Listen, the only reason I put on Inhuman Resources was because Eric Cantona was in it. (Let’s be honest, it’ll likely be the only reason you put it on too.) The mercurial legend of the Manchester United football team of the mid-to-late-90s, Cantona had gone into acting after retiring from football and crafted for himself a somewhat respectable career as an actor in his homeland of France.
I hadn’t seen any of his previous acting work (other than his many appearances in Nike commercials) so when this French series showed up on my Netflix feed, I was curious to check it out.
Based on a book by Pierre Lemaitre, Cantona plays Alain Delambre, a 57-year-old human resource manager who was let go from his previous job because – as Delambre himself says in the opening minutes of the pilot – he was a “senior” (read: old) and thus easily made redundant. He then spent the next six years working the odd night shift, as well as a menial labour job at an auto supplies warehouse. This is where his troubles begin.
You see, the thing you have to realise about Alain Delambre is that he loves his family. But (much like Cantona himself) Delambre is also a proud man who has trouble controlling his anger. When a run-in with his foreman gets himself fired, Delambre finds himself in something of a pickle. With no money to fight the case, he goes against his own instinct and applies for a HR job at a big multinational. This sets off a chain of events that lands him in prison.
In the hands of a lesser production team (read: American) Inhuman Resources would have dragged on for multiple seasons. But here, it all plays out in just 6 episodes. And it would be so easy to stretch it out because so much happens. The first episode plays out like a family drama, driving home Alain’s love for his family, and the breaking of his pride at not being able to provide. The second episode dives into Alain’s “impetuous nature”, and how he goes above and beyond to research and prepare for his interview with the big defence contractor Exxya. The third episode is a tense Dog Day Afternoon-style hostage situation. The fourth, a surviving prison episode. And the fifth and sixth, are a courtroom drama.
Along the way there’s some corporate espionage, heartless organisations, cheating partners, computer hacking, stolen secrets, and kidnappings.
But the thing is, you never lose track of anything. Nothing feels overstuffed. Nothing feels undone by the sheer amount of story that’s taking place. Nothing feels rushed. And it’s not by any kind of magic or clever writing, directing, or editing. It’s pure discipline that nothing gets lost. Everything here is in service of telling Alain Delambre’s story. The story of a desperate man trying to do good by his family.
Having never seen any of his previous works, I have to say that Eric Cantona is a great actor. It may have helped that Alain Delambre is very much Cantona under a different name. Quick to temper, loyal, and proud. That being said, I was never at any point taken out of the series (“Hey look it’s Eric Cantona!”). At one point, my wife walked in while I was watching Inhuman Resources and she remarked about how it was nice to see this guy again. When I asked who she thought it was, she couldn’t remember the name of the person she was thinking of, but mentioned that he was in loads of things. Now, my wife watches a lot of TV (perils of being married to me), but she has in no way been watching Eric Cantona’s oeuvre.
Cantona’s performance doesn’t distract, unlike, say, Neymar’s token appearance in the fourth season of Money Heist or retired American football player Marshawn Lynch’s in the latest season of Westworld.
If you’re a fan of tense adult dramas, give Inhuman Resources a chance. You might be pleasantly surprised. If you’re a fan of Eric Cantona, then you owe it to yourself to give this a watch.
Inhuman Resources
Netflix, Season 1, 6 episodes
Director: Ziad Doueiri
Writers: Pierre Lemaitre and Perrine Margaine
Cast: Eric Cantona, Suzanne Clément, Alex Lutz, Gustave Kervern, Alice de Lencquesaing, Louise Coldefy, Adama Niane, Aton, Soraya Garlenq, Carlos Chahine, and Eurydice El-Etr
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