From Grace: should you watch Arte.tv’s thriller noir? (critical)

The director of Les Magnétiques examines the corrupt relationships of a family of dockers from Le Havre. His fatal weapon? Perfect casting.

Almost a year after its presentation at the Séries Mania festival, Of Grace arrives on Arte.tv today. Vincent Maël Cardona’s polished thriller can be seen in full (6 episodes) and in free streaming, if you don’t want to wait until the linear broadcast, next Thursday, February 8 and 15, on Arte.

It all begins around a patriarch (Olivier Gourmet) The Leprieur clan is celebrating the birthday of this respected figure among the dockers of Le Havre. But the balance of the family deteriorates when the youngest son is caught for possession of narcotics. The parallel economy is indeed damaging the port city…

Of Grace begins in the land of the thriller and will never stop, for six episodes, evolving following the duplicities of multiple characters – sometimes victims, sometimes accomplices. The success of the series is primarily due to its effective script, which provides a narrative twist forcing each member of the family to digest their story, not without friction.

The story unfolds gradually, between Shakespearean tragedy and urban western where traffickers and guardians of moral balance compete for the conquest of a territory. Vincent Maël Cardona (director of Magnetic, César for best first film in 2021), who directs all the episodes, embraces the vision of the screenwriters and ideally summons all the imagery of the genres visited. Loaded with references (The Wire or James Gray are not far away), populated with tragic figures, the scenario gives in a little too frantically to the programmed twist, especially in the last third of the program. But the pitfall is avoided by masterful direction of the actors. Besides Olivier Gourmetalways imperial, and the confirmation Pierre Lottinwe find Margot Bancilhon (awarded at Séries Mania) and Panayotis Pascot which begins a promising change
as a dramatic actor.