France 2 is broadcasting this Monday evening “The Day of My Death”, a gripping police TV movie starring Frédéric Diefenthal and Lula Cotton-Frapier. Is the fiction worth a look? Our review.
For several years, detective fiction has become the trademark of France Télévisions. And while most TV films of the genre follow well-defined codes, which most often results in scenarios that are seriously lacking in originality, some manage to distinguish themselves and stand out from the crowd.
This is the case of The Day of My Death, broadcast this Monday, September 2 from 9:10 p.m. on France 2, which is none other than the adaptation of the eponymous novel by Jacques Expert.
A serial killer is roaming Paris
Written by Johanne Rigoulot, who notably worked on Disparition Inquiétaire, this 90-minute fiction begins in Marrakech where Lisa and her two friends, Héloise and Audrey, are spending a vacation. In an alleyway in the medina, a fortune teller predicts that Héloise will get married, that Audrey will find the job of her dreams, and that Lisa will die on August 15, in death and violence. A prediction that leaves the young girl completely indifferent.
A few months later, on the morning of Friday, August 15, Paris is stunned by a heat wave that has driven away the lucky ones who have exiled themselves to the seaside in search of freshness. In order to prepare for her thesis defense, which will take place at the beginning of the week, Lisa decides to stay in her Parisian apartment with her cat, Elvis, leaving her boyfriend Walter (Victor Meutelet) to go alone to Normandy to visit his parents.
At the same time, the police have been on their toes for several weeks. A serial killer who kills a young blonde woman every Friday is stalking the streets of Paris. And they know it: he will strike again this Friday, August 15 before midnight. They therefore have less than 24 hours to get their hands on the killer.
Lisa is not reassured when she hears this news in the media. Especially since the predictions made to her friends have both come true. The young girl is immediately less serene at the idea of spending the day alone in her apartment.
Especially since strange noises and phenomena begin to occur in her building. Is Lisa the killer’s next victim? And will she manage to survive this Friday, August 15?
An effective thriller
When Final Destination meets the “Meurtres à…” collection, it gives us The Day I Died, a thrilling thriller that keeps us on the edge of our seats until the last second. By following two stories in parallel, that of Lisa behind closed doors in her building, and that of the police officers who try to find the murderer in time, this fiction manages to keep a sustained pace while avoiding the clichés of the genre. Its narration also allows it to maintain the suspense until the last moment, and avoids the accumulation of suspects that is sometimes tiresome in this kind of TV movie.
The casting of The Day I Die is obviously not left out. To play Lisa, the production called on Lula Cotton-Frapier, an actress revealed in the teen series SKAM France, who in 2022 was on the bill for the captivating thriller The Night of the 12th, crowned with the César for best film.
She easily manages to bring Lisa to life, and to transport viewers into the anxieties and worries of the character, who, over the course of the TV movie, sinks deeper and deeper into paranoia. Special mention to Naidra Ayadi (The Code, Oussekine) and Frédéric Diefenthal (Taxi) who play the police officers in charge of the investigation, who embark on a race against time to save the future victim of the serial killer.
Although a few unlikely coincidences worthy of the worst horror films sometimes take us out of the story a little, The Day I Died remains a gripping and captivating thriller with a surprising ending.
Watch The Day I Died this Monday, September 2 at 9:10 p.m. on France 2.
