La Mante (2017)

Plot Summary: Twenty-five years after being imprisoned, Jeanne Deber, a notorious serial killer known as "The Mantis," offers to help the police catch a copycat killer, but only if she can work with her estranged son, who is now a police officer.

Director: Alexandre Laurent
Writers: Alice Chegaray-Breugnot, Nicolas Jean, Grégoire Demaison, Laurent Vivier
Music: François Lietout
Starring:
Carole Bouquet as Jeanne Deber / The Mantis
Fred Testot as Damien Carrot
Jaques Weber as Charles Carrot
Pascal Demolon as Dominique Feracci
Manon Azem as Lucie Carrot
Serge Riaboukine as Crozet
Robinson Stevenin as Alex Crozet
Fredérique Bel as Virginie Delorme

Jump to the Plot Explained Section

 

***SPOILER ALERT***

A Boring, Wannabe Hannibal Lecter

This is officially the first TV series review I'm doing here at Cine It. I'm not a big fan of TV series, especially long ones, because they easily derail and just plain suck. It's much easier for a TV series to sell out for ratings than for a director with integrity to compromise their vision for a single film. I can endure a mini-series, though, which brings us to today's review: the 2017 French thriller La Mante, recommended by my dear cousin Tatiana. She sold me this show after I suggested she and her husband watch Mare of Easttown, which is my number one recommendation for anyone. She claimed La Mante was on par with its quality in terms of thriller and mystery, even saying she binged all six episodes in one sitting. So, buckle up and get ready for my destruction of one of the most boring, Hannibal Lecter wannabe series I've seen recently. It's soap opera boring, yes. You spend an eternity watching characters go back and forth between locations, with the camera just glued to two people talking while nothing really happens. They just yap and yap, and the tension never builds. The whole show has this somber, monotonous tone that, while fitting for our main character Damien (Fred Testot), is just tiring to watch for hours on end. Sometimes, during a simple conversation, they use that shaky-cam technique, which made no f***ing sense for the scene and just pissed me off. The most "soapish" thing about the show is the scenes between Damien and his wife Lucie (Manon Azem). In the last episode, I was making fun of the writers with my wife, pretending to be one of them: "Clip 45 - he goes to his wife's best friend's house and tells her he'll meet her at the funeral tomorrow, adding nothing to the episode." "Then he goes back to the station for the 100th time and says something totally generic." Man, I was being beaten to death by boredom just following this guy around.

Watch the clip below where we first meet our hero, the undercover cop Damien. His operation gets busted and he's informed that his mother, the Mantis, will only collaborate with him.

A Story That Makes Zero F***ing Sense

Then there's the story, which makes absolutely no sense. So, Jeanne Deber, our Mantis (Carole Bouquet), was a loving mother with an abusive husband. After she kills him for trying to harm their son, she decides that in between dropping off and picking up little Damien from school, she'll become a vengeful serial killer, murdering a bunch of guys who "deserve it" for doing bad things. The show basically teaches you that it's okay to be a serial killer as long as you're killing pedophiles or other criminals. We are led to forgive her atrocities because, spoiler alert, she was raped by her father. Okay, I'm not buying her motives since she had something more positive to life for, but I can still try to go with it. But then there's the copycat killer, and this is where it all falls apart. I even joked around episode 3 that the killer was Virginie (Frédérique Bel) and how stupid that would be. So let's think this through: Virginie is a nice-looking lady, friends with Damien's wife, and seems successful based on her huge house. But wait, she's a transgender woman who had a messy operation that f***ed her up in the head, and now she's killing people like the Mantis? By the way, isn't it a bit of a "blackface" situation to have a cisgender woman playing a transgender character? Honest question, let me know in the comments. Her motivation is a complete mess. Was she being manipulated by the Mantis to orchestrate a series of events that would lead to Jeanne's momentary freedom so she could kill her father? Why didn't Jeanne just go after her father the first time she was released? And how the fudge did Jeanne know where Damien lived? For a high-security prisoner, she had a lot of information. Was the psychiatrist the link between Jeanne and Virginie? I was too bored with the novela to catch that detail. And the nonsensical writing isn't just about the main killer; the show wastes even more of our time on pointless red herrings like the suspect Séverin. So, this guy isn't the copycat, but he still decides to kidnap his own half-brother and hold a family hostage simply out of jealousy? The whole subplot adds nothing to the main story and just makes the entire narrative more confusing. Looking back on it, you could literally erase his character from the show and it would change absolutely nothing.

