Ad Vitam

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.

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.

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.

I thought the show was well produced. Sure some tech things aren't as advanced as others (they still drive cars but can live indefinitely) but it's a show, it can't have every sci-fi element in it.

The acting was good. The story line was fairly unpredictable and the last few episodes had me hooked since it took some unexpected turns.

Creepy show with an interesting plot.

It's a fairly interesting concept, though it has been done before I've never seen it quite like this.

Most 'eternal life' shows have a very limited number of people living forever - the rich and/or powerful or a single villain. In this one, the vast majority can live indefinitely (it's never clear on the percentages of people who are 'incompatible'.)

It works as a mystery 90% of the way through the show, mainly because nothing that anybody does has any clear motivation. Even some of the basic premise is contrived - why set the 'age of majority' to 30 in general just because a person can't regenerate until 30? Minors are not drink, and everyone under 30 is designated a minor just because this one technology doesn't work for them yet. Lots of little silly things like that.

But the worst part is that nobody has any real motives for anything. A bunch of random things are being done by people for no apparent reason, other than "well I've lived a hundred years I'm ready to try something new." There are also several rabbit trails and things that are hinted at but never followed up on. What exactly is 'retraining?' (The following examples are obvious from the first episode, and apparently not in any way significant to the plot, so don't worry.) Why does Darius get headaches when he regenerates? Does the law they are voting on forbid all births or only restrict them, and if it forbids all births then what will they do as people die from accidents or violence?

The end seems to try to be a bit philosophical, but it fell flat for me because there was never any real reason given to believe anything would really change, ever. It wasn't terrible, it just wasn't clear enough to be moving or thought provoking or exciting or much of anything beyond slightly interesting.

If I could live a thousand years, I don't think I'd ever get bored enough to watch it again.