The acting can be off from time to time. But the camera work is great i really liked the story as well. I think the fact there is no overacting or expression of emotions, actually ads to the story. The 1 star ratings are clearly from people who never experienced banlieue life and its inhabitants.
15 Reviews
Quite watchable
inc-133-7001315 March 2021
I found "Dealer" pretty interesting as cinematographic experiment. Story is rather simple - a duo of cameramen join a gangster to shoot few days of his life in the hood for a rap video. Of course, they get more than they bargained for and things will go wrong.
The episodes are surprisingly short, might be a social experiment also - with short attention span that online videos have formed in modern audience.
The story isn't very interesting nor complex, but paranoia surrounding criminal underworld and fast pace make it sort of fascinating to watch. Action scenes - thanks to "found footage" method, resemble more of a video game than action show.
While generally quite average show, I do not regret my time watching this. Especially since that time was pleasingly short, yet nicely action-packed. Other shows waste a ton of your time before you'll even figure out if you like them. Not here.
The episodes are surprisingly short, might be a social experiment also - with short attention span that online videos have formed in modern audience.
The story isn't very interesting nor complex, but paranoia surrounding criminal underworld and fast pace make it sort of fascinating to watch. Action scenes - thanks to "found footage" method, resemble more of a video game than action show.
While generally quite average show, I do not regret my time watching this. Especially since that time was pleasingly short, yet nicely action-packed. Other shows waste a ton of your time before you'll even figure out if you like them. Not here.
Tony's Troubles
owen-watts15 May 2021
Adapted from a film by the same name and turned into a "found footage" style episodic gangster caper Caïd can have a wonderfully kinetic energy to it but often lapses into tropes and rather artificial contrivances. A lot of the time when characters angrily bark "why are you filming this?" you have to agree. The short 10 minute blasts of it can work for and against it as well, and it seems a shame they didn't play with the running times a bit more as the endings can feel abrupt.
It's not all bad though - it's nice to get a glimpse of a fairly underrepresented part of France and I felt for both Franck and Tony, trapped in their violent predicaments by different forces. So yes - not a revelation but certainly interesting and the first French series I've seen the entire way through.
It's not all bad though - it's nice to get a glimpse of a fairly underrepresented part of France and I felt for both Franck and Tony, trapped in their violent predicaments by different forces. So yes - not a revelation but certainly interesting and the first French series I've seen the entire way through.
Was really curious but... finally quite disappointed
sergeboudin14 March 2021
Usually I like this kind of series from urban ghetos ... I was impatiently waiting for this one. But... No, sorry, even if the pitch is not bad, but really simple, the series fall into too stereotypical "clichés".
Above all, we hear insults (btw always the same : Son of... and Shut up...) literally every 30 seconds, that's quickly becomes very very very annoying... 5/10 for the effort.
Gripping action/crime series... Totally worth the time!
Achyut_Prashast_Singh12 April 2021
The concept is intriguing and then some. The main reasons for watching this mini-series were the genre (action/crime) and the rather short running time per episode, with the latter meaning you could finish this in a single sitting. And given that it has enough intensity and flair to work, Dealer turns out to be a gripping and entertaining affair. This mix of found footage with the action genre is something we don't see a lot of times, and thus another reason why the experiment pays off.
It is indeed interesting to note how much the makers manage to achieve in terms of character development and plot within such a short duration. Performances are all top-notch, and the visuals are pretty gorgeous. Colors are beautifully used, and the action sequences are all very impressive. The switching between cameras to deliver action filmed from different angles is uniquely done, especially in a vivid car chase sequence.
Some might find the camerawork too jarring at times, but this is just how the show was meant to be: like a recovered footage. I personally love movies and shows filmed in this format, and hence this is a big draw for me. Also, the story is pretty gripping with enough twists and drama served along with the gritty action sequences. All in all, this is a pretty solid series for its genre and style. Recommended especially if you like crime action dramas and would also love to see how something like that goes down in the found footage format.