Below you can watch the terrifying (and kinda fun) scene from episode 2 of the guy trapped inside the washing machine by Séverin.

More Red Herrings, More Soap Opera

As if the main plot wasn't convoluted enough, the show just keeps throwing in pointless subplots. At the end of the second episode, we're introduced to Alex Crozet, Jeanne's secret son—a hacker and comic book writer who is spying on Damien because he apparently has nothing better to do. I immediately thought this guy was connected to the copycat killer, but nope. He's just another red herring designed to add more soap opera family intrigue. Seriously, no one in this series has anything better to do than obsess over Jeanne. Episode 3 is one of the most boring of the bunch. The only interesting part is the last scene, which is also highly implausible: Jeanne manages to extract batrachotoxins from Melyridae beetles to sedate her guard. The logistics of extracting, stabilizing, and dosing the toxin into a capsule that works perfectly just doesn't sound easy, but it's an interesting enough idea that you can almost suspend your disbelief. Almost.

You can watch the clip of this wildly implausible poison escape plan below.

Lazy Writing and Bad Math

What I mostly got from this show was repetition. The characters enter the station, they get a call, they tell the computer wiz to do something, and they leave the station in a hurry—but not before the senior officer, Dominique (Pascal Demolon), expresses his disgust and hopelessness over all the sh*y situations. Cut, repeat. Another thing that really, really annoyed me was a glaring plot hole: how did Damien get the photo of Camille? He just pulled it out of his ass and showed it to his team. Please, show me the moment he gets this photo, because I went back and forth and couldn't find it. Tell me what I'm missing in the comments. One of the most inexplicable errors occurs when Damien is questioning his mother. The series establishes that Jeanne's crimes took place 25 years ago. Damien asks her about the age of a victim's wife at the time, and Jeanne estimates she was around 40. Damien then calculates that this would make her 80 years old in the present day. What? Damien either has really poor math skills, or the writers just suck.

I'm sharing a clip from episode 4 where Alex is murdered. The end of this scene is hilarious because Damien's reaction is so ridiculously over-the-top and dramatic, it's just silly.

The Shining Called, It Wants Its Axe Back

The last episode is just laugh-out-loud bad. It feels like the writers were pushed into a corner and had no idea what to do next. And what do we get? A possibly transphobic finale featuring the famous axe scene from The Shining. Really? She just stopped short of yelling, "Voici Virginie!" Oh my god, I'm laughing just thinking about it. The plausibility of everything is thrown out the window. It would have been so easy to capture the suspect the minute the hostage exchange was done, but hey, since the police were never able to track any of Virginie's phone calls, they're probably just really bad at their jobs in France. So yeah, I think this show, with a few major corrections to the script, had the potential to be a decent two-hour movie. Nevertheless, I want to thank my cousin for the suggestion, and I will give her two more shots at recommending stuff before her name officially goes on the Cine It blacklist. Ahaha.

Watch the clip below to see the moment the show completely gives up and just rips off The Shining in its ridiculous finale.

La Mante (The Mantis) - Complete Episode Guide & Plot Summary

Looking for a detailed episode-by-episode breakdown of the French thriller series La Mante? Need to understand the complicated plot twists or decide whether to watch? Here's our comprehensive guide to all six episodes of this psychological crime drama starring Carole Bouquet. WARNING: Contains major spoilers!

