Néro the Assassin Review 2025 Tv Show Series Cast Crew Online
Recently, French mainstream cinema has decided to take on epic adventure projects. One of those was the two-part Three Musketeers adaptation, which coincidentally starred Pio Marmaï as its Porthos. The award-nominated (twice at the French Césars), well-known comedian is now fronting one of Netflix France’s gamble for 2025: the 8-episode Nero The Assassin, which quietly shot last year in the South of France and in several locations in Italy and Spain.
The plot has been kept under wraps, but the basics are as follows: in 1504, as the South of France is decimated by a historic drought, Nero is working as an assassin for councilman Rochemort (Louis-Do de Loncquesaing). The latter is planning an arranged marriage for his daughter, Hortense (Alice Isaaz), and has his sights set on gaining even more power when he eventually replaces his boss, Lamartine. In the meantime, the Vatican uncovers a sinister prophecy where the Devil will possess the body of a young child, and sends an envoy to France…. As it turns out, the subject of the prophecy is Perla (Lili-Rose Carlier Taboury), Nero’s 14-year-old daughter, left in an orphanage under the supervision of Catholic priest Horace (Olivier Gourmet). As Rochemort sets his plan in motion, a few graphic twists, unfortunate events, and double-crosses later, Nero is now on the run with Perla in tow, running away from malevolent forces, alongside a few unwilling companions. They have to watch for the very real threat of sadistic religious fanatics clad in white makeup, nicknamed the Repentants, who are taking over a growing number of citadels and villages.
Creators of Néro The Assassin, including cowriter and director Allan Mauduit, and cowriter Jean-Patrick Benes, have already been experts at crafting dubious characters navigating a murky environment in their previous show, critically-acclaimed Kaboul Kitchen (Canal+), set in a restaurant in Afghanistan visited by expatriates while the Bush “War On Terror” raged on in 2005. Therefore, the historical accuracy remains limited, and the overall feel of the dialogue, including crude exchanges, is definitely modern. But Néro quickly enthralls the audience thanks to impressive world-building and well-defined characters, who are always one inch away from certain death and have to lie or cheat quickly out of perilous situations. The Spanish and Italian locations are not random, as Néro and its titular character owe more than a debt to classic Spaghetti Western and genre movies from the 1960s and 1970s.
Even with all the stylized combat and more mystical elements, such as Emily In Paris‘ Camille Razat playing a one-eyed witch and angel of Death, Néro never does anything to cheapen its stakes with meta humor or out-there manufactured fun. The show was apparently picked by Netflix after years in development, and it actually relies on sturdy character work than never-ending twists, even though the plot and situation vastly pivot from one episode to the next. At its core, the show is about two father-daughter relationships: the one between Rochemort and his daughter Hortense, where circumstances and shocking revelations force the latter to rely on wits and manipulating appearances in order to forge a fragile independence. And the one between Néro and Perla, where a morally bankrupt, freewheeling, booze and bordello-loving assassin will find himself relying on principles and finding the one person he can’t double-cross.
The show gleefully delves into horror, and sometimes takes a detour through social commentary, where entire poor villages are left devastated in the wake of drought, and the slaughters of Penitents and rulers are more concerned with saving their own skin and cutting political deals for themselves. In a brutal world, Néro The Assassin does not really need emotional beats or tear-jerker scenes, but earns a lot of care for its band of misfits, relying on experienced character actors such as Olivier Gourmet. Even though it could have served its secondary characters better, the show arrives as a fully fleshed-out take on epic serialized adventure. And yes, that means it’ll be gunning for a season 2 renewal.
