Netflix is building itself a rep for being the home of word-of-mouth hits – Schitt’s Creek, we’re looking at you– as this fun French series continues to generate buzz upon the release of its fourth and final season.
Call My Agent! (Or Dix Pour Cent, as the Frenchies know it), is a satirical series set in swanky Parisian talent agency, ASK which (sometimes) functions on constant chaos and permanent panic, as agent’s work and home lives are continuously on the edge of impending doom. Usually in the form of rival agencies, failing finances and childlike celebrities.
From this description it might all sound a bit industry intense, but don’t be fooled, this show is brilliantly sardonic and laced with laugh-out-loud quips. A great number of gags come out of the celebrities which feature in each episode, who play a parody of their own public personas – whilst they had to start off pretty low-budget when it first released, but this latest and final season has chucked some cash on the big names of Charlotte Gainsbourg, Jean Reno and Sigourney Weaver.
This sophisticated show is soapy yet serious, classy and charismatic, silly but star-studded, et un vrai Must.
The Independent’s Patrick Smith agrees, saying “far from a compendium of clichés about the showbiz world, Call My Agent! is not only a hymn to the art of cinema, but also a subtle skewering of the abnormality of fame.” Another four star review came from Rupert Christiansen of The Telegraph, who believes “this new series is every bit as sparkling and inventive as the previous three.” And The Guardian’s Rebecca Nicholson goes all out with a full five stars, saying that fans of the first three seasons shan’t be disappointed, as “this remains a wonderful, bright series until the end, and it does end – properly, satisfactorily and neatly.”
First shown December 2016.