It is indeed interesting to note how much the makers manage to achieve in terms of character development and plot within such a short duration. Performances are all top-notch, and the visuals are pretty gorgeous. Colors are beautifully used, and the action sequences are all very impressive. The switching between cameras to deliver action filmed from different angles is uniquely done, especially in a vivid car chase sequence.
Some might find the camerawork too jarring at times, but this is just how the show was meant to be: like a recovered footage. I personally love movies and shows filmed in this format, and hence this is a big draw for me. Also, the story is pretty gripping with enough twists and drama served along with the gritty action sequences. All in all, this is a pretty solid series for its genre and style. Recommended especially if you like crime action dramas and would also love to see how something like that goes down in the found footage format.
Getting dizzy.
schwid12 March 2021
Brought me back to my childhood
haibane-tenshi1 May 2021
If you haven't lived in a french project, you can't get this. This is the closest thing i've seen to real life.
This might be in the South, but all projects are like this in the old country.
We don't need the wire, nor HBO.
Half the dudes in there aren't even actors, just guys living their daily life on camera.
This might be in the South, but all projects are like this in the old country.
We don't need the wire, nor HBO.
Half the dudes in there aren't even actors, just guys living their daily life on camera.
Yet another Netflix dud!
cdeanroane11 March 2021
I have to wonder why Netflix is no longer content to be a movie service like it started out. Seems now Netflix want to have it shows and offer third rate foreign TV show that are nothing but time wasters. Avoid this piece of garbage as it just horrid and a waste of time.
So bad acting
Cyril-4941810 March 2021
Must be watched in French !
FreyaMordaren11 March 2021
This show is very representative of the French "ghetto" (called "la cité"). The storyline is kinda fast but still surprising. The first three episiodes describe with magic how "le charbon" works, then the story is developped around the main carachter 'Tony'.
I enjoyed the show (probably 'cause French is my native language) and wanted to give it a 10 but there were some BAAAAD "actors" who made the show looks like a student project.
That makes me wonder ; why would Netflix risk it with a BAD casting?
WHAT THIS THIS!!!!
enzocampagna12 March 2021
Really enjoyed the caid
sheikalthaf15 March 2021
LA HAINE meets REC
searchanddestroy-127 March 2021
That's the tradition now in France to make so many topics about suburbs ghettos and dealers, pusher and brutal cops, poverty and unemployment; social dramas, crime realistic topics that most of audiences search. This one belongs to the long long list of those LA HAINE or MA CITE VA CRAQUER rip-offs. I did not expect much. But I tried anyway. And don't regret it. The most powerful sequence was for me when, in the last episode two of the hoodlums go to kill one of their opponents and proceed like real pros. They put some band aids around their wrists before the killing so that no powder residue remains later, no clue. They proceed so rapidly in a very accurate and so fast movements Like, they behave like real pros, and I admire that. That's for me a good series. The equivalent of SNABBA CASH, another TV series from Scandinavia and on the same subject. But it was supposed to be found footage stuff from beginning to the end, actually it is not. Some sequences are found footage and many more are not, but just filmed in the "classical" way. And one more important thing: the only nasty, disgusting character of this awesome series , is someone we don't see at all; we ONLY hear his voice. I speak of course of the "producer" who sends the two "journalists" in the ghetto in order to get the hottest material to obtain the most audiences possible for his own benefits and at their own risks. He doesn't care at all of the means, only the results count. The true and authentic motherf....for me. And, in the end, when this b....realizes that this situation goes too far, BECAUSE HE ASKED IT IN THIS WAY; and again at the risk of his "employees" he then runs away from his responsabilities. I would have paid to have a sequence where this SOB is caught by the hoodlums and torn to pieces. Really, that would have been a big huge scene. Because this character is the main responsible of this tragedy.
love it
salahrifai-3827413 May 2021
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