As of this week, a new 6-episode series take on the 1988 French cult classic from Étienne Chatilliez is shooting in Southwest France. Here is what has been unveiled so far.
In the 1980s and 1990s, a handful of French directors ruled the French box office with a series of caustic, satirical comedies. Such is the case of revered helmer Étienne Chatilliez, who had a smash hit in 1988 with Life Is A Long Quiet River (La Vie Est Un Long Fleuve Tranquille), which went on to sell 4 million tickets at the time and was the first acting role of future star Benoît Magimel, who was aged 12. You can watch the original trailer below.
Netflix has now confirmed that the adaptation started shooting this week in Southwest France, between Bordeaux and Arcachon ; extensive calls for hundreds of extras went out over the summer. It also confirmed the series would last 6 episodes, and the new take is not only changing the location, but also is adding a concept of “trial family” to gain custody of the kids. Here is the official logline (translated) below :
In Arcachon, two families who are the polar opposite of each other – bourgeois and Catholics Le Quesnoy and working-class left-wing Groseille – discover that their respective kids have been swapped at birth at the maternity ward, 14 years ago. It gets worse : they already know – and hate – each other. The Le Quesnoy father is the head of the superstore where the Groseille father is a forklift operator, and a proud local union member. Unable to settle on a custody agreement, they are forced by the judge to a trial alternate custody, lasting 4 months. Each family will have to fight to gain custody of the two teenagers, Côme and Jordy. The class struggle just found a new ring to face off.
On the creator side, two writers from short-lived comedy Shafted are behind this new series : Estelle Koenig and Julien Teisseire. The series is cowritten by Augustin Amri and Alpha Diallo ; actor/director Clovis Cornillac is behind the lens. Also to be determined is whether Étienne Chatilliez is involved in this new adaptation, which quite differs from the original movie ; we reached out to Netflix for comment.
Who is cast in Life Is A Long Quiet River?
The project first made headlines in August, where main actor Alban Ivanov revealed in Paris Match that in-demand comedian Alban Ivanov revealed he was gearing up to shoot a new series. As he stated in the interview and is now officially confirmed, he plays Father Groseille in the series. The new adaptation is set to be directed by Clovis Cornillac, a longtime actor who also handled a few projects as a director. Cornillac is best known globally for the role of Astérix in Asterix At The Olympic Games (2006), and is very well-known for his starring and co-starring roles in French comedies, such as A Little Something Extra by Artus, which shattered box-office records in 2024. Ivanov himself has garnered a lot of credits in French comedies, and on Netflix has had a small role in last fall’s French Lover.
In another interview published with Télé Loisirs, Ivanov revealed his costars on the project: his wife will be played by Ludivine Sagnier, while the Le Quesnoy spouses will be played by Doria Tillier and Xavier Lacaille. All of these details are now officially confirmed. Sagnier is the best-known name in the cast: since her first appearances in the early 2000s (notably in François Ozon’s Water Drops On Burning Roofs), she has coupled award-nominated work with international appeal, including in the series The Young Pope and The New Pope, and in the role of Claire in Lupin for Netflix. Meanwhile, Doria Tillier has been known for broad, alternative comedy roles in both television and movies, notably as the creator of Iris on Canal+; Lacaille has been spotted as the star of long-running comedy series Parlement (for public broadcaster France Télévisions) where he played an assistant who is out of his depth in the European Parliament. That series concluded in 2025.
Ludivine Sagnier, the star of Lupin, is set to play the Le Quesnoy mother in that new series take. (Cr : Emmanuel Guimier)
According to the shoot’s casting calls, the series will shoot until December of 2026. No release date has been announced ; we can bet on a global release in early 2028. This project marks a small departure in the French line-up of Netflix, which tends to privilege original series and movies on the comedy front, as opposed to remakes and adaptations; as an example, superstar Dany Boon is in production on his first-ever series for them.
Are you fond of the original Life Is A Long Quiet River movie? Are you curious about this new adaptation? Let us know in the comments below!
