On its premiere date this past weekend, Lupin quickly moved to the top of the recommended page on consumers’ Netflix accounts. It was featured as one of the Top 10 trending series/films on the platform almost immediately.

This show is a super sleek and intriguing mystery, master of disguise series that fans of drama, suspense, and action will eat up. Lupin has already been renewed for more episodes, but it’s currently a 5-episode series — aka, totally binge-able!

Given its quick rise to popularity, it’s no surprise that this show has everything: action, conspiracy, suspense, originality, great characters. It also has emotional depth and offers a subtle commentary on race, power and class disparity.

What is the premise of Lupin?

This French series is a modern take on and homage to the tales of Arsène Lupin (“Gentleman Burglar”), the hero of an iconic series of books from the 1920s by Maurice Leblanc. He is a mixture of Robin Hood and Sherlock Holmes with a sprinkling of James Bond.

Episode one introduces Assane Diop (played by Omar Sy), who, as a teenager, received the first of the Lupin mystery novels from his father. The show uses flashbacks to puzzle together glimpses of Assane’s childhood, but mostly follows his troubled adult life.

Episode one opens at the Louvre, where we observe a night shift crew of janitors cleaning the art galleries of this world-famous museum. One of these janitors is Assane, who is new to the job. We see him first marvel at The Mona Lisa and then a piece of jewelry known as The Queen’s Necklace, which was once owned by Marie Antoinette and coincidentally is soon going up for auction.

An even bigger coincidence, the necklace is tied to a 25-year-old supposed theft — a case that Assane’s father was wrongly jailed for. Assane, who owes a large sum of cash to an unfriendly group of thugs, quickly pulls together a clever plan to steal the necklace with the help of said thugs. This heist is not simply centered around the value of the necklace, but is crucial to uncovering the truth surrounding his father’s innocence (or guilt).

As the series progresses, Assane closes in on the truth and the individuals who wronged him. He is sent on a long overdue revenge quest to make the man responsible for his father’s fate finally face his wrongdoings. And the ensuing cat-and-mouse game is so fun to watch.

Does the show’s greatness stay on track until the end?

The show starts in one place, and, by the middle of the second episode, evolves to lead viewers on a very different (but equally enjoyable!) journey. Unfortunately, the final episode ends on a cliff-hanger. But hey, what show doesn’t these days?

Final thoughts?

Overall, Netflix brought us yet another great piece with this series. In addition to the stand-out content and story of the show itself, it’s very well-produced. From a technical perspective, Lupin is objectively a good show. The acting is great. The color palate is wonderfully muted and monochrome. The use of camera angles and panned shots is highly effective…It’s all great.

This smartly-made French action-drama is really worth a watch.