Black Butterflies on Netflix is a new crime, thriller, and mystery series from France (org. title: Les papillons noirs). What begins as a love story, quickly turns into a story about two serial killers.
While the core story takes place in the present, we get the stories about the serial killer couple through flashbacks. The series has six episodes that are each about one hour long. It’s fascinating, engaging, and very binge-worthy.
The Netflix thriller series Black Butterflies is very much a love story. Not just about romantic love, but about love in all forms. Mostly though, it’s about the love story between a couple who becomes serial killers. To be honest, you can understand the first murder quite easily. It’s pure self-defense!
We get this story from an older man, who is living on his own and has no children. He wants his legacy to be his life story. A story that turns out to include quite a few murders. The man writing the book is Adrien Winckler. A 40-year-old struggling writer, who just cannot seem to get a handle on his second book.
That’s why he agrees to ghostwrite a memoir of a dying man. Finally, a story takes hold and he becomes completely engulfed in the life story of this man. All while also trying to figure out his own life and legacy.
Albert Desiderio appears to be a simple retired older man, so Adrien has no reason to expect the story that comes out of Albert’s mouth. However, during episode 1, it evolves from being an amazing love story that Albert shared with Solange in the 70s, to the confession of a serial killer couple.
Since we meet Albert both in the present and the 1970s, casting two actors that look like they could be the same person, is key. Just as was the case in a series such as the German Netflix horror sci-fi movie Dark. Fortunately, the two actors are perfectly cast.
We get Niels Arestrup as the older Albert, telling the story to the ghostwriter Adrien, and Axel Granberger as the young serial killer version. You might recognize Niels Arestrup from By the Sea and Axel Granberger from the series Iskander.
The main protagonist, the writer Adrien Winckler, is portrayed by Nicolas Duvauchelle (Gone for Good), who gets quite a lot to work with and does a great job. Other key characters include two police detectives played by Marie Denarnaud (The 7 Lives of Léa) and Sami Bouajila (Earth and Blood).
Overall, the entire cast is very strong and helps make every part of the story work as intended.
Watch the Black Butterflies series on Netflix now!
The creators of Black Butterflies are Bruno Merle and Olivier Abbou. The two have worked on several TV series in the past, so they know how to build a story that you explore over a season.
I was intrigued by the plot of this Netflix series, but the strong storytelling was what got me hooked. If you like crime or thriller series, then this is perfect for you. And if you’re also intrigued by serial killers and the stories of how they become serial killers, then you’ll definitely want to watch this.
Black Butterflies (org. title: Les papillons noirs) is out on Netflix from October 14, 2022.
