ua gripping TV series, tense and disturbing. It is available on Netflix from September 7th My favourite. A thriller in six episodes based on the novel of the same name by Romy Hausmann, a psychological mystery from 2020, which was very successful. The high-tension miniseries, full of twists and turns, will appeal greatly to those who loved the book, but also to those approaching the story for the first time.
My favourite: the plot
Lena (Kim Riedle) is a woman who lives in complete isolation in a highly protected home, with her two children, Hannah and Jonathan. Their lives faithfully follow the rigid rules established by a man, whom the children call dad, to whom you have to show your hands when you enter the room with him, who demands obsessive respect for the times and the daily schedule. One day, Lena manages to escape from the house together with Hannah (Naila Schuebert), the disturbing and very intelligent daughter, but is involved in a near-fatal car accident.
In the hospital, no one knows who this woman is, who has the same name and the same scar as a girl who disappeared 14 years earlier. She is the little girl who explains with innocent calm that her mother killed her father, and not to worry about her because they left her little brother Jonathan to clean up her blood. Having called the police, a shocking reality emerges: the three were held prisoner by a mysterious man, who forced them to carry out a methodical ritual, in a hut who knows where, because “no one must find them”.
Sammy Schrein (Jonathan) and Naila Schuberth (Hannah) in a scene from the series. (Netflix)
The chief commissioner Gerd Bruehling (Hans Löw) has an intuition: that woman can only be Lena Beckhis best friend’s daughter Matthias (Justus von Dohnanyi) and his wife Karin (Julika Jenkins), who passed away 14 years earlier. Her parents arrive at the hospital convinced they will find her there, but discover that no, Lena is not their daughter. The story will continue with disturbing discoveries and great reversals of fronts.
Lena alias Jasmine (Kim Riedle) with her children Jonathan and Hannah in an episode of the miniseries (Credit: Netflix)
The favourite: location, cast and review of the Netflix series
The miniseries My favourite is set in Germany, where most of the filming took place, including Cologne, the North Rhineland, Wuppertal, on the Belgian seaside, and Bonn. Based on the book of the same name, it is very faithful to the novel. “I hope my readers feel the same way I do,” the author said Romy Hausmann. «There will be a lot of things that are familiar in the book, and at the same time it will feel totally new. There is also, for example, a new character (Aida Kurt), which really moved me because it lives the exact opposite of the culprit’s imagination. It’s subtle and incredibly well told. Why didn’t I think of that?”
Little Jonathan, one of the captive woman’s children, cleaning the crime scene. (Credit: Netflix)
Directed by Isabel Kleefeld, the miniseries conveys the sense of anguish and restlessness of the protagonists very well. In addition to the two children, the character of Lena who we later discover is interesting Jasmine, a copywriter kidnapped and transformed by the executioner into his beloved Lena. The story is in fact inspired by news cases of women kidnapped by crazy and violent men and segregated for years in home prisons and shelters from which it is impossible to escape. It is therefore a story we have already seen, but which is told in a very compelling way, starting from the point of view of the characters.
My favourite Talks about violence, but also of family ties and motherhood. It is a female story: women – the investigator, the victim of violence, Lena, little Hannah and the nurse who takes care of her – have a predominant role in the story, in which nothing is taken for granted. Also interesting is the description of the executioner’s delusions, which is expressed in the strict rules he imposes on his victims.
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