Les Revenants has been called the French Twin Peaks. Megan Furborough, Screen Editor tells us what we’ve been missing.
Cast: Anne Consigny, Frédéric Pierrot, Clotilde Hesme
2012
Channel 4
Season 1, 8 Episodes
If you didn’t watch Les Revenants (The Returned) this summer, then frankly you’ve wasted the past few months; not since Danish drama The Killing has there been a series so considered, so stylish and so gripping.
Les Revenants is an eight part French series revolving around a small town in the Alps where, seemingly inexplicably, the dead begin to return. But The Walking Dead it ain’t – this is a slow burning series which will leave you with few answers and a lot of questions. Classic features of the zombie genre are incorporated – they’re ALWAYS hungry – but aside from a smattering of skin eating, there’s practically no blood or violence.
Atmosphere is key, and the premise works because of how it depends on extracting the tiniest, most painful emotions. Friends and families are confronted with the faces of those they’ve lost. Camille returns to find her twin sister all grown up. Simon sees his former fiancée and daughter with another man. Saying that, half the fun lies with piecing together characters and events spanning 40-odd years.
Regardless of the superbly intricate storyline, questioning how you would attempt to reconcile the dead with the living is the central theme of the series. It’s an impossible task, and for the inhabitants of Les Revenants, one that will thankfully roll into another series.
exeposedev 