Néro the Assassin (2025)–A Slayer and Hero

Néro the Assassin, set in the  16th century southern French town of Lamartine, opens with an assassin for hire–Nero– bemoaning the fact that:  “If you want old age and a peaceful life, don’t have kids.” 

For years southern France has suffered a devastating drought and famine. The archbishop of the Catholic Church, for his own ambitions, claims it is because the French people have sinned and angered God. The Consul of Lamartine, Nicolas De Rochemort, has done  little for the people he governs, and he is afraid that the situation could soon spiral out of control with a rebellion.   Seeking to build powerful alliances to secure his own position, Rochemort orders Nero to murder the fiancé of Consul Rochemort’s beautiful daughter, Hortense. Rochemort was motivated to arrange that his daughter marry the powerful and wealthy teenage Prince of Ségur. Furthermore, Rochemort has formed a  malevolent alliance with the Archbishop, based in Segur as the religious advisor to the Prince.

Néro has a seemingly unforgivable past.  He abandoned his infant daughter, Perla, to an orphanage run by the kindly monk, Horace, who has grown fond of the now 14-year-old Perla.  Ordered to bring Perla to the Catholic archbishop in Ségur, Horace reluctantly allows Néro to travel with his daughter.  The journey becomes treacherous as Catholic fanatics, called “penitents”, along with the archbishop and Horace,  believe Perla to be the last descendant of the Devil. Only Néro, who does not know his daughter at all, refuses to believe the accusation. 

To add to the menace and mayhem a one-eyed witch has a stranglehold on Néro–quite literally–with an iron manacle locked around Néro’s neck to control him.  The multiple strategies between the Consul and the Roman Catholic archbishop prove harrowing for Nero and Hortense.  Multiple subplots and battles do not lend themselves to a straightforward epic, and similarities to “Game of Thrones” and “Last Kingdom” are obvious.  

Nero the Assassin will enthrall the viewer with its magic, witchcraft, and critique of the power of church and state.  The battles are often unbelievable and impossibly long, and the backstories of some of the characters are not developed until a rush at the end, usually before they die!  But the wicked witch, the conflicted fatherly monk, the remorseful father, and the young daughter-warriors (Hortense and Perla) are impressive and standouts in this epic.  The One-Eyed Witch is not to be missed and the Prince of Ségur both add surprising character arcs of transformation to this world-building fantasy.  And Nero isn’t portrayed merely as a brash, swaggering assassin, but as a haunted soul regretting his past, the religio-political system he didn’t understand, and the cost of submitting to power.

Availability:  Netflix (subtitled)

Note:  Highly critical of religion as exemplified by the Roman Catholic clergy. This may be controversial, or offensive, to some viewers.