Lupin Part 1

[Margit Szermer]

Lupin is a French mystery thriller television series created by George Kay and Franois Uzan. It premiered on Netflix on 8 January 2021, when the first set of five episodes were released. Another five aired on 11 June 2021.[2] The series was renewed for a third instalment,[3] which debuted on 5 October 2023.[4]

The show stars Omar Sy in the role of Assane Diop, a man who is inspired by the adventures of master thief Arsne Lupin, a character created by Maurice Leblanc in the early 1900s.[5] The first part, consisting of five episodes, is subtitled Dans l'ombre d'Arsne ("in the shadow of Arsne"), referring to the primary character's inspiration.[6][7] The series was watched by 76 million households during its first month, becoming the most-watched non-English series on Netflix at the time.[8][9]

The story follows professional thief Assane Diop, the only son of an immigrant from Senegal who had come to France to seek a better life for himself and his child. Assane's father is framed for the theft of an expensive diamond necklace by his employer, the wealthy and powerful Hubert Pellegrini, and dies in his prison cell, leaving the fourteen-year-old Assane to fend for himself on the streets of Paris. Twenty-five years later, inspired by a book about gentleman thief Arsne Lupin his father had given him on his birthday, Assane sets out to get revenge on the Pellegrini family, using his charisma and mastery of thievery, subterfuge, and disguise to expose Pellegrini's crimes.[10][11][12][5]

The second part focuses on the search for Assane's kidnapped son, Raoul, and the plan to take Pellegrini down; the latter was not killed but imprisoned.[13] The third part revolves around the theft of "the priceless Black Pearl" by Assane, and his attempt to mend the relationships with his wife and son.[14]

On 19 July 2018, Netflix ordered a new series, to be produced by Gaumont Film Company, about the character Arsne Lupin, portrayed by Omar Sy. In a 2018 interview, Sy revealed that "Arsene Lupin, who is an iconic and charismatic character, will take on a new life in this modern adaptation, unique in its genre".[18] Netflix confirmed that George Kay and Franois Uzan would be the showrunners, with Louis Leterrier directing the first three episodes.[19][20][21]

Initially, it was planned that Sy would appear as Arsne Lupin himself. However, upon being brought in as the series' showrunner and main writer, George Kay proposed that Sy should instead play a newly created character: Assane Diop, the son of a Senegalese chauffeur, who decides to style himself after the gentleman thief upon discovering Maurice Leblanc's books as a teenager in the 1990s.[22] This allowed the series to explore modern-day cultural and racial issues in France. Sy commented that "the character had to be a Frenchman from today. That's why we have a black guy of African descent, living in the projects. It's a new face of France."[23] Kay described the notion of "good arrogance" as being integral to his conception of Assane's personality: "It's arrogance you don't object to; you just admire [it]. It's: 'I'm going to literally take all your life savings. But if I do it with a big enough smile on my face, you kind of don't mind.'"[23] Sy identified with Kay's characterization of Assane, stating that "my mom's a cleaner. My dad used to work in a factory. Coming from where I come from, I had to be arrogant [...] To be accepted, sometimes you have to pretend. The good arrogance helps you."[23]

On developing the character of Youssef Gudira, a fellow Lupin devotee who happens to be a police detective charged with hunting Assane down, Kay said that "a lot of our favourite shows have their own podcasts and fanbases and all of that stuff, and I thought it'd be cool if that was incorporated into the series itself, so it becomes like a 'live' adaptation within the series. It takes someone who knows Lupin to recognize he's here at all, and then to start exploring that as an idea felt quite fun because you can back-reference stuff, you can lay a load of breadcrumbs that relate to the books and bring those back in again."[25] Kay commented further on the series' depiction of the French police force, specifically Gudira's immediate superiors, captain Romain Laugier and lieutenant Sofia Belkacem: "It's not that they can't get Assane, it's just that they can't agree on how best to do it in the context of their own hierarchy, so that makes them more rounded as characters."[25]

