Under a Dark Sun (Soleil Noir) –No Sunshine and Flowers
In the opening scene of Under a Dark Sun (2025), a young French woman and her ten-year old son are running out of a house, in the middle of the night, to their packed car, driving off in a panic. Violence has taken place but the viewer does not know what happened.
Alba Mazier (Ava Baya) is a single mother who, with her son Leo (Max Harter), runs to wherever she can find work. Her future goal is to begin a new life in Barcelona with Leo. While on the road, Alba receives a message from Arnaud Lasserre, a mega-flower farm owner in Provence. Lasserre invites her to interview as a seasonal worker picking flowers. Desperate for cash, Alba agrees to the interview and is hired on the spot.
There seems to be some ulterior motive, simmering beneath the surface, for offering Alba a job. A hardened and grizzled wealthy landowner, Arnaud demands Alba meet him early the next morning.
Arnaud’s wife Beatrice (Isabelle Adjani) lies and tells the police that nothing of consequence happened the day before. Under A Dark Sun is a Harlan Coben-like mystery: a family saga of secrets, lies, inheritance and most of all, unhealed wounds. There’s a lot to hold the viewer’s attention in Under A Dark Sun.
The intensity and cold affect, embodying a fierce pas-de-deux between Ava Baya and Isabelle Adjani’s characters, drives the tension of the series. Perhaps the flashpoint is when Adjani, as Beatrice, saunters defiantly into the church for the funeral in a pink suit reading a ChatGPT-generated eulogy.
Other parts of the story are weak. The thriller is based upon very flimsy evidence implicating Alba, namely someone seeing her run away from the crime scene. And there are so many members of the Lasserre family, it can be difficult to track each one’s backstory and relationships to other members of the tribe. However, there are just enough thrills and twists in the plot to make Under a Dark Sun engaging enough to warrant a viewer’s attention, particularly for fans of European crime dramas. And the child actor who plays Leo, Max Harter, is extraordinary.
Availability: Netflix