The horror series “Evil”, adored by critics in the United States, is coming to France. And it’s free!
Notice to lovers of thrills and paranormal investigations: the Arte channel and its free platform have programmed, from November 28, 2024, the series Evilpraised across the Atlantic and across the Channel upon its release for its rather well-felt treatment of the codes of horror, with the appropriate dose of humor and kitsch, without spoiling anything of the mystery and dramaturgy of the scenario . Behind this audacious project, we find Michelle and Robert King, the creative duo to whom we owe the excellent series The Good Wife And The Good Fight.
Evil follows the daily life of Kristen Bouchard (Katja Herbers), a forensic psychologist who evaluates criminals before their trial. Things take a turn, however, when her patient, a serial killer, claims to be possessed and she loses her job. To find money, she agrees to help David (Mike Colter), a priest-in-training, and his colleague Ben (Aasif Mandvi) investigate paranormal events like this, in an attempt to sort out fact from fiction.
And that’s obviously where things start to get crazy, with investigations into events becoming increasingly baroque and frightening. The personal lives of the characters will also end up intersecting with the plot. We will thus follow the birth of a growing sexual tension between Kristen and David, who struggles with his own complex relationships with faith and his origins.
For fans of The X-Files, Hannibal and well-felt irony
This pitch is reminiscent of the legendary series X Files and its duo of FBI agents desperately confronted with the unexplained from episode to episode. In true Mulder-and-Scully style, the protagonists will have to struggle with the paranormal, but also with themselves.
But Evil is much more than a clone or a tribute to its illustrious elder. “The series joyfully deconstructs the horror clichés and urban legends of the Internet,” underlines The Guardian. “Exorcisms, zombies, killer Christmas songs… Nothing escapes its offbeat and irreverent tone, carried by highly charged actors.”
As Hannibalanother comparison regularly used on the subject ofEvilthe storyline pushes the boundaries of what we expect from a procedural series. Between sly comedy, resolutely ironic tone and surreal horror scenes, the series manages to remind us of one thing: that the cheesy side is part of the appeal of this type of program.
“This mischievous tone also results in some delightfully over-the-top performances, notably from Leland, the series’ main antagonist (played by the always memorable Michael Emerson of Lost), who is responsible for most of the events the trio investigates,” adds the British newspaper. “Is he really in league with the devil, or is he just a rogue psychologist with too much influence over his patients?”
A skillfully maintained ambiguity
This is also the other major interest ofEvil : subversive and impertinent, the series takes great pleasure in blurring the lines. “The cases remain ambiguous enough that it’s never quite clear whether malevolent forces are at play or whether the characters are being led astray by their own minds,” according to The Guardian. Evil “refuses to engage in a scientific or religious perspective, which adds a worrying dimension to the atmosphere,” he also notes.
For the New York Time too, all the interest ofEvil is precisely that “the main characters always wonder if the strange things they experience are the product of the devil or of human malevolence, amplified by their own overactive imagination”.
The series Evilfinally, is perfectly in tune with its times, conspiracy theories and women’s struggles being omnipresent as a backdrop to the trio’s missions. We can also find a fundamental message there: “that supernatural evil encourages, hides and jealously competes with ordinary human evil”, according to the New York Times, which also finds in Evil “a more or less conscious engagement and critique of digital technology, as characters attempt to blame social media or rogue hackers for what look like demonic possessions.”
Is there a sequel to the Evil series?
The American newspaper concludes by praising “one of the most intelligent, most entertaining and most elegantly produced series” of recent years. A program that should not displease fans of thrills, but also of dark humor.
This visual and narrative audacity, between deadpan comedy and nightmarish scenes, seduced American spectators. The series, which has already seen three seasons across the Atlantic, has been renewed for a fourth on Paramount+. Enough to allow France to see the sequel coming and the screenwriters to push the limits even further.