Picture Credit: Netflix
Announced as one of the major events for the 2026 French line-up, thriller series Elite Force (GIGN) starring Tomer Sisley is finally set to release in July. What is there to know about the immersive look into the famed French intervention unit?
Almost like clockwork, close to 16 months after the start of the shoot (which was reported to last until June of 2025), Netflix France announced the release of its new series Elite Force (French title: GIGN) on July 22nd. The new 8-episode show will follow members of the elite French intervention unit known as GIGN, deployed in the most tense domestic crises like hostage situations, attempted terrorist attacks, and other domestic threats.
What is Elite Force about?
David, a one-of-a-kind unit chief, thought he could finally leave his field work behind. But when an attack strikes the GIGN at its heart, he takes back its leadership. An invisible enemy, armed with a kiloton of stolen military-grade explosives, intensifies his attacks and always strikes ever closer to the core of the team. David must track him down while protecting Max, his 25-year-old godson who recently joined the unit, despite all efforts to prevent him from doing so. But as he closes in on the attacker, his foe exhumes a past David thought he had buried long ago.
Who is the cast of Elite Force?
Tomer Sisley plays David, the head of the intervention unit faced with a crisis he will have trouble containing. Alongside Sisley, Guillaume Gouix will play Cedric, another colleague in the unit. Gouix will also play a bit part in Nothing To Lose, the French Netflix Original movie also premiering in July. The female lead role of Melanie, David’s wife, will be played by Géraldine Pailhas, who starred in both seasons of Netflix’s very first French Original Marseille. The up-and-coming face playing David’s reluctant protégé Max, the son of a former colleague who was killed in action, will be played by Tristan Zanchi, who was seen in the forgotten French YA take on Dangerous Liaisons back in 2022. The cast is rounded out by Thierry Neuvic, Kevin Azaïs, and Grégori Derangère.
What else do we know about Elite Force?
The eight episodes are credited to co-creators Julien Leclercq and Sylvain Caron, with Leclercq as the sole director. The show is billed as one of the first French TV series to be produced with the support of the elite unit GIGN, which means enhanced authenticity regarding the training shown on screen and the tactical operations that will be part of the show. Julien Leclercq is a talent who has enjoyed a long relationship with Netflix, dating back to the two seasons of the intense crime drama Ganglands. Before diving into this project, Leclercq also directed a new take on Wages of Fear with Alban Lenoir. This project, however, is not the first time Leclercq has depicted historic GIGN interventions: the critically acclaimed The Assault (2010) recounted the real-life 1994 hostage situation on an Air France flight from Algiers to Paris, right before Christmas.
In a spring interview, VP of Original French Programming Pauline Dauvin highlighted the project as one of the major series for the platform coming this year, commenting that “beyond the action, there is also a tense family drama” at the heart of the show.
Are you intrigued by this new French action thriller? Did you enjoy Ganglands and the previous Julien Leclercq projects? Sound off in the comment section below!
