kay and François Uzan take the merger of a classic tale with a contemporary world a step higher.

For those who are familiar with the work of French novelist Maurice Leblanc, particularly his books on Arsene Lupin, this series is bound to strike a chord. There’s no second-guessing that. However, chances are that you may not have heard of him or the fictional character he created, before. We’ll let you browse the internet for more details on the author. But even if you have come across the names for the first time via Netflix, this French series (available with English audio and subtitles), is worthy of all your binge-watch time!

The creators take Leblanc’s most famous character, Arsene Lupin, gentleman thief and detective, as an inspiration to tell the tale of Assane Diop (Omar Sy). The five-episode series starts with a plan to steal the queen’s necklace which has resurfaced more than two decades after it was reportedly stolen from the Pellegrinis. At the necklace’s auction, Assane plans to steal it. The interesting thing about the necklace is that 25 years ago, it was said to have been stolen by Assane’s father, Babakar Diop (Fargass Assandé), a crime Babakar confessed to, days before hanging himself in his prison cell. Assane’s plan sets a series of events in motion, including a meeting with Hubert Pellegrini’s daughter Claire, who Assane knows from the time his father worked as a chauffeur for the Pellegrinis, and a secret unknown to Assane until that meeting. This brings the twist in the tale and gives Assane a mission – that of finding the truth behind his father’s confession.

In a Sherlock Holmes-meets-Danny Ocean saga, Omar Sy’s Assane stands out in every sense. Be it for his courage, his intelligence, networking, or his knack for creating illusions and disguises, Assane is the perfect protagonist in this story that evolves as it progresses. The narrative has multiple layers that are unearthed at the perfect turning points in the story, thereby keeping the pace and mystery intact. Most importantly, the story remains believable. The creators have a logical explanation for things that may seem far-fetched.

While Omar steals the show, the supporting performances are noteworthy too. Ludivine Sagnier as Claire, Clotilde Hesme as Juliette Pellegrini, Hervé Pierre as Hubert Pellegrini, Soufiane Guerrab as Youssef Guedira, Vincent Garanger as Gabriel Dumont and Anne Benoît as Fabienne Bériot are perfectly cast.

The only bad thing about Lupin is that it ends too soon and that too leaving viewers hanging. There are questions waiting to be answered and mysteries waiting to be solved, setting a solid base for the second season of the series. Till then, if you haven’t watched it already, Lupin is the perfect material for a binge-watch. If you throw in a hat, a monocle and a cloak, things might get even more interesting.