Yes, the title of this column is very “click trap”, very World of stars. But it’s for a great cause. You must watch the survivalist horror thriller Yellowjackets, in which Quebec actress Sophie Nélisse landed one of the main roles alongside Christina Ricci and Juliette Lewis, two icons of the 90s.
It is gore, brilliant, intriguing, murky, frightening and full of mysteries to be elucidated. In fact, Yellowjackets is strongly inspired by Lost and movies Alive and Midsommar. Separated, the ingredients of the series seem disparate and incompatible. Together, however, they form a winning recipe. Without blinking, I devoured the first three episodes out of a total of ten. It’s one of the best genre productions of the last few months, really.
The story of Yellowjackets, the first episode of which has been offered since Sunday on the Crave deluxe service, split into two eras: 1996 and 2021. In 1996, an elite New Jersey soccer team – the Yellowjackets – jumped in a private jet at destination in Seattle, where the National Junior Championships will be played.
The young players, who are about to enter university, all embody a stereotype of an 18-year-old teenager: the drugged, the hyperperforming, the believer, the nerd, the cool, the rejection or the lesbian in the closet. Sophie Nélisse plays the passive-aggressive sportswoman, who was admitted to the prestigious Brown University.
Parenthesis: the soundtrack attached to the 1996 scenes is great: Liz Phair, The Cranberries, Hole, Portishead and the Smashing Pumpkins, a nice way to relive the parties smoky of the time.
Nostalgia also goes through pagers, shirts grunge in flannel and the phones in the shape of big red lips that the characters use.
Returning to the main storyline, the girls’ plane crashes into the woods in the middle of nowhere. This is where the nightmare begins. And it will last a very, very long time, Lord.
PHOTO PAUL SARKIS, PAUL SARKIS / SHOWTIME
Christina Ricci plays the character of Misty.
Because most of the soccer team survived the crash. But no one finds them – you will understand why in the second episode – and the girls will spend 19 months in the forest, without contact with civilization. Add to this ordeal paranormal phenomena, which will further reduce their chances of survival.
Jump back in time to 2021, now. The survivors of 1996 no longer speak to each other and lead banal lives. One of them (Juliette Lewis) comes out of rehab, another gets bored in her monotonous life as a housewife. All however swore, spat never to reveal what really happened in the woods during these 19 months of hell.
But when a former member of the Yellowjackets runs into a Senate race, the group’s past resurfaces, and it’s ugly. Rumors of cannibalism rise to the surface, and ex-high school players receive mysterious postcards from someone who knows their darkest secrets.
The story of Yellowjackets skillfully waltzed between 1996 and 2021. In 1996, the series was steeped in horror and bloody stuff. Isolated and in survival mode, the girls sink into violence and the balance of power shifts.
In 2021, it’s more of a psychological drama, showing the consequences of the severe trauma they all tried to bury. The performances of teenage actresses dovetail perfectly with those of their adult colleagues. The choice of actresses was made with great care.
Special mention to Christina Ricci, always stunning in the roles of eccentric women, but strangely endearing. The French version of Yellowjackets will be released this winter on Crave and Super Ecran.
New top 10 by netflix
Are you curious to know which Netflix series or films are successful in different countries? The American giant has put a new website online which provides very precise figures on the popularity of its catalog. In Canada, Narcos: Mexico (season 3) dominates the charts for the week, followed by Big mouth (season 5), Maid, You (season 3) and Squid Game.
Consult the top 10 by netflix
Netflix is also releasing its top 10 planetary and makes public the number of hours of weekly viewing of each of its series. For example, between November 8 and November 14, the series Narcos generated 50,290,000 hours of viewing, compared to 29,480,000 for Maid. Netflix’s Most Popular Movie Remains Bird Box with 282,020,000 hours viewed in the 28 days following its release.
In television, the Korean series Squid Game remains the most watched series – by far – in the history of the service. Bridgerton ranks second. La Casa de Papel finished third.