La Mante Online

To be honest, the first thing you need to know is that there are a few inconsistencies which can make you think that this can't be real. Apart from that, the story itself is interesting and keeps pushing the characters further and further.

The good acting is a big part of La Mante's charisma and this is what you need to watch this six-episodes show at least once. You get easily attached and it is nice to see that much known faces outside of their comfort.

There are enough exciting twists to keep the story good and each of them brings with it a controversial subject beautifully established.

Manon Azem is a true diamond which everyone needs to keep an eye on, and Fred Testot is pretty convincing when he's not trying to make us laugh.

At the end, it's a good surprise and even without being exceptional, it's still a refreshing thriller show.

While this is not a movie the French have some wonderful police mystery/crime dramas such as La Circle Rouge. Those story lines do not paint the police as bumbling idiots as this one does nor use implausible actions for dramatic effect as it also does.

For example, La Mantis is being held secretly in a mansion converted to a prison guarded by ONE person. Got that, only one. Escape could be very simple but they would like to show how smart La Mantis is. So she puts food in an air duct to breed insects whose feces are poison then takes these feces and puts them inside a medicine capsule she had been given for migraine. She fakes collapse and when her guard gives her mouth to mouth she forces the capsule into his mouth so he will swallow it. REALLY? Even with just one person who knows just a little wouldn't the first thing they do be do take a pulse and not give mouth to mouth if it isn't required? And why use this hokey method when there are much more straightforward ways to overcome captors? Has anyone seen Silence of the Lambs? Its escape scene is much more intelligent.

And that's not all. The main character gives his cell phone number to a childhood friend (who turns out to be his brother) and tells him to call it is the suspected serial killer calls. Then he proceeds NOT to answer his cell phone and let the call go to voicemail. Even when he finally picks up the message he doesn't send the closest police units but goes there himself - without an ambulance - to make sure it takes too long.

And the copycat serial killer uses a cell phone whose location they can't identify because they say he is scrambling. Excuse me. Even for through away units you use triangulation so who are they trying to kid.

There also is a very annoying lady who wanted to lead the team but the task is given to an undercover person who is La Mantis son because she wants to deal with him. She doesn't follow orders and really ought to be fired. When she does find out the team lead is La Mantis son she erupts with absolutely no understanding of why it was done and the captain tolerates this.

The guards for the team leads wife get killed from sheer incompetence - they have no idea how to clear out a house. They put an easily removable tracking device on La Mantis. They do not use a helicopter to keep track of her. How many things can they do wrong? This is, frankly, slander to the French police and very bad drama.

Netflix recommended this because I liked Le Chalet, and they do have elements in common. Slow burner with good characterisation and a few twists. A slightly offbeat police drama, which stretches credulity more than slightly. Nethertheless, recommended, especially for Francophiles.

I enjoyed watching this series and was really impressed with the quality of the acting, especially with Carole Bouquet, Fred Teston and Manon Azem. While the plot has some unrealistic elements, the relationship between the mother and son was portrayed with emotion and was compelling to watch. I have seen many thrillers (The Fall, The Killing, The Disappearance), but have not seen this particular mother/son dynamic before. I ended up binge-watching this series, something that I don't normally do. For this reason, I am rating it as a 9. I hope that there will be a second season.

Gripping series, but the last episode is frustrating to watch because of so many unrealistic scenes. I enjoyed all episodes except for the last.

Plus no more of killers going after friends and family of cops. It's a tired cliche. And when you find out the killer knows about your friends and family, why don't they have 24 hour police protection? And if you're running into a hotel to catch a killer, bring more people. And when you know how the killer subdues their victims, why would you fall for it? And where are your comrades when chasing the perp? They were right behind you. Did they decide that the hero cop could catch the bad guy on their own? It's cliched writing. Do better.

SPOILERS SPOILERS SPOILERS . . . . . . . . . The killer reveal? WTF was that? I had my suspicions early on, but figured that was too easy and preposterous for them to go that way. But they did, and the cops acted even more idiotic than before. They stay at headquarters, on the phone, while two plain clothes attempt to enter the house? They're looking for a serial killer, and that didn't send the french version of S.W.A.T. in as backup? The two plain clothes cops are so incompetent at their job, that they get taken out by the crazy person? Which is another thing; the crazy person was in the lives of our hero and his wife for at least 5 years, and not once did this person act weird with them? Then on a dime they become a grinning, wide eyed, nut bag? That's not how insanity works (but it IS how lazy writing works).

I was liking the show up until the last few episodes when the stupid just kept piling up.

This series should be marked under the "not bad but could have been so much better" category.

In terms of the positives. The editing is quite good and the pace is kept up quite well. The score does a very good job of raising the tension at the appropriate moments. The cinematography is high quality and the series overall was very well shot.

