Recommendation: Lupin

Sometimes, and I really mean sometimes, you’ll be popping around Netflix looking for something – anything – and it seems that anything that looks halfway decent is something you’ve already seen. Finding original, interesting material is really actually quite hard. And it reminds me that there really were movies out there when I was younger that weren’t really that good or that had any kind of staying power in culture. Norman…is that you? comes to mind (that’s another story for another day).

Dig deep enough on the streaming services, and there seems to be a bit of a drop-off into that territory.

But Netflix has discovered something too. I saw it first with Money Heist a couple of years ago – the rise of European thrillers. And now I’m seeing them all over the place (maybe more, or different on Netflix in Korea). We’ve found a couple of German and Spanish ones that have been decent. I think there was one from Sweden – maybe Finland. But recently, on a whim, I took a shot on a French offering – Lupin, and it wasn’t bad. Some parts and themes were actually quite good. It held my attention quite well.

I can’t make an entirely enthusiastic recommendation though – there were a few rough spots. Mainly things that just didn’t make sense. Mistakes that a brilliant criminal mastermind wouldn’t really make (if you ask me). A couple of pretty obvious ones. But I loved the main actor – he played the part so likeably and well. And the rest of the cast was pretty good too. My only complaints are those, “aw, c’mon, he wouldn’t really do that!” or “that’s kind of stupid” moments.

So should you watch it? Sure. It’s pretty good. Just don’t be too particular about your brand of geniuses while you do.