En immersion

I can't say I am much aware of what is going on in French cinema, but from time to time, for a change, I make time to watch French creations on the topics I like most. So, after e.g. Braquo and Engrenages, I was redirected to En Immersion.

Black-and-white approach is often good, but in the series where practically nobody has any delight in their life, only various problems, it provides too burdensome background for a work where thrill and crime should dominate over personal and health issues. Thus, the pace slowed down, yet there were attempts to link different fates into related loop - characteristic to Nordic noir - but they resulted in both unnecessary over-sophistication and scenes, not speaking of dubious shifts and settlements. It seemed that Episodes 1 an 2 had all the time to "waste", but Episode 3 summed it all up in a certain hurry. Good that the ending scenes were not plain, though.

The cast was quite unknown to me, only Olivier Chantreau (as Guillaume Leanour) was familiar, but his character was a bit trivial to play. The ones depicting Serrero family were just okay, nothing special.

All in all, En Immersion does not measure up to e.g. Virage Nord also shown on Arte, but it is no flop, by all means. Just be prepared to follow more mysticism and mental issues and less criminal stuff.

This could have easily been a long movie (just over 2 hours), but it was decided to make it a 3 part tv show. Which I reckon works quite well too, especially with the cliffhangers after the episodes/at the end of the episodes. The acting is really good and do not let the b/w fool you ... this gets violent ... and when it does, it does not take any prisoners - pun intended.

Really well told with highs and lows and character choices you may disagree with ... but it's all done realistically ... there is not just good and bad ... there are layers of certain things. The same is true about the ending - and there are quite enough twists and turns in the story to make it more than interesting. It may not be an instand classic, but it still is more than good.

What a terrific, dark, bleak french crime TV show that speaks of pushers, drug dealers, harsh cops, brutality and total despair. The main lead is a terminal ill cop who is sent by his hierarchy to infiltrate a pusher's net. You have already guessed that's here a hopeless tale, a thousand miles away from TF1 channel crap factory. You watch a desperate cop drowning. You also have interesting sub characters study. All long this TV series you think of BRAQUO one, of course. The director Philippe Haïm gave us SECRET DEFENSE back in 2008, and also some BRAQUO episodes. Not a too complicated plot, but beware to follow it very carefully. I highly recommend it.

This was compelling, but if there had been more than three episodes, I am not sure I would have got through it. I hung in there for the excellent acting and the brilliant b&w cinematography, but every 20 minutes or so I found myself slipping into existential despair and had to take time away to watch cat videos. Bleak does not begin to cover it. The Paris it depicts is to all intents and purposes post-apocalyptic - a place out of which all order, aspiration, joy, hope and positivity have been drained along with the colour. 'Immersion' is its overarching, and often visual metaphor, where individuals hover between survival and death by 'narcosis' (the French title of episode 2, stupidly transmuted into 'Ghost Ship' in the English subtitles). In my view it is worth the investment of time and effort, but you should make sure that something in your life that makes you cheerful is easily accessible when needed: brown paper packages tied up with strings, schnitzel with noodles, whatever.

The look is right; Paris, how can you miss? The music is dramatic. The camera department have got their chops down. The sfx are nothing new, but still are interesting. The premise is meh, but okay. It is the writing that turns "En immersion" into a 5.

There are plot holes you can a truck through. I can't comment as even with a turkey like this I'm not going to give away a spoiler. There are too many characters---- and most are just stock characters doing stock things. Actors just do what is on the page and this case they've little to work with, though they try. There are subplots that are underdeveloped, perhaps 5 or 6. Characters come and go, yet never move the story forward.

It was like this was conceived on a Friday night. Written over the weekend. A week of pre-production and casting and shot the following week using that 1st draft. It's almost as if you can hear those words, "don't worry we can fix that in post. We'll have cool sfx, a dramatic score and great editing." All in all I'd say give it a pass and watch something else. Spain, Italy, Belgium, Holland Denmark, Argentina, Scandinavia, Chile have fine cop thrillers; most countries have cop thrillers better than "En immersion." Look around you deserved better.