Obsessed is the story of Élodie and Yvan Marsais, a seemingly happy couple who move from the city to an idyllic rural home with their two teenage children – their son Achille and adopted daughter Chloé. Almost immediately, the family befriend their charming neighbour, Bruno, who seems like a perfect gentleman.
If you want to avoid spoilers, stop reading this article now.
When Chloé throws a party on a weekend whilst her parents are away, it soon gets out of hand when uninvited guests turn up and start causing trouble. But Bruno suddenly appears, gets rid of the troublemakers and even helps tidy up the mess afterwards.
However, the reason Bruno knew to turn up was because he had previously gifted the family a smart-speaker as a house-warming present, and it’s via that speaker that he’s able to listen in to all their conversations. So, he was listening in to the party and knew when to intervene. He also uses a drone to spy on the family – particularly Élodie, who finds her handsome neighbour intriguing – so much so that it’s him she’s fantasising about when making love to her husband.
When Élodie and Yvan return from their weekend away, as a thank you for helping break up their daughter’s party, they invite Bruno for dinner. He brings along a date he allegedly met on a dating site, the seductive and flirtatious Deborah. But things turn awkward when Deborah makes a play for Yvan and later sends explicit photographs to his phone. When she turns up at his house, Yvan goes outside to tell her to leave him alone, but she attempts to seduce him and the two of them are spotted by Élodie. But is the stunning Deborah really attracted to the frankly rather dull Yvan, or is someone else encouraging her to cause trouble?
Cécile Bois is excellent as Élodie, the attractive 50-ish mum who finds herself in a mundane marriage and is flattered by the attentions of another man. Her husband is a good guy, but he’s a boring and bitter swimming pool salesman, and perhaps not the man he once was. Whereas Bruno is handsome, interesting and charming. He notices her and flatters her and makes her feel attractive again. It’s no wonder her head is turned.
But nothing good will come of this, mark my words. Bruno isn’t the charmer Élodie and the family think he is, and soon they realise the control he has over them all – but is it too late to escape his controlling clutches?
This steamy thriller is all about the menage-a-trois – somewhat appropriately, given it’s a French series. The acting is strong and it’s nicely written. It’s not particularly original, perhaps – how many love triangle thrillers can you name? I’m sure there are dozens, and this one doesn’t really move the bar. But does that matter? It’s fun, it’s engaging, it’s sexy and it’s well worth a watch.
Walter Presents: ‘Obsessed' is available as a boxset on C4 Streaming now.
