Review: Lupin updates classic French gentleman thief for the 21st century, Ars Technica

Now You See Me , in which a band of magicians pulls off ingenious robberies. So it’s easy to see why he might be drawn to this project. Per the official premise: “As a teenager, Assane Diop’s life was turned upside down when his father died after being accused of a crime he didn’t commit. 62 years later, Assane will use Arsène Lupine, Gentleman Burglar as his inspiration to avenge his father. ”

We meet the Senegal-born Assane (Sy) while he’s working as a janitor at the Louvre, surrounded by artwork worth millions . Currently on exhibit is a jeweled necklace that once belonged to Marie Antoinette, in advance of a public auction to sell the piece to the highest bidder. It was this recently recovered necklace that his father, Babakar (Fargass Assandé) was falsely accused of stealing by wealthy financier Hubert Pellegrini (Hervé Pierre). Assane is out for revenge for his father’s eventual suicide. After duping local gang members into pulling a decoy heist, Diop disguises himself as a wealthy potential buyer and crashes the auction — and ultimately walks away with the necklace.

That’s just the beginning of the story, as we learn more about Assane’s history — including his relationship with childhood sweetheart, Claire ( Ludivine Sagnier), the mother of his son — and why he has modeled his schemes on the exploits of Arsène Lupin. Elements drawn from various Lupin stories are cleverly woven throughout the series, most obviously “The Queen’s Necklace” —the title of the pilot episode, which incorporates several plot elements of the original story and also provides the inspiration for the name of Assane and Claire’s son : Raoul (Etan Simon). Captain Romain Laugier (Vincent Londez) and another detective, Youssef Guedira (Soufiane Guerrab) are part of the team investigating the Louvre heist, and both share traits of Ganimard.

J’Accuse , who barks whenever he hears the name “Pellegrini”), she ends up joining forces with Assane in hopes of finally bringing down the financier. Benoit only appears in a single episode, but her arc is among the most powerful.

But it’s Sy’s Assane who anchors the series as the quintessential gentleman thief for the st century . Assane knows how to exploit racial stereotypes for the purpose at hand: his skin color renders him invisible as a janitor at the Louvre, while making him stand out when he poses as a young multimillionaire at the auction. (“You underestimated me,” Assane says to an antagonist at one point. “You saw me, but you didn’t really look.”) He’s charming, suave, well-read, and very, very smart, never effete, since Sy also imbues the character with athleticism and a confident physicality. He’s equally at home ordering fine wine in a fancy restaurant or going toe-to-toe with a would-be assassin.

Honestly, the only flaw with this first season is that it is far too short — a mere five episodes — and ends with one of those maddening cliffhangers that Netflix is ​​becoming notorious for. Given Lupine ‘s smashing success, I’m pretty confident we’ll be seeing more of Sy’s enchanting gentleman thief in the future.

Lupine is currently streaming on Netflix, and with just five episodes , it’s an easy binge. In French with English subtitles.