Set in a small coastal village in France, this is a quiet thriller of crime and dark secrets. The opening sequence takes place in a house just put out for sale. In it, the discovery of what ... Read allSet in a small coastal village in France, this is a quiet thriller of crime and dark secrets. The opening sequence takes place in a house just put out for sale. In it, the discovery of what appears to be the dead family in the house, implicates the former chief-of-police to the p... Read allSet in a small coastal village in France, this is a quiet thriller of crime and dark secrets. The opening sequence takes place in a house just put out for sale. In it, the discovery of what appears to be the dead family in the house, implicates the former chief-of-police to the plot. The now-retired chief-of-police, having made a lot of enemies in his past career, is ... Read all
- Awards
- 2 wins & 4 nominations total
Featured reviews
I have seen 8-parters done in mystery series, but the scope was broader, of course. When you start with a bus full of dead people, you have to 'cut to the chase' fairly quickly . Oh well.. next time (I listen to 'dagger').
Not belittling the performances here, but the story was disgraceful! Not something the writers want on their resumés, I can assure you (O, you wrote t-h-a-t? That the one where 2 villains commit suicide? Always wondered what you guys were thinking ... We'll call you - don't call us..)
In addition, considering its 6 hour running time and novelistic structure, not to mention 2 intertwined mysteries to keep the viewer guessing, it really jogs along at quite a clip, with as much intrigue and incident per episode as many mini-series have in their entire running times.
There were a few plotting issues that lose it one point out of 10, but otherwise I thought this was as gripping as anything I've seen on TV for a while.
Genre conventions are not a bad thing, if used deftly, and Witnesses delivers. Marie Dompnier as the female lead investigator, Sandra Winckler, is impressive as the astute cop who exorcises her insomniac nights by obsessively cleaning her apartment. Thierry Lhermitte plays the former high-flying policeman haunted by family tragedy, and as Winkler's former instructor who is implicated in the bizarre crime, suppresses dark secrets about his past. The location shooting in Le Tréport, with its strange funicular railway which is used as a disturbing feature in the first episode, is inspired, and the photography is superb.
This review is based on viewing the introductory episode, which sometimes tends to be dramatically the most engaging with television mini-series, such as The Bridge and its British-French counterpart, The Tunnel, but marred in subsequent weeks by a lurid story trajectory. Hopefully Witnesses will exhibit a narrative restraint where trust is placed in mood and character development without forsaking the sense of unease that is so well established in the opening hour.
Did you know
- TriviaWhile a French show, the first season premiered in Belgium and Australia before reaching French screens.
- How many seasons does Witnesses have?Powered by Alexa
Details
- Runtime52 minutes
- Color