Image Credit: Netflix
An all-female amateur outlaw crew anchors this new Netflix offering, dealing with cops, drug dealers, and even their own personal issues. But is this rollercoaster ride made in France worth your time?
creative team behind family business Much of this new Netflix series is the same; The two writers from that show are the creators and writers of this entire series (olivier rosemberg And karin prevotTogether maholt mollaret For additional material) Most importantly, established comedy star Jonathan Cohen is an executive producer through his own production company and appears as a wealthy banker in later episodes of the season.
As the logline states:
“Five women join forces to find their way out of a sticky situation by robbing a bank disguised as men. A shot of adrenaline and 36,280 euros later, the amateur thieves are forced to start again. It’s not long before politicians, police and gangsters are on their tails, hardly imagining that a group of ordinary women are behind this gang of mercenaries… And so on The Cash Queens are born.”
Young Alex among five women (Tya Deslauriers), who has joined the gang through some eavesdropping, Sophia, mother of 3 (naydra ayadi), Rosalie, a young bank employee burdened by debt inherited from her relationship with her imprisoned husband (rebecca marder); Her best friend Kim (zoey marshal), an intense, foul-mouthed but loyal partner who has his own cash problems. And, finally, in situations where we won’t get worse by joining late: Chloe (Pascal ArbillotThe most experienced actress of the group), a very unhappy housewife trapped in a marriage to a big time politician and the town mayor Marianod (Belgian comedian) François DamiensIn a very serious role).
To their credit, the writers waste no time in dropping us into the whirlwind of the women’s daily lives: partners in prison and the mess they leave behind, odd jobs with questionable competence, troubled children and even social services. A constant state of crisis, which confronts them all and gives rise to the sudden idea of ​​bank robbery; We intuitively learn that they decide to come up with crazy plans because they have been in every sticky situation together before (except for Chloe’s character). The phenomenon of women down on their luck resorting to robbery has been seen before: on NBC good girls (which aired as a Netflix original), in the 1996 film began With Queen Latifah, and many more times. so, cash queens He quickly picks up the pace to take us to the robbery and the inevitable conclusion.
The sisterhood angle works wonders for the show, and gives the cast enough time to bond together and gain their chemistry in the constantly evolving schemes and lies to avoid certain arrest or death at the hands of drug dealer Ezechiel, whose cache of weapons they stole. As Sophia, naydra ayadi imposes her cool, strong presence as “Leone”, the most no-nonsense of the gang, and rebecca marder Rosalie proves her skill as she executes her ambitions with cold intelligence and seduction.
The problems start with the tone of the show. As is the case with many Netflix shows, and of course family business, cash queens Blends the thrill of a heist show where criminals have to hide their identities from the public and quickly change their ways when a character becomes highly suspicious… with very broad comedy and light-hearted silliness. While this sometimes works, especially when the Queens are trying to shoot or training to drive their getaway car, Chloe’s M3 BMW, more often than not, it also saps the explosive tension in many scenes, leaving us unsure whether to laugh or roll our eyes. just like that young millionaireAnother chase story but featuring teenagers in Marseille, there are fast and furious twists at almost every turn, but they really stretch the credibility. cash queens They seem to want to cut out a lot of the plot, usually creating situations where characters collide with each other or – sometimes – cross paths. The police investigators, themselves entangled in corruption and benefiting local politicians and the underworld, feel almost deadpan, and we can’t help feeling that this is deliberate. Even attempts at political commentary, such as Marionaud’s casual racism and tactics, somehow get cut through by quirky quirks like his adoration of chickens.
Ezekiel (Olivier Rosemberg, also co-producer and director) and his crew.
cash queens Presents a representation of bipolar character, Kim (zoey marshal), who is presented as the loose cannon of the gang, who always says the wrong thing out loud. Even though the characters sometimes do their best to extend their sisterhood and acceptance towards Kim even in the worst of circumstances, and she is the one who comes up with the idea of ​​setting up the robbery in the first place, the writing and representation of her mental health struggles leaves a lot to be desired. Many of her meltdowns and epiphanies are sometimes depicted with literal representations of the voices in her head, a visual idea that comes straight from the 1990s and walks a thin line toward the offensive. Even if Kim’s character is representative of the chaos that surrounds the adventure cash queensThe writing gets a little too close to maintaining stereotypes for comfort.
What about action scenes? As with many Netflix shows, the editing comes in at less than 45 minutes per episode, with impressive car stunts prominently shown through the lens of the co-creator and director. olivier rosembergEven if they highlight the spectacle rather than the trial-and-error failures of amateur bandits. Overall, the overall sleekness and sometimes neon-bathed atmosphere cash queens Make it a visually pleasing show, even if it hardly looks distinctive.
Watch cash queens if you want
green glove gang
good girls
baby bandito
Despite some clever twists and a charismatic cast, tonal shifts and some unoriginal characterization make these cash queens It’s hard to get along.