Series of the Week: “Hotel Beau Séjour”
Who killed me?
Here in Brazil we have a funny way of referring to a death during sleep: “he went to sleep, and when he woke up he was dead.” But it is exactly this way that the interesting miniseries “Hotel Beau Séjour” begins, because when the protagonist wakes up, she discovers that she had been murdered.
Without understanding what had happened, she began to look for who and why had murdered her.The strangest thing is that some people manage not only got to see, talk, hurt and even make love to her.How and why? The viewer will need to follow the ten episodes of the series to find out.
Kato Hoeven (Lynn Van Royen) is a beautiful and delicate young woman who lives in a small town in the hinterland of Belgium.Like all youngsters in her city, she dreams of getting out of there, but the fun rests only in the motocross championship and the city’s shooting club.
Kato’s boyfriend is Leon Vinken (Maarten Nulens), the great promise of city motocross, and local idol.But on the night of her murder, Kato had broken up with him, without further explanation.
Not remembering anything that had happened that night, Kato discovers that she can relate as if she were alive with a special group of people. Among them are his father, Luc Hoeven (Kris Cuppens), his stepfather’s daughter, Sofia (Charlotte Timmers), her best friend Ines (Joke Emmers), the corrupt local police chief Alexander Vinken (Johan van Assche), his son Charlie (Joren Seldeslachts), and a drug dealer, Vercammen (Jakob Beks).
Luc is an alcoholic, has strange relationships and has a bitter life.Alexander Vinken is a corrupt cop who is Leon’s uncle and seems more interested in his career than with his son, Charlie, who had returned home after a stay in a psychiatric clinic.Sofia is a foster sister, whose father, Marcus (Jan Hammenecker) had married Kato’s mother, Kristel (Inge Paulussen).Sofia envied Kato’s life, including her boyfriend, and shows a hidden desire to take her place.Ines is involved with illegal schemes to make money because of her inner secret.
No one understands why they can communicate with her, although everyone seems to have something to hide, and possibly has some share of guilt in the young woman’s death.
The investigation into the crime is carried out by Belgian federal police officer Beate Schneider (Renee Fokker), who has to deal not only with a serial killer, but also with the incompetence and corruption of the local police, which hinders more than aids.
The development of the miniseries is magnificently constructed, so that even the protagonist infiltrating in all environments, she still needs to do her parallel investigation, and the truth is discovered only drop by drop.
Produced by Netflix, and following the example of what was done in “Four Seasons in Havana” and “Money Heist”, the series uses local actors, and environments unusual in movie and television industry.It’s a different way of competing with the film industry, possibly at a much lower cost, and revealing to the world a large number of new and old actors.
The young actress Lynn Van Royen was a right choice for the protagonist, and manages to pass to the viewer all his doubts and concerns, while co-opting to discover the mystery of his death, even if the final destination is her complete disappearance.
The series takes a different approach from the supernatural, showing that the worst monsters are still the living ones, who take their selfishness to its ultimate consequences, preserving their secrets and amenities, even if it harms the one thing that prevents Kato from resting – his killer.
“Hotel Beau Séjour” joins the Hall of Fame of the good European, English, French, Scandinavian, and Spanish series that has emerged to the world in recent years. Not surprisingly, a lot of it has been produced by Netflix, which already left in a forgotten past when it was simply a DVD delivery service by mail.
Original title: “Hotel Beau Séjour”