Laëtitia

This show may be really good, but I could only handle about 5 minutes of the narrator explaining every little detail. It just wasn't for me.

This is written after watching 4 episodes as seen on HBO. I have nothing against foreign films with subtitles.... most of the time. But whoever did the subtitles for this needs to improve their job.... a lot. A person speaks and the subtitles end the millisecond that the person stops talking. So if they speak a very short phrase it is no problem. But here if a person speaks using multiple sentences the subtitle doesn't last long enough to read it. Even if the speaker takes a long pause before speaking again the subtitles don't remain on screen. In addition to this the subtitles are partly written over the film images no matter how bright the background and then continued below the film image in the very black letterbox area. This makes reading the subtitles and trying to keep up with this story nearly impossible. What the hell?

Next is the acting of the two father figures and also the crazy guy involved with the last known sightings of Laetitia. All three are so incredibly over the top with their performance that it is difficult to believe. Now if the real life people were actually llke this then I am out of line and apologize. But this is something I have noticed in French cinema before - over acting even by famous French movie stars. These three actors here in Laetitia act like they are in a very large theater trying to project to the last row. But this is film/video and screaming your head off and punching furniture and hyperventilating as though you've just finished running a marathon because a little girl asks for her mother just comes off badly and unreal. As for the girls portraying the sisters - all of them - from the very young to the older girls -they are all quite good in their roles. Too bad I couldn't appreciate this more because of the terrible subtitles and exaggerated acting.

As Episode 1 of "Laetitia" (2020 release from France; 6 episodes of about 50 min. Each) opens, we are told this is a "work of fiction based on real facts". Laetitia arrives home on her scooter late into the night. "Where were you?" some guy asks. We then go to "Three Months Later, Wednesday 19 January 2011, 7:45 am", as Laetitia's twin sister Jessica leaves the house and she finds Laetitia's scooter on the ground, along with one of Laetitia's shoes. But no sign of Laetitia. It's not long before the police are doing an all-out search... At this point we are 10 min. Into Episode 1 but to tell you more of the plot would spoil your viewing experience, you'll just have to see for yourself how it all plays out.

Couple of comments: this is the latest from French writer-director Jean-Xavier de Lestrade, who won an Oscar for his 2001 documentary "Murder On a Sunday Morning". Here he brings the "fictionalized" version of the real-life disappearance of an 18 yr. Old girl in Loire-Atlantique, in northwestern France. Episode 1 is chock full of plot development (if not twists), so the lesser said of that, the better. I will make one general observation: not everything that you see should be taken at face value. Just one example: when the police interviews the foster dad, he says that Laetitia loves living with them. But a little later when they interview Jessica, she says that Laetitia was eager to move out, the sooner, the better. This shows you the underlying friction between appearance and reality, and I'll just leave it at that. Episode 1 is tense from the get-go and frankly doesn't let up at all. Please note that Episode 1 includes a disturbing scene of domestic violence that is hard to watch or stomach (but it does provide an insight on the upbringing of the twin sisters).

"Laetitia" premiered on French TV in September of 2020, and exactly a year later it premiered in the US on HBO. Episode 1 is now available on HBO On Demand, HBO Max, Amazon Instant Video and other platforms. New episodes air on Monday evenings at 9 pm Eastern. If you are in the mood for an (in)tense crime drama, I'd readily suggest you check this out, and draw your own conclusion.

This limited series out of France really is a find! The acting is crippling in its detail...the young women who play the twins give gut wrenching portrayals in this true life horror story.

I am writing this because of a previous review mentioning the narration, and how irritating it was. When I started episode one, I experienced the same thing. However, for some reason, the accessibility options were set like the viewer was sight impaired. Once I played around with the settings, and had the audio in French with English subtitles, the viewing was normal, and I could get on with the show without the annoying narration. I hope this tip helps some other viewers. I had watched the staircase, which was excellent. This show also will no doubt be excellent.