Now to the less than positive points. First off the premise is not very original and in the end very contrived. Its as if someone took the plotlines of Silence of the Lambs (using an imprisoned serial killer to catch their admirer), Seven (a serial killer who ritually tortures their victims as punishment) and Copycat (a serial killer imitating the crimes of a convicted murderer).

Secondly, the characters are all pretty one dimensional and the acting is actually quite flat. Carole Bouquet is as cold and distant as ever, meaning it is difficult to feel anything for her, positively or negatively. Fred Testot, who plays her son, mopes around and seems pointedly uninteresting as a character. Its hard to see from this what his wife saw in him. The other characters are pretty much stereotypes (the grizzled police chief, the disgruntled/resentful partner who was passed over for promotion, the deranged serial killer, etc).

Lastly some of the plot lines stretch credibility a bit too far. For example, France's most notorious serial killer is left with only one guard. The police decide race to rescue the serial killer' victims by racing across Paris only to arrive too late instead of calling for local backup.

All in all, with a bit more originality in the scenario and a tighter script, this could have been excellent.

Carole Bouquet, a glam star from past decades, plays a Mom doing a life term for a series of brutal killings. Her son, Damien, is a senior investigator with Paris police, who are investigating a series of copycat killings. He has a drop- dead pretty wife, who would like to start a new family, but Damien is haunted by the mess in his family background (try a serial killer Mom & an abusive dad who 'disappeared' sometime before her spree began).

Problem is: they stare a lot. Damien has an explosive temper and often throws hissy fits when his wife asks for clarification or compassion.

Anyway, we have a couple of major plot twists and a few scenes you might want to fast-forward, and a thrilling climax. Not as good as the Korean entries on Netflix, surprisingly, but a good way to burn a weekend with this 6-parter.i

The scenario is unbelievable, in particular the incompetence of the French police as depicted. Throughout the series the police acts in the most unprofessional way. They spend lavishly to house a convict in a castle, they let someone with close personal ties to the events lead the enquiry, hide key information for the investigating team, jump in the line of fire, show themselves incapable of rounding up a killer running on high heels, chitchat endlessly instead of organizing a pursuit, never think of tracing the cellphone of a suspect, ... In comparison Inspector Clouseau and the Gendarmes de St Tropez look like geniuses !

A great serial killer TV Show one of the best that I've seen in this year besides the few inconsistencies in the storyline.

The gripping performances by the brilliant actors in this series will have you overlooking every single implausible moment until it, unfortunately, all becomes too much.

This show has writing that can't even seem to get the most basic details right and the premise is underutilized. If you're like me and forgot to the check the episode count before watching the show, you'll be in a surprised that the show is only 6 episodes! The pacing is too slow to give viewers a clue that they're in for a short ride just by watching the show.

From the acting to the directing, this is show is packed with a lot of talent, but none of it is in the area of writing. I thought I had moved past show my youth where I watched awful shows like Pretty Little Liars but I managed to find worse in this series.

My rating is three stars because the many talented people in this series deserve some credit. Don't even bother watching this series.

For a time I have been watching all sorts of detectives and I have honestly created this account to write a review just for this. Although the story contains a few illogical things, such as the police not being very bright at all time, La Mante completely blew my mind. I have never seen a show in which plots come together so nicely. The characters are very strong and combined with several great plots, this combines for a perfect thriller/detective. I love it when certain things symbolically come back into a story and create a meaning for a future or present event and the creators of La Mante have mastered this. 9/10

It's a must-see show. The levels of tension just increase from the beginnin till the end.

Seriously? Do you allow the son of a convicted serial killer head the investigation into a copycat? No? Didn't think so. Much moody staring between "tortured" lead investigator and his wife, much bumbling and in-fighting from the team (who don't actually seem to do much apart from the ill-dressed girl cop), much running around unsupported by back-up (this is an annoyingly popular trend amongst ALL cop shows lately), AND I guessed it was wife-y's mate in episode 3. All in all a complete waste of good actors. Oh, and what was with the 70's throwback chief detective???

I binged on the series all week long. Once you get past the language barriers, I thought it was a great show. Keep in mind, it is French made, and a Netflix series, so no, it isn't Academy Award good. But every episode made me want more, and more. I give it a 10. But see for yourself. Decent acting, decent story line. Im hoping there is a season 2.

Starts out interesting. Police procedural with a family aspect to it. About halfway through, things start to turn ridiculous. There's the usual transgender aspect that appears in stories like this. By the end, the story is entirely sick and implausible, you feel like the writers were just pushing things to extremes for no good reason.

