should we take part in this aquatic mystery?

« Reconnect with the wonder of the 1980s and 1990s, bringing hope, to E.T. Reduce ambient cynicism and create in the viewer the desire to believe. I wanted to demonstrate that the world does not stop at the borders demarcated by a smartphone and clever algorithms »pleads director David Hourrègue. This is the ambition of Shores. Its action series on and under water, part fantasy thriller, part ecological fable, is already online on the Francetv.fr platform before arriving on France 2 on Monday January 6.

On the threshold of the supernatural

Off the coast of Fécamp on a sea of ​​oil, a trawler disappears from radar, dragged to the bottom. What happened to cause these seasoned sailors to disappear like this? Navigation and fishing become prohibited. The army is on edge. Ifremer dispatches its expert oceanologist Abigail Dufray, one of the rare scientists to have reached the mythical Mariana Trench. Terrorism, collision with a submarine, World War II bombs finally exploding, new Bermuda Triangle in the middle of the Channel? Laughable, this last hypothesis nevertheless acquires credibility when inexplicable phenomena follow one another. And phosphorescent glows appear on and below the surface.

A local child and daughter of a shipowner forced to lay off his fishermen (Thierry Godard), Abigail must also face her family whom she abandoned overnight after her son's drowning. Looking forward to rediscovering the incandescent Fleur Geffrier of Drops of God, in the shoes of a heroine bereaved who faces the unspeakable », Added to this is the presence of Jean-Marc Barr in the guise of his rescue uncle. The star of Big Blue has lost none of its affinity for the aquatic environment. Whether he's piloting his speedboat or diving. Fleur Geffrier is not unworthy either. With a month and a half of preparation, the actress managed to pass her boat license, train in diving and learn sign language.

Talents put to the test during a daunting autumn shoot, prone to storms and swells. Seasoned by his experience on GerminalDavid Hourrègue, who worked hard to coordinate a small flotilla of three boats, takes wonderful images of the coasts and cliffs of Normandy, bathed in light and bright colors. He, his technicians and his actors – some prone to seasickness – faced incredible wave troughs and the total opacity of the waters of the English Channel during their eight days of shooting offshore. Without forgetting six days below the surface, spent between Corsica (for the clarity of the Mediterranean which reassured the team) and the specialized Belgian studio Lites with its submerged platforms.

When the story crosses the threshold of the supernatural and shifts into a Miyazaki-style ecosystem, Shores does it with confidence, thanks to moderate and credible special effects, based on documented examples. It’s a shame that the meandering scenario, which rushes forward, holds up less as soon as it sets foot on the ground again. The vindictive posture of the fishermen and the staff appears far too caricatured and overplayed after the grace and introspective purity of the moments spent on and under the waves.