This is a difficult subject that the Max platform is tackling for its first French production. In A devoted friendone episode of which will be revealed per week starting this Friday, October 11, viewers will discover the true story of the woman who was nicknamed “The Bataclan mythomaniac”, named after the eponymous novel by journalist Alexandre Kauffmann. The latter, after the attacks of 2015, posed as a victim, and had succeeded in duping numerous survivors, even becoming a pillar of the Life for Paris association, created after the terrible events of November 2015. In the title role, Laure Calamy takes on the complicated leading role in this particularly grueling four-episode mini-series.
A devoted friend: What is the event series with Laure Calamy about?
On November 13, Chris, a metal fan, discovered, dismayed, the terrible events taking place in Saint-Denis and throughout the capital. She, who is a fan of the Eagle of death metal and who has not missed a single one of their concerts, was not at the Bataclan this evening. Shaken – like the whole of France – she decides to get closer to the victims to help them. Especially since one of his close friends was affected. In any case, that’s what she says on social networks… While she actively participated in the beginning of Life for Paris, a victims’ association, and even became a central element, doubts began to hover around of this mysterious young woman with a troubled past.
A devoted friend: What is the series on the “Mythomaniac of the Bataclan” with Laure Calamy worth?
Dealing with the attacks of November 13, 2015 is not easy. Even more so when we approach it through a means which had already, at the time of the book’s release, provoked a wave of indignation: that of this “Bataclan Mythomaniac” – as she was nicknamed by the journalist Alexandre Kauffmann in his eponymous work, also co-author of the series with Fanny Burdino, Jean-Baptiste Delafon and Samuel Doux. So inevitably, when the fiction begins, an uneasiness invades us. A tenacious feeling that sticks to our skin for the duration of the four – very dense – episodes that make up this mini-series. As we plunge back into this trauma, the series is so disconcerting that we feel pity for this woman, touching in her despair but detestable by her actions. An ambivalence which owes a lot to Laure Calamymasterful, which restores his humanity to this Chris who we thought we hated, who we hope to see unmasked while apprehending him. In front of the camera of an always inspired Just Philippot, the actressAntoinette in the Cévennes moves us, annoys us, also shows us the complexity and sometimes madness of this “Bataclan mythomaniac” who will certainly have done harm, but will also have done good to some, as she will have given so much of herself to try to fill her loneliness and his need for love. But reduce A devoted friend the performance, certainly impeccable, of Laure Calamy would not give thanks to the rest of the actors, all as convincing as each other. Special mentions to César winner Arieh Worthalter (Léon), Annabelle Lengronne (Émilie) and Ava Baya (Myriam), moving in their sincerity…