Filming of the first five episodes was completed primarily in Paris, on various streets and at the Louvre, both inside and out.[27] According to research by Cond Nast Traveler, other important locations included La Naumachie pond at Parc Monceau and Muse Nissim de Camondo on rue de Monceau; the latter stands in as the Pellegrini home and is open to the public.[28] Other listed locations include Collge-lyce Jacques-Decour, a parking garage on Rue d'Abbeville, the March Biron flea market, the Jardin du Luxembourg, the Pont des Arts, L'Appartement Saint-Martin (near Porte Saint-Martin), and the Maison d'Arrt de Bois-d'Arcy prison. The publication adds that parts of the fifth episode were filmed in the town of tretat, which is located along the coast of Normandy.[29] This location is significant because Maurice Leblanc, who created the character Arsne Lupin, lived in the municipality.[30][31][32]

The series' music is composed by Mathieu Lamboley, who also appears briefly in the tenth episode as the conductor of the orchestra at the Pellegrinis' concert. On writing the score, Lamboley commented: "To me, Lupin is all about heritage, a father passing on a literary heritage to his son, and the latter continuing the legacy in the present time. The question then became, how do I translate this in music? I decided to take a hybrid approach and mix my classical heritage with more modern sounds [...] and this is what you can hear in the soundtrack: classical writing blended together with hip hop beats."[40]

Lupin is the first French series to rank among the top ten on Netflix in the United States, reaching number three on 10 January 2021.[41] It was ranked number one in France and many other countries in Europe, including Germany, Austria, Italy, Spain, Denmark, and Sweden, as well as other countries such as Canada, Brazil, Argentina, and South Africa.[42]

As of 31 January 2021, the show was watched by 76 million households, making it the second-most-successful debut ever for an original Netflix show, after Bridgerton.[8][43] In April, Netflix revealed that Lupin was the most watched title on the company's streaming service in the first quarter of 2021.[44]

On 21 July 2021, it was reported that 54 million households watched the second part of the show, a drop compared to the first installment. Lupin still managed to become one of the biggest shows during the second quarter of 2021.[45][46]

Between the release of part 2 in June 2021 and part 3 in October 2023, Netflix altered its methods for calculating a series' success, dividing the number of hours it was viewed by its total length for an estimation of total completed viewings. In its first four days on the platform, part 3 of Lupin was viewed approximately 11.6 million times, topping the international (non-English-language) television chart[47] and becoming the strongest launch for a new season of an international show since 2021.[48] Part 3 reached number one in many countries in Europe and Latin America and hit number two in the United States on 9 October,[49] and again on 11 October.[50] By January 2024, part 3 had received 50 million completed viewings.[51]

Lupin is one of the most successful Netflix series in a language other than English, with all three parts achieving placements on the streamer's international top ten.[52] In a press release published in October 2023, Netflix described the show's first two parts as "mainstays on the Most Popular Non-English TV list".[47]

On the review aggregation website Rotten Tomatoes, the first part holds an approval rating of 98% with an average rating of 7.70/10, based on 44 reviews. The site's critical consensus reads: "Omar Sy effortlessly hits every mark in Lupin, an engrossing espionage thriller that lives up to its source material and then some."[53] On Metacritic, the first part has a score of 82 out of 100 based on 8 reviews.[54]

Writing for The New Paper, Jonathan Roberts stated that "if [Lupin] was a film, it would be a contender for the year's best".[55] Daniel D'Addario of Variety wrote that the cliffhanger at the end of the first series "will leave any viewer who's taken the ride eager for more."[56] Rolling Stone's Alan Sepinwall praised Sy's performance, writing that "it all works because [he] is so magnetic and charming that questioning plot logic feels wildly besides the point."[57] Karen Han of Slate wrote that Lupin "doesn't waste a single minute, packing each and every moment full of suspense".[58]

On Rotten Tomatoes, the second part holds an approval rating of 96%, with an average rating of 8.10/10, based on 28 reviews. The site's critical consensus reads: "Smart, sexy, and stylish, Lupin's highly bingeable second season is perfect summer viewing".[59] On Metacritic, the second part has a score of 80 out of 100 based on 7 reviews.[60]

The show's third part received similarly positive reviews, although some critics felt that the new set of episodes suffered due to lower stakes for Assane's character.[61][62] Nonetheless, Sy's performance was acclaimed once again, with Leila Latif of The Guardian calling him a "born action star".[63] Praise was also given to the expanded roles for the series' supporting cast, particularly Ludivine Sagnier as Claire.[64][65]

Lupin has been credited with re-popularizing the character of Arsne Lupin, both in France and internationally. Arsne Lupin, Gentleman Burglar, the first collection of Lupin stories written by Maurice Leblanc, topped the children's literature book charts in France following the release of the series.[66][67]

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