I watch a lot of tv. When this Netflix original series popped up it looked right up my ally. I was not disappointed! Do not let the French speech with subtitles put you off. This is a well written, well acted, tense thriller that will keep you on the edge of your seat and thirsty for more. Every episode Is beautifully crafted with fantastic character work. I raced through the six part series and immediately watched the whole thing again so that my husband could enjoy it too. If you are a fan of Wire In The Blood, Luther, Waking The Dead etc. this is a must see. Le Mante spurred me into writing my first review on IMDB ever!

I loved this show from beginning to end. The acting was excellent. It was intense and kept me on the edge of my seat. Flaws meant nothing and were easily ignored. A winner.

This is definitely one of the best tv series I have ever watched and I can't recommend it enough. However, it is most definitely not one to be watched by the more delicate of mind as it is contains a lot of very graphic and disturbing scenes. I had to watch it through my fingers for a lot of the time! But the plot and the acting are just superb, so it's worth getting through the scarymary bits. French film making has returned with a ba ba boom!

This series took me on a ride of plot twists and unexpected reveals. The acting, particularly by the amazing lead, Carole Bouquet along with Fred Testot, who plays her son, is riveting.

The only poor note was Pascal Demolon who played the police chief and who constantly looked both baffled and just off the streets needing a fix of some kind.

It's a shame also Netflix didn't see the need to supply an English sound track. The subtitles jumped around from the top to the bottom of the screen and some swathes of dialogue were missing from the subtitles.

The story was believable - a woman becoming a revenging angel from her own history of abuse and those of others she encounters along the way.

It is slow moving and many scenes were too graphic for this viewer. But the French and the British are top of the game when it comes to edge of yer seat crime thrillers.

Satisfying ending. I gave it a 9 out of 10.

Someone might argue that there are two broad categories of films and tv series: the good ones and the bad ones. The ones deemed good, are those that have a good plot, nice acting, are entertaining and perhaps have something to tell you. The bad ones, on contrary, miss those things, though occasionally they might fall in the category off "so bad it is good". Unfortunately, there is also a third category, of works like "La Mante", the indifferent ones. Though the premise of the tv series can be considered promising, the execution fails sort. As is the case with real life, the intentions might be good but we are all judged by the results. "La Mante" is an uninteresting tv series that can't stand up to its promises. The interesting central idea gets corrupted by an unnecessary plot, the actors can't get themselves seriously or go to extremes to make their performances meaningful, behaving like extras in their own show, the pacing is slow, not because it tries to build on something but because nothing makes sense from an early point on, and the finale is unbelievable, so that it looks as if the writers had given up until they decided to throw every trick of the book at the same time. It pains me to say that even the script as it is, could rise from mediocrity at the hands of a better production and directorial guidance, perhaps an american one. A better cast, a stricter pacing, a focus on what is important and better spreading of the plot, could make the series much more viewable. Unfortunately, this didn't happen. Therefore, having seen all 6 episodes of "La Mante", it is my personal opinion that nobody has to gain anything by watching it, except if it is going to be used as a case of a bad example.

Not an easy series to rate as it has some very good moments which, in the long run, are let down by some poor writing.

The acting is mostly strong, although for most of the series it's hard to find anyone to actually like due to the difficult nature of the characters.

Probably the weakest aspect of the show is the shoddy, incompetent police work, which is frustrating to watch if you enjoy great police/detective shows.

There are also a few moments that leave you thinking "well that was pretty stupid!", or "why on earth would they do that".

If you can overlook the flaws then it's worth a watch.

The series compelled me to write a review.Excellent story line,perfect acting and a natural environment.I felt like the story is real life and I am not watching it on television.Will follow the creators for past and future series.

SPOILER: To any lgbt people or allies wanting watch this...don't. It's disgusting and cheap. You get lured in only to find out that obviously because the killer is transgender and has been rejected by some guys that she wants to go on a crazed killing spree. good times. It's an old school plot twist. SURPRISE! IT'S THE GAYS!

La Mante is a thriller with enough twists to keep you guessing, and decent acting by the lead character, her son and the rest of the team. La Mante is a female serial killer who is asked to help catch her copycat who is always one step ahead.

Besides some generic moments the series suffers from dumb decisions (ergo: dumb writing). For example when the police are going to the scene of a crime, without medics, while knowing there is a live victim. Another one is the lead investigator having a phone call with a doctor, while "other people" are listening.

But the biggest flaw is La Mante herself. This is not the fault of the actress, who tries to make La Mante as enigmatic as possible. This is caused by superficial writing, and works in the first scenes, but after that, she (d)evolves into a character who does nothing more than deliver irritating silences, long stares, while showing as little emotion as possible. This starts to feel forced and generic after episode 2 and will continue to the end.

As a series, it is decent. But as an attempt to create an enigmatic and scary serial killer, this series fails and falls flat.