Lupin (2021) Review: Omar Sy Steals the Show

Is Lupin worth watching?

Yes, with reservations. Lupin is a slick, playful French heist series that works because Omar Sy makes every impossible scheme look effortless and every disguise feel like a magic trick. The show updates Maurice Leblanc’s gentleman thief for modern Paris and adds a revenge story with real emotional and social weight. The reservation is that the plotting relies heavily on luck and convenience, and the later episodes repeat the formula more than they develop it.

What is Lupin about?

Assane Diop (Omar Sy) arrived in France as a boy with his father, a Senegalese immigrant who worked as a chauffeur for the wealthy Pellegrini family. When a valuable necklace vanished, his father was accused of the theft, and Assane has spent the years since believing he was framed. As an adult, armed with a battered copy of Leblanc’s Arsène Lupin stories his father gave him, Assane sets out to expose the family and clear his father’s name, using the gentleman thief’s methods as his playbook.

Ludivine Sagnier plays Claire, the mother of Assane’s teenage son, while Clotilde Hesme plays Juliette Pellegrini, a figure from his past, and Antoine Gouy plays his loyal friend Benjamin.

Lupin is a French Netflix series in French, created by George Kay and François Uzan. This review covers the three parts released so far on Netflix, 17 episodes in total (some guides, including the season list on this site, count the first two parts as one season). The show is still listed as ongoing, so the story may continue.

A star turn that sells the illusion

The series is built around Sy, and it knows it. He plays Assane with a lightness that makes cons look like improvisation, sliding from janitor to billionaire to prisoner to tech entrepreneur with a smile and a new pair of glasses. The joke, borrowed from Leblanc, is that people rarely look closely at a man they have already decided is unimportant, and Sy uses his natural warmth to make that idea feel both funny and pointed.

He is just as good in the quieter scenes. Assane’s grief for his father and his difficulty being present for his son give the character an undertow that keeps the show from floating away as pure escapism.

Leblanc’s thief in a modern France

Lupin’s smartest move is to make Assane a fan rather than a reincarnation. He treats the old stories as a manual, and the series has fun recreating their tricks with modern technology, social media and surveillance cameras. The Paris settings, from the Louvre to private mansions and grim prisons, are glamorous without becoming tourist brochure.

The show also gives its caper a social conscience. Assane’s story is shaped by class, race and immigration, and the Pellegrinis’ power to rewrite the truth is presented as structural rather than just personal villainy. That layer, handled with a light touch, gives the series more heft than most heist television.

When the tricks start to repeat

The flaws are the flip side of the fun. Plans succeed because the script needs them to, and characters, especially the police, often seem a step slower than they should be. The flashbacks that fill in Assane’s youth are useful but can stall the momentum. Later seasons lean on the same reversals, reveals and last-second escapes, and the antagonists are rarely as interesting as the hero. Viewers who need airtight logic will find the seams obvious.

Who should watch Lupin?

It is a strong pick for anyone who enjoys heist capers, clever cons and charismatic leads, and for viewers new to non-English television; the French dialogue is easy to follow with subtitles or the dub. Seventeen episodes across three parts is a manageable commitment. There is some violence and threat, but it is mostly a light, crowd-pleasing crime drama suitable for teenagers.

If it leaves you wanting more crime stories built on a strong lead, try these:

• Luther for another crime series powered by a magnetic central performance, though far darker in tone.
• Bodyguard, a tight British thriller with the same knack for cliffhanger endings.

For more, browse the crime shelf.

The verdict

Lupin is a charming, fast and inventive caper that turns a century-old literary thief into a modern hero without losing the fun. The plotting strains belief and the formula shows over time, but Omar Sy’s easy magnetism and the show’s social edge make it one of Netflix’s most enjoyable European series.

Rating: 4/5