With three intersecting timelines (present, just before present, 20 years ago), Le Chalet (original French title) proves to be a solid mystery show. A group of friends travel to a remote French village for a wedding and become trapped.
In true “And Then There Were None” style, individual characters are slowly picked off one by one. Who’s doing it and why is slowly revealed and if you have a keen eye for foreshadowing you’ll be able to pick up a few lines/scenes in the first two episodes.
It could have benefited from a smaller cast as the intersecting timelines does it make it hard to follow along. The first episode also lacks pacing and could have been edited down further; but it’s worth watching the series in its entirety.
Whilst the series isn’t necessarily groundbreaking by any means (there are some characters that are awfully cliche), it invites the audience to pay very close attention, analyse a character’s motives and suspect everyone, trust no one.
In regards to the treatment of female characters on the show, there were several frustrating lines and scenes that erred me a little. Whilst it doesn’t reflect badly on the show, it’d be nice to see writers adapt to our changing political environment and give women power, a voice and let the characters respond in a way that isn’t a trope. Trigger warning, the show does touch on the subject of rape (but doesn’t show it) and I believe that could have been handled a lot better. It also shows suicide (which also could have been handled better in regards to the writing of characters).
Whilst it has its downfalls, Le Chalet has a go at the old “who dunnit” mystery and overall, it succeeds.