• A third murder with the same MO as the infamous "Praying Mantis" serial killer is discovered at a sawmill. The victim is found emasculated and decapitated.
• The Praying Mantis (Jeanne Deber) killed 8 men 25 years ago who were violent fathers, incestuous, or had abandoned their families. She was sentenced to life without parole.
• Jeanne Deber offers to help the police catch the copycat killer on two conditions: to be temporarily released from prison and to work exclusively with her son.
• It's revealed that Damien Carrot is actually the son of the Praying Mantis. His identity was protected after her arrest, and she officially changed her name from Jeanne Carrot to Jeanne Deber.
• Damien, now a police officer working undercover, is pulled from his assignment to join the investigation. He agrees to work with his mother on two conditions: no one at the 36th can know about their relationship, and his wife Lucie must never know his mother exists.
• Damien has traumatic memories of his mother's arrest when he was a child. His family (wife Lucie, daughter Ninon, and grandfather Charles) believes his mother died years ago.
• The copycat killer has precisely mimicked three of the Praying Mantis's murders, but unlike the original killer, the victims have no history of violence or family abandonment.
• Jeanne reveals a key detail: in the original crime photos, the head was placed to the right of the body, but newspaper photos showed it on the left. The copycat placed it correctly, suggesting they had access to the original case files.
• Investigation reveals that Baptiste Séverin, the adopted son of a former cleaner for the Mantis's lawyer, stole the case files two years ago.
• The police discover emails between Baptiste and the Mantis, revealing she was in communication with the copycat. Damien realizes his mother orchestrated the copycat murders just to see him again.

• Damien confronts Jeanne (the Mantis) about her correspondence with Séverin, accusing her of orchestrating the copycat murders to get out of prison. She denies this, claiming Séverin contacted her first.
• Séverin's cryptic message "It's time the blood spoke" leads investigators to look into his biological family connections.
• Achille discovers doctored family photos on Séverin's computer where he has inserted himself in place of fathers in various family photos.
• Police identify one of the families in the photos and track down Arnaud Duquesne and his family. When they arrive, they find Séverin has kidnapped Arnaud and sedated his wife and children.
• Records reveal that Séverin and Duquesne are half-brothers. Séverin was abandoned by their mother Marie Duquesne, who later had Arnaud with another man. Séverin blames Arnaud for his abandonment.
• During interrogation, Séverin reveals knowledge about Damien's personal life, including details about his son, suggesting the Mantis has told him about Damien's identity.
• Lucie (Damien's wife) confides to her friend that she suspects Damien's behavior is related to unresolved trauma about his mother. She overheard a strange conversation between Damien and his grandfather suggesting his mother "didn't exist until now."
• Damien arranges for Jeanne to confront Séverin in his cell. She manipulates him into revealing that Arnaud Duquesne is still alive, being held "where everything started." Séverin threatens to expose Jeanne and Damien's identities.
• Damien deduces that "where everything started" refers to the hospital where Séverin was born and abandoned. They find Arnaud locked in a washing machine filling with water in the hospital basement and save him just in time.
• Séverin retracts his confession for the previous murders. Damien and Ferracci now believe Séverin is not the real copycat killer but merely used the media attention to act out his revenge against his half-brother.
• Damien asks Jeanne if she killed his father, but she only repeats what she said in her confession 25 years ago. He later questions his grandfather about his father's disappearance, suggesting he suspects there's more to the story.
• The episode ends with someone posing as police to gain entry to a home, using a flashlight to blind the elderly resident and then sedating him with a syringe, suggesting the real killer is still active.

