‘History is a set of lies agreed upon.’

It would be easy to compare Netflix’s new series to other period horrors like Pride and Prejudice and Zombies, or Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter. And to trot out descriptions like ‘Oh, it’s Les Mis meets The Walking Dead’, just does all three a disservice. La Révolution is, as the Pythons might say, something completely different: a thought-provoking and twisty drama that also doesn’t pull its punches where violence and gore are concerned.

Set in 1787 the series is narrated by a girl called Madeleine (Amélia Lacquemant), which is a good trick as when we first meet her properly she is mute and can only use sign-language. Part of the aristocracy and living in a palace, like her sister Elise (Marilou Aussilloux) she doesn’t agree with the way nobles treat the rest of the populace. She also has a psychic link to another little girl with wild hair, who wears a mask and tells her things about what’s going to happen: specifically about a plague that’s coming to France.

Meanwhile, doctor Joseph Ignace Guillotin (Amir El Kacem), the real life inventor of the device known for separating heads from bodies (that tried and tested method of killing zombies), is investigating the murder of a third girl called Rebecca and the spread of a strange disease known as ‘Blue Blood’, which can bring the dead back to life. Cue Joseph’s brother Albert (Lionel Erdogan), who died years ago – banished and killed because of his affair with Elise – returning to these shores as large as life.

At the same time the rebel Brotherhood – led by Marianne (Vikings star Gaia Weiss), who wears a strip of leather across her face to hide her scars – are planning a revolt against the nobility. And there’s also a plot to make Elise and Madeleine’s nasty uncle Charles (Laurent Lucas) the Duc of the region, although he would rather give that power over to his own psycho son Donatien (Julien Frison). Unfortunately Donatien is dying himself, of gangrene. Now, if only there was a way to bring him back…

Told over eight episodes, La Révolution takes its time to build up the tale along with the tension, but is never less than intriguing or exciting. From the first scene of Madeleine on horseback in a snow-bound future (looking for all the world like a French version of Alice from Resident Evil, chasing one poor zombie nobleman before chopping off his head with a machete), to the frantic and bloodthirsty fight in the streets between the rebels and their enemies at the climax, you’re right there in the thick of things. Yes, the show can be a little on the nose at times – the name of the disease for starters, and the way the dead in the finale are covered over with white sheets stained by red and blue blood to resemble the French flag is hardly subtle – but the blending of fact and fiction is quite clever indeed, backed up with heroes we care about and villains we love to hate. We’re promised a version of events leading up to the French Revolution that never made it into the history books, and that’s exactly what we get.

Verdict: Give it a try this Halloween and see for yourself, but for me it’s one of the best horror shows of 2020 so far. I just hope after that corking finale we get a series 2! ‘Death is only a beginning.’ 9/10

Paul Kane