AtaraxiaIf you’re a game fan, you’re probably familiar with the legendary game Le Loup-Garou (Werewolves of Miller’s Hollow for English-speaking fellows). For those who aren’t, here’s a quick explanation:
Night falls on the village of Thiercelieux, a charming little village home to friendly villagers. But as darkness descends, the werewolves awaken, and one villager falls victim to them. The next day, panic spreads through the village—no one knows how such a death could have happened since no werewolf has been unmasked. So, as night falls again, the villagers hold a meeting to vote on who among them to kill. Once the chosen person is dead, they’ll find out if they’ve caught a werewolf or mistakenly killed an