the mini-series in which an autonomous car is one of the heroines

Karin Viard and Melville Poupaud rivals and protagonists of the series.

From the credits, we say to ourselves that this mini-series should hold up. With Edouard Philippe on the screenplay, accompanied by his old companion Gilles Boyer who both advised Alain Juppé during the primary campaign in 2017, we know that they know what it's all about. Because In the Shadow, the series in question, tells the story of a center-right candidate who, unlike the ex-mayor of Bordeaux, wins the primary and campaigns for the Élysée.

In addition, in the direction, we find Pierre Schoeller, the filmmaker who signed the remarkable L'Exercice de l'Etat which already took place in the political sphere. Unfortunately, the series currently broadcast on France 2, and already available in replay, is somewhat disappointing. Not through its well-crafted plot, but through its telephonic dialogues and sometimes rough-hewn characters.

Caricatured characters

The actors may well be remarkable, with a particular mention for Swann Arlaud as the candidate's advisor. This applicant for the Élysée, played by Melville Poupaud, is also particularly fair. On the other hand, Karin Viard may struggle as a reactive and cunning politician, she has difficulty putting herself in the shoes of a character so caricatured that it is difficult to believe it and, obviously, so does she.

We are far from Baron noir or La Fièvre which, on the same theme, proved that in France, political series were capable of competing with West Wing or House of cards. However, certain elements of the public service mini-series hit the mark. Pierre Schoeller will draw, as usual, from the surrealist and even fantastical section to support his point.

Here, he notably makes his characters evolve in an autonomous car which circulates freely on public roads. The story takes place during a fictitious presidential campaign of 2025, it is therefore an assumed fiction, and the fact of using such a car does not arouse any reaction from the protagonists who find it completely normal and banal to drive a driverless car through the streets of the capital and campaign on board.

This autonomous car is a Mercedes V Class called Bernadette (any allusion to Madame Chirac is not accidental). And Bernadette is so nice that she knows perfectly who is on board, knows their CV by heart and will even be able, thanks to her flawless memory, to partially solve the enigma that runs through this series. But there is no question of disclosing an essential element that could tilt a presidential election, even a fictitious one.