Ad Vitam - In alle Ewigkeit

It was on my list forever as it's sf but Netflix's info on it was so misleading that I kept ignoring the show. I'm so glad I didn't. It's so different and so much better than all the other stuff on immortality. I'm so tired of the type of future imagined in 'blade runner' or 'altered carbon'...all these weird market places where you can buy nearly anything. The future here looks very much like the present, except a couple of details. The show's approach to extending life indefinitely is by far the best I've seen in ages. The show looks at aspects other tv shows usually don't explore, like forgetting what bereavement is. ..quite amazing

Thanks to 'regeneration' people no longer need to grow old; the oldest person in the world has just turned 169 and still looks and feels like a thirty something. There is a price of course; as nobody dies of old age or illness death is rare leading to overpopulation. Having children is discouraged and those under thirty don't feel valued. This has led to some committing suicide. When seven bodies are washed up on a beach police officer Darius Asram is called into investigate. He soon finds an apparent link to a mass suicide that took place ten years previously. Wanting to find more about that incident and to discover if the people behind it were involved in the recent case he enlists the help of twenty four year old Christa. She survived that event and has been incarcerated in a secure hospital ever since. Together they will uncover the truth.

I enjoyed this six part series. It provided a good mystery as well as some interesting ideas. The world depicted isn't overly futuristic; apart from the regeneration it could almost be set now. In many ways this can world can be seen as the opposite of that shown in the '70s classic 'Logan's Run'; instead of people being killed at thirty they aren't really valued till they reach that age. We don't get bogged down in pseudo-science; it is just stated that the regeneration is somehow linked to jellyfish, a recurring motif throughout the series. Yvan Attal impresses as Darius and Garance Marillier, best known from the film 'Raw' is solid as Christa. There isn't too much violence but there is a sense of threat. I suspect the only reason this has an '18' rating is because of the importance of suicide to the plot. Overall I found this to be intelligent sci-fi and would certainly recommend it.

These comments are based on watching the series in French with English subtitles.

After the sea of atrocious rubbish that passes as sci fi lately, from the demise of Dr Who, not to mention dismal attempts to remake The War of the Worlds, its refreshing to see a series "this good".

Ad Vitam blends a quality crime thriller with a sci fi that has elements reminiscent of films such as Blade Runner, but still manages to have its own unique personality.

This is a deep series, that delves into human emotion and the things that define us as human. Just as importantly, it looks at what we can become when those things are taken from us.

Top notch acting rounds out this marvellous French series I had to watch in one sitting. Something of a rarity for me these days.

10/10 from me.

Right now (i have one ep left to watch) i'm hooked up. The first ep had left me undecisive, some parts of it were shallow, but the outstanding performance of Garance Marillier decided me to try see how her rough yong character would evolve. And suddenly, at ep 3, a revelation : the whole thing made sense ! the construction of which you could only see the tip (like an iceberg) previously, was beginning to have its foundation revealed (like a skyscrapper ?). It's a grim story, set in a grim realistic futur, and it becomes grimmer, more intricate, as episodes go on. It suddenly is a real sensible reflexion on death and human's life and the value of it all. Yo don't see that often in a work of fiction. If you give it a try, make sure to not give up before ep 3, admittedly it's halfway in - but it felt like a turning point in the series.

Exactly what you want from a sci-fi series, cool concept, excellent execution, good acting and several red herrings taking you off into not such a distant future where eternal youth is just beginning, and the young are treated as kids until they are over 30 years old.

It's too easy to press the next episode in this series as the investigation progresses with the characters and plot building into the last episode. There are some shocking scenes that are quite graphic, although not violent. A must watch for those who don't want 'Wham, Bam, smash and grab' kiddies sci-fi.