Black Butterflies (Les Papillons Noirs) is a French thriller series that will premiere on Netflix on October 14, 2022. Bruno Merle and Olivier Abbou developed and wrote the series, which is produced by ARTE, Myriam Gharbi-de Vasselot, and Julien Dewolf. There are six episodes in all, each lasting around 45-64 minutes.
Nicolas Duvauchelle plays Adrien Winckler, Niels Arestrup plays Albert Desiderio, Axel Granberger plays Albert Jeune, Alyzée Costes plays Solange, Brigitte Catillon plays Catherine, Henny Reents plays Nastya, Lola Créton plays Catherine Jeune, Marie Denarnaud plays Mathilde, Alice Beladi plays Nora, and Sami Bouajila plays Carrel.
According to the series summary on Netflix:
A GLOOMY NOVELIST, LOOKING FOR INSPIRATION FOR HIS SECOND BOOK, AGREES TO WRITE A MEMOIR FOR A DYING MAN — AND SWIFTLY BECOMES PART OF HIS BLOODSTAINED PAST.
-There are no spoilers in this Black Butterflies review.
Adrien Winckler, a poor novelist who works as a ghostwriter to make ends meet, stars in the series. Albert Desiderio, a lowly retired man, chooses to employ Adrien to write his memoirs at the end of his life. But Albert’s beautiful love tale with Solange in the 1970s turned out to be the confession of a serial murderer pair.
Between curiosity and revulsion, Adrien must confront the truth that this story has all the ingredients for success, so why not make it his own? What other deadly truths will be discovered before the conclusion of the book, and what will happen when the writer realizes that Albert was not chosen at random?
The series begins with a dramatic sight of a toddler sitting on the kitchen table with spilled milk from his breakfast and looking at a blue butterfly, which becomes black, and something awful is going on, as we hear his mother’s groaning voice coming from a locked door. We now encounter Adrien, probably the grown-up counterpart of that boy, as he answers a phone call from Albert.
Albert has a renal illness and wants to write down his narrative before he dies. He’s more interested in telling his life narrative from the moment he met the love of his life, Solange, than in his boyhood. He was bullied as a child, and she was bullied as well, so they kept each other company and grew into a strong relationship and then love.
But it’s not simply a simple love tale; it’s convoluted and laced with jealousy, which turns into terrible killings. Violence manifests itself in the guise of ‘love’ for a loved one, a woman, or a kid. This irresistible addiction, this movement in a flash between anger, envy, sex, cruelty, desire, and complicity, is depicted properly in the series.
And with crime comes ramifications and inquiry, which leads us to another key figure in the plot, Inspector Carrel. The plot is divided into three parts: the author’s friendship with the elderly man, the unpunished tragedy of a couple of killers, and an inquiry led by a mystery officer.
Slowly, all three tales intersect, and what follows is a succession of twists, turns, and blood. The continual tension between the characters, their passion for vengeance, and their jealousy, which manifests itself in many forms of violence, unite them.
To summarise: Black Butterflies
The series tries to emulate the Italian Giallo style of cinema, in which a murder mystery story basically blends the atmosphere and suspense of thriller fiction with aspects of horror fiction (such as slasher violence) and eroticism, often incorporating a mysterious killer whose identity is not disclosed until the final act of the story.
It deals with the idea of memory and reality disillusionment. Often, the protagonist has difficulty discriminating between fiction and reality. The symbolic element ‘black butterfly’ is frequently utilized, but what it implies is secret wisdom, a knowledge that is uncommon and can only be obtained by those who are persistent and fearless in their pursuit of it.
Adrien discovers the black butterfly after accepting what was imparted to him and deciding to follow it no matter what.
Similarly, as Carrel realizes the link between himself, Albert, and Mody, the black butterfly comes to him. When it comes to the writer’s pseudonym name Mody, refers to a rare kind of diabetes that Adrien suffers from, hence the moniker.
But, if you go further, it derives from the French term Maudit, which means cursed. Another part of the performance is a biblical quotation about the father eating sour grapes and the children’s teeth being put on edge. This essentially implies that the next generation will face the consequences of their father’s actions.
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However, this has been refuted, and it is now believed that each man is accountable for his deeds, and whatever happens to him is the result of his karma, rather than something inherited from his father. To put it another way, Adrien has had his entire life to make the proper decisions, and it is not true that he will become like his parents or suffer from them.
Overall, the series is an entertaining and short watch. Once you’re familiar with the plot, it may even feel extremely predictable to you, but just as you’re getting used to it, another twist sends you back to the beginning. It makes you doubt everything and puts you on the same page as the main character. However, if something is to be criticized, they did not close the narrative as clearly as they laid its foundation, which may leave you perplexed.
Netflix is now streaming Black Butterflies.
