Les innocents

I've watched this twice and marvel at the lead performance and the directorial control of mournful feeling in these beautiful Parisian settings. Chabrol comes to mind, of course, but he had a wicked humour that's not here. I've not read Simenon and only know a couple Maigret iterations. Very effective tv drama.

Taken as a whole, Les Innocents was an interesting, albeit soap opera-ish, film brought down by its heavy-handed employ of crying, over sentimental scenes that bordered on being cringy.

I'd say, ratio wise, the move was about 95% brooding drama and 5% mystery. On Tubi, it's also listed as being a thriller. It wasn't. That would imply suspense and intrigue which there was very little of.

Acting was exemplary, though. I give the thespians that. The film was also interesting in its use of past and present transitions of characters and environment, so kudos for the editing and directing people for that.

In the end, is Les Innocents a must-see feature? Not really. It was just a tad more mature than a typical Hallmark production, but not by much.