“Hello happy fans, life is sweet, life is beautiful, life is fan-tas-tic. » This slogan, you will hear it non-stop during Children are kingsthe serial adaptation of the book by Delphine de Vigan released in 2021 by Gallimard, dissecting the phenomenon of child influencers, and sold nearly 600,000 copies. The six episodes, which focus on the first part of the work, arrive this Wednesday, October 23 on Disney +.
What is it about?
During a scorching summer with a sticky atmosphere, 6-year-old Kimmy Diore (Vittoria Andreoli) disappears in broad daylight. However, this little girl is the star of the YouTube channel “Happy Récré” with millions of viewers, hosted by her mother Mélanie (Doria Tillier), a former reality TV candidate who makes her living from “collaborations” with brands and “likes” on his online videos featuring his daughter. The police investigation is entrusted to Sara Roussel (Géraldine Nakache). She will discover the world of child influencers, but also the media pressure when the 24-hour news channels, the “happy fans” and even the smallest strangers will interfere in her investigations…
For a thriller, Children are kings offers a detective plot that is far too academic, with false leads cluttering up the first episodes to last until the final outcome. Too bad, even if it offers great scenes for investigators Baptiste (Panayotis Pascot) and Lou (India Hair).
Analysis of the new celebrity
Because the attention of the series is elsewhere, in the analysis of this new celebrity, which can affect anyone, and can turn into real poison. The tone is harsh, aimed first and foremost, just like the book, at child influencers, but also at streamers, reality TV candidates… The proximity of the release between Worship (which returns to the arrival of “Loft Story”) and this series indicates that this subject is raising more and more questions.
At the center of this analysis, there are two women, not so distant: an investigator lost in the face of this new world but finding a certain closeness with her own story, and a mother poisoning her family with her illusions of fame, although truly loving his daughter. In both roles, Géraldine Nakache and Doria Tillier are excellent. If you come for the detective intrigue, the series risks disappointing. If we come for a dissection of notoriety in the 21st centurye century, it then hits quite right.
Children are kingsseries in six episodes, from this Wednesday, October 23 on Disney +.
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