• A fourth victim is discovered - Luc Hébrard, a 40-year-old widowed history professor, drowned in a car, exactly matching the fourth murder committed by the Mantis.
• Lucie becomes increasingly suspicious about Damien's mother after overhearing a strange phone call from Charles (Damien's grandfather) saying "your mother is behind all this." She begins investigating whether Damien's mother is actually dead.
• CCTV footage shows a suspect using an LED defender (a blinding flashlight) at the crime scene, giving the police their first glimpse of the killer's silhouette.
• The car used in Hébrard's murder belongs to Christophe Coulier, an IT consultant who had digitized criminal files including the Mantis case and had been missing for 3 months.
• Following a signal from Coulier's reactivated phone, police find his decomposing body in a well - a murder that doesn't match any of the Mantis's known crimes but seems intended as a message.
• Jeanne confesses to Damien that her first murder was his father, whom she killed after he tried to throw baby Damien out of a window. She claims his father was abusive and once left Damien in a hot car, nearly killing him.
• Damien confronts his grandfather Charles, who admits to helping Jeanne dispose of his father's body in the well at their Miserey home and covering up the murder.
• Lucie and her friend Virginie visit Miserey to find Jeanne's tomb and confirm she is actually dead. They discover someone has been regularly placing flowers on her grave.
• They meet Alex and Sébastien Crozet, being a former neighbor of Damien's family who has been maintaining Jeanne's grave. His son Alex Crozet was Damien's childhood friend.
• After Lucie and Virginie have a suspicious car breakdown near Miserey, Alex offers them a ride. Later, Alex visits their home and reconnects with Damien's family, mentioning he works as a comic book artist.
• Damien discovers that Alex is watching his house through hacked security cameras. When confronted, Alex reveals he knows Jeanne is the Mantis and demands to know if she's still alive, claiming Jeanne loved him more than his own mother did.
• Meanwhile, Séverin, heavily sedated in the hospital, tries to warn that "the Mantis is on the loose."
• The episode ends with Jeanne poisoning Stern (the officer guarding her) by telling him she's swallowed poison from insects called melyridae. She then escapes the secured facility, passing through the prison gates to freedom.

• The episode opens with Jeanne informing Lucie Carrot that she's Damien's mother.
• Sébastien Crozet defends his son Alex, insisting he could not be a serial killer and was with him during one of the murders. Despite this alibi, Damien continues to investigate Alex due to evidence linking him to the crimes.
• When interrogated, Alex admits to using an LED defender in his comic book but denies any connection to the murders. He claims it's merely a coincidence that the killer uses the same weapon.
• Damien learns that Jeanne has escaped and rushes home, fearing for Lucie's safety. He finds Lucie speaking with Jeanne, who has revealed everything about her identity, the murder of Damien's father, and her fake death.
• Damien rejects Jeanne's attempt at reconciliation, telling her she'll never be family to him again. He blames her for potentially destroying his marriage and for his fear of having children because of his genetics.
• Séverin is found dead in his cell, apparently by suicide. Damien suspects Jeanne's involvement, which she neither confirms nor denies.
• The investigation reveals a username "Ruby" who has been in contact with all the murder victims through online chats, suggesting the killer could be seducing victims before murdering them.
• Damien and Ferracci discover that Jeanne witnessed her own mother's death by a lion attack in Africa when she was a child. Charles (Damien's grandfather) confesses that he did nothing to help his wife, believing his cowardice contributed to Jeanne's psychological problems.
• The copycat killer sends a phone with photos of the murders to Damien, requesting that he give it to Jeanne. The police team is finally informed that Jeanne is helping with the investigation, causing tension with Szofia.
• During a scheduled call, Jeanne speaks with the copycat, who claims to be her "disciple" and hints that the next murder will happen "before the last act." The team identifies Hervé Dulac, an opera singer, as a potential target.
• While the police monitor Dulac at his opera performance, Alex receives messages from Ruby. When Damien realizes this, he rushes to Alex's apartment but arrives too late - Alex has been attacked and is mortally wounded.
• Devastated by Alex's death, Damien finally confesses the truth about his mother to Lucie. He explains his fear of passing on his "genes" and pushes her away in an emotional breakdown.
• The episode ends with a shocking revelation: DNA evidence shows that Alex Crozet was Damien's biological brother.

