La Révolution – Netflix Review

LA RÉVOLUTION is a Netflix series from France. It’s a reimagined version of the French Revolution, so it’s a period piece like the South Korean Kingdom. And yes, this Netflix series also features a strange disease and many characters! Read our full La Révolution review here!

LA RÉVOLUTION is a Netflix series from France that should draw in lots of viewers. The concept itself is fascinating since it revolves around a reimagined history of the French Revolution. What makes it a genre production is the fact that this story includes a strange disease which turns people’s blood blue. 

Well, it does more than that but we’ll get into that later on.

The visuals are gorgeous for this new Netflix production and the acting is certainly impressive. Unfortunately, the story does take a few episodes to really take hold. This is, perhaps, to be expected with a somewhat complex retelling of a historic event. However, it does also demand quite a lot of its audience. Maybe even too much.

Continue reading our La Révolution season 1 review below. 

Meet the inventor of the guillotine in La Révolution

Since La Révolution is a reimagined version of the French Revolution, it’s essentially a period piece like the South Korean Kingdom. Or even Pride and Prejudice and Zombies (2016). And yes, this new French Netflix series also features a strange disease! However, while people turn into strange zombie-like creatures in The Kingdom series, it has a very different effect here.

You might like: Our review of the Netflix series Kingdom here >

Mostly, people die when purposely infected with the disease. However, they then come back to life and appear to be stronger than ever. And also, quite impossible to kill.

The man who goes on to invent the guillotine (his last name is actually Guillotine) actually discovers this disease. And while it can leave someone immortal, it is also the cause of many people dying. All of this takes place right as the French Revolution is getting its footing. When watching how the French people are suffering, you can see why a change was bound to come.

Many characters and a slow-burn plot

I was definitely intrigued from the very beginning but I also found myself failing to get truly interested in the characters. This is a mortal sin to someone like me; I love slow-burn storytelling, but I simply must care about the characters.

With series such as Mike Flanagan’s The Haunting of Hill House and – even more so – the new The Haunting of Bly Manor, I enjoy the slow-burn. I enjoy it because I am interested in the characters. Both the ones I would defend forever and the ones I want to see die horrible deaths. The problem arises when I don’t really care much about any of the characters.

Now, having said that, I did find that this feeling changed as the La Révolution series progresses. However, I wouldn’t blame anyone for wanting to give up before they reached this same conclusion. There are many characters and several of them also look quite similar. Though there are obvious exceptions.

Overall, I must admit, I did enjoy all the performances by the actors. I cannot in any way falter them for the issues I saw with this Netflix series. And again, it does change, so please, for your own sake, hang in there if you find the concept intriguing. By episode 3, you should feel a lot more engaged with La Révolution as a series you want to finish.

Watch La Révolution Season 1 on Netflix!

Aurélien Molas has written La Révolution and we’ve recently reviewed a Netflix movie, he wrote, here at Heaven of Horror. It was called Get In (2019) and is a horror-thriller. I was not a fan of that particular movie. In fact, it received one of our rare 1 out of 5 reviews. However, his storytelling works much better for me with this new Netflix series.

Relevant review: Check out our review of the Netflix movie Get In here >

Season 1 of La Révolution has 8 episodes that are each around one hour long. The episodes are directed by three directors. They are Jérémie Rozan, Edouard Salier, and Julien Trousselier. The latter only has experience from other TV series.

However, the two first-mentioned directors have experience in directing music videos. When you know this, you will probably be able to spot styles known from music videos. Personally, I think this style works well for La Révolution. Edouard Salier also directed episodes of the Netflix series Mortel.

Season 1 of La Révolution is out on Netflix from October 16, 2020.

Details

Creator: Aurélien Molas
Starring: Amir El Kacem, Marilou Aussilloux, Lionel Erdogan, Isabel Aimé Gonzalez Sola, Julien Frison, Doudou Masta, Dimitri Storoge, Amélia Lacquemant, Coline Beal, Laurent Lucas, Gaia Weiss, Chiara Tantimonaco, Nina Tantimonaco, Pierre Andrau, Philippine Martinot, Jérémie Covillault