The 7 Lives of Léa – Netflix Series Review

THE 7 LIVES OF LÉA on Netflix is a new mystery-thriller series with a gorgeous dose of fantasy. This involves a bodyswap and time-travel plot. It’s a French production (org. title Les 7 vies de Léa) shot in beautiful surroundings. Read our full The 7 Lives of Léa series review here!

THE 7 LIVES OF LÉA is a new Netflix series from France (org. title Les 7 vies de Léa). The genres include thriller, mystery, crime, and fantasy. We have two of the most wonderful sci-fi subgenres as plot drivers; Bodyswapping and time travel. For this series, both happen at the same time.

This new Netflix series is based on the book “The 7 Lives of Léo Belami” by Nataël Trapp, which was released in 2019. Obviously, some changes have been made since Léo is now Léa. Also, in the book, a girl was murdered in 1988 while a boy dies in 1991 in this Netflix adaptation. The core concept, however, is very much the same.

Continue reading our The 7 Lives of Léa series review below and find season 1 on Netflix now.

A simple plot that works

In episode 1, Léa finds a skeleton hand sticking out of the ground. She’s at a party and pretty high when this happens, but what happens during the next week is even more trippy. Each day, she’s waking up on the same day 30 years in the past. And every day it’s in the body of someone new.

She doesn’t have their memories or abilities, so it’s quite the challenge and a huge struggle in most instances. Like waking up as your mother, when she’s in High School and is already dating the boy who will become your father. Yeah, it can get pretty tricky fast, but Léa actually manages to get by fairly well.

The first person, Léa wakes up as, is the High School boy, Ismaël, whose skeleton hand she has just discovered. Obviously, she’s very confused, but it also gets her set on figuring out how he died. And why!

Try walking a mile in someone else’s shoes!

Overall, the morale of the story in The 7 Lives of Léa tends to revolve around the idea that you don’t know what other people go through. Try walking a mile in their shoes and maybe you’ll understand them better. Well, that’s exactly what Léa is able to do. Hence the title “The 7 Lives of Léa” since she manages to experience several people’s lives while still being Léa.

However, it’s very much a two-way street and she also realizes that people (her parents in particular) never share anything from their past with her. How is she supposed to understand them, if they hide all their own hopes and dreams?

That’s one way to look at it, of course. The other is simply that this shows how hypocritical most of us tend to get when we’re older and wiser. Most people think the next generations are louder and more difficult. Then you find out your own parents were in a rock band or have been arrested for being activists. Maybe things aren’t that different from one generation to the next.

Watch season 1 of The 7 Lives of Léa on Netflix now!

The main protagonist in 2021, Léa, is portrayed by young newcomer Raïka Hazanavicius. The boy, who dies in 1991, Ismaël, is portrayed by Khalil Ben Gharbia (Skam France). Other than these two characters, most are portrayed by two actors; A young adult or child in 1991 and an adult in 2021. All of them are very well cast, which makes the illusion hold up really well.

Charlotte Sanson is the creator of The 7 Lives of Léa on Netflix. She previously also worked as a writer on the Netflix series Vampires (2020). The seven episodes are directed by either Julien Despaux (4 episodes) or Émilie Noblet (3 episodes).

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Check out our review of the Netflix series Vampires here >

To follow the whole idea of seven lives, this season also has seven episodes. The episodes are simply titled “Day 1”, “Day 2”, etc. so we get a new bodyswap in each episode. Also, this means Léa learns something new in each episode – including the dangers of interfering with things in the past.

Each episode is around 40 minutes long, and the series is very binge-worthy. And yes, this concept could very easily be built on, so maybe we’ll get more “The 7 Lives of ” seasons in the future. Personally, I would love that!

The 7 Lives of Léa is out on Netflix from April 28, 2022.