Adèle and Trésor loved each other. Then separated. That didn’t stop them from working together on a hit podcast in which she talks about the shock of the breakup. Arthur, a slightly off-the-wall mathematician, falls in love with Adèle. The love at first sight is mutual. He’s going to have to talk to his wife about it…
Irresistible, a new French series released online this Wednesday on Disney+, updates the tender menu in six 26-minute episodes. “It’s very modern. Clémence Madeleine-Perdrillat has succeeded in creating a romantic comedy by overturning all the codes. From the first twelve minutes, the two main characters have satisfied their carnal desire. They spend two days and two nights of love together. The question is: what do we do next? “, explains Camélia Jordan, who plays the heroine of the series and who 20 Minutes to crossed last Wednesday at La Rochelle Fiction Festival (Charente Maritime).
“Let the hero’s wife not be a harpy”
The obstacles to the emotional fulfillment of the two lovebirds are not where we expect them. If the romantic situation of Adèle and Arthur is “complicated”, it is mainly because the young woman suffers from panic attacks every time the chosen one of her heart comes around. “I’ve wanted to do a romantic comedy for a long time. Coming out of writing season 2 of In Therapywhich was particularly dense, it was the moment,” confides Clémence Madeleine-Perdrillat.
The creator and artistic director ofIrresistible continues: “There are very defined codes in romantic comedies: the meeting, the first kiss, the race in the rain… I wanted to play with that. I also wanted to reverse dynamics. The man is married, but that’s not that much of a problem. The problem is the post-traumatic romantic stress syndrome that she feels. It was also important that the hero’s wife was not a harpy and it was important to me to have scenes where the women support each other, knowing that they have nothing to reproach each other for. . »
“Not a matter of morality but of tenderness”
“The first sexual intercourse filmed was cunnilingus, I have never seen that,” continues Camélia Jordana. Likewise, I had never seen a romantic comedy with a woman in the middle of lots of love stories and wondering: “What am I doing today?” », where the lover says: “Stay with your wife!”. While that’s the truth, that’s what happens in life. Straight friends explained to me that when they were with guys, they would tell her: “I don’t want more”, and they would respond: “But you don’t need to specify that, I didn’t ask you anything !” »
Such freedom of morals on a platform like Disney+ may seem surprising – and it will undoubtedly help to reinforce among the international public the frivolous reputation of French people and their taste for marivaudage. “Disney is breaking its shackles and wants to move towards authentic characters,” says Clémence Madeleine-Perdrillat. What was clear from the start was that I didn’t want cynicism. We agreed that it would not be a matter of morality but of tenderness between the characters. »
“Just because it’s light doesn’t mean it’s less important”
“We talked a lot about that, talking about English comedies where everything is played very first degree, it’s essential,” testifies Théo Navarro-Mussy, the interpreter of Arthur. Just because it’s light doesn’t mean it’s any less important. »
Moreover, the series addresses the issue of mental health. “Today, in France, love, emotions, feelings are perceived as feminine,” laments Camélia Jordana. Irresistible shows that we are wrong to think that and that it is important to verbalize what we feel. Clémence wanted to produce fiction that we remember and I hope that the public will remember that. »
“It is above all a series about the impossible mourning of the stories that have marked us,” summarizes the creator of this fiction. Society urges us to move on, not to keep the connection with past loves. I think the opposite, it doesn’t make sense to cut them out of our lives. There can be listening and kindness. » Speaking of both love and friendship, Irresistible turns out to be… irresistible.