The iconic gentleman thief inspires a new generation in Netflix’s heist caper series Lupin

Lupin is Netflix’s upcoming French series starring Omar Sy (Jurassic World) and created by George Kay and François Uzan, both have previously worked with Netflix having created the series Criminal: UK and Family Business respectively. It’s a modern day reinvention of French author Maurice Leblanc’s classic character, the gentleman thief Arsène Lupin.

First introduced to the world in Leblanc’s 1905 novella ‘The Arrest of Arsène Lupin’, he’s a much-beloved and enduring character. He appeared in twenty four novels and short story collections, and five plays, written by Leblanc before his death in 1941. Since then the character has appeared Lupin has also appeared in numerous films during the early to mid-1900s, various TV series in the ‘70s to ‘90s, popped up in comic books and video games, and even manga and anime featuring his grandson Arsène Lupin III.

The official plot synopsis is as follows:

As a teenager, Assane Diop’s (Omar Sy) life was turned upside down when his father died after being accused of a crime he didn’t commit. 25 years later, Assane will use “Arsène Lupin, Gentleman Burglar” as his inspiration to avenge his father.

I’ve included both the English-language dub and the original French-language trailers because for some reason the French trailer only includes French subtitles. That way, unless you’re lucky enough to speak French, you can understand both what’s going on and how it’ll sound should you decide to give the series a shot and watch it the right way – subs before dubs, always. Let’s take a look:

This looks like a fun, flashy, and well-made series – a good heist caper is always entertaining to watch. It also definitely sounds much better in the original French because that really allows Sy’s charisma to shines through.

What do you think?

Lupin’s first season will premiere on Netflix on 8 January. It also stars Vincent Londez, Shirine Boutella, Nicole Garcia, Antoine Gouy, and Clotilde Hesme.

Last Updated: December 3, 2020