• Damien confronts Jeanne about the revelation that Alex was his brother, asking if Sébastien Crozet is his biological father. Jeanne confirms she had a brief affair with Sébastien when Alex was just born.
• Virginie (Alex's friend) visits the police station, describing a suspicious woman who confronted her and Alex at a bar the night before his murder. She helps create a photofit of a tall, athletic dark-haired woman.
• Sébastien is devastated to learn that Damien was his son, saying he would have given up everything for Jeanne had he known and could have raised the boys together.
• The copycat killer calls Jeanne again, changing her planned victim and sending photos of a new target. Jeanne manipulates the killer into agreeing to show the victim alive before killing him, giving the police time to potentially identify and save him.
• During the victim's torture, the killer sings a lullaby that Jeanne recognizes as the same song she sang to her fifth victim, Patrick Fontaine. Jeanne realizes the killer must have been present during that murder.
• The police identify the victim as Loïc Fortin, who works at the Hôtel de l'Avenir. They locate the hotel but must check dozens of rooms on the 9th floor while the killer begins torturing the victim.
• Jeanne reveals that Fontaine had a daughter named Camille, who was around 10 years old when Jeanne killed her abusive father. Jeanne believes Camille is now the copycat killer.
• The police track down Camille's mother, who reveals that Camille was born male but identified as female, facing abuse from his father for his gender identity. The team realizes they're looking for a transgender person who likely underwent gender reassignment surgery.
• Achille discovers evidence in Alex's computer that reveals Damien is the Mantis's son. Szofia confronts Damien with this information and asks for him to be removed from the case.
• Lucie discovers she's pregnant but doesn't tell Damien, as he previously stated he didn't want children and they're currently separated.
• Fortin recovers enough to explain that "Ruby" was someone he met online and later discovered was transgender during a date. He rejected her, which likely connects to the killer's motive of targeting men who reject her.
• Damien arranges to meet Dr. Muller the next morning to show him the photofit of Camille, hoping he might recognize her from his patient records under a new identity.
• When Damien arrives at Dr. Muller's office the next morning, he finds him murdered in the same manner as the Mantis's seventh victim - the copycat's latest kill.
• The copycat calls Jeanne, furious that she "betrayed" her for Damien. The killer claims responsibility for "uniting" Damien's family and bringing happiness to his life, suggesting a deeper connection to Damien than previously realized.
• The episode ends with Jeanne realizing the killer has been watching Damien and may have even introduced Lucie into his life, putting his family in grave danger.

• Damien calls Lucie to warn her that Virginie is the copycat killer. Before Lucie can escape, Virginie catches her and reveals her true identity as Camille Fontaine, injecting Lucie with a sedative and killing the police officers sent to protect her.
• Virginie contacts Damien showing him the kidnapped Lucie and proposes an exchange: Lucie and her unborn baby for Jeanne. The exchange is set to take place in 4 hours.
• Despite the commissioner's objections, Ferracci authorizes the prisoner exchange, potentially sacrificing his career. Jeanne is fitted with a tracking device before being released for the exchange.
• At a remote location, the exchange takes place with Jeanne voluntarily joining Virginie while Lucie is released. As she leaves, Jeanne asks Lucie to "take care of my son," finally acknowledging her relationship with Damien.
• Once reunited with Damien, Lucie experiences severe abdominal pain. At the hospital, doctors reveal that Virginie had given her mifepristone (an abortion drug) to terminate her pregnancy. Though the baby is still alive, its survival remains uncertain.
• Police discover Jeanne's transmitter abandoned in the woods, suggesting either Virginie found it or Jeanne intentionally removed it. Lucie recalls being held in what she believes was a kaolin quarry near Montesson.
• At the quarry, Virginie accuses Jeanne of betrayal, claiming she had done everything for her - continuing her "work," watching over Damien, and even finding him "the woman of his life" (Lucie). The revelation suggests Virginie orchestrated Damien's relationship with Lucie.
• Jeanne manipulates Virginie, claiming she intentionally gave her the transmitter to escape police custody. She convinces Virginie that they are alike and that Virginie is her true "heir" rather than Damien.
• Damien and the police raid the quarry. Damien confronts Virginie, who claims Jeanne has already escaped. After Virginie's arrest, Damien demands to know where Jeanne went.
• In prison, Virginie tells Damien there's something he doesn't know about his mother - "the origin of evil" that she and Jeanne have in common.
• Through flashbacks to Dr. Muller's hypnosis sessions with Jeanne, a shocking truth is revealed: the "lion" that Jeanne referred to as killing her mother was actually her father, Charles. The memories reveal Charles sexually abused Jeanne as a child, and her mother discovered the abuse and was killed attempting to stop it.
• Jeanne confronts Charles at his home with the recovered memories, forcing him to admit to the abuse. Charles insists that Ninon was never abused and that Jeanne was "the only one."
• The series concludes with Lucie's pregnancy surviving the abortion attempt. Damien reconciles with Jeanne before she disappears again, acknowledging her as his mother despite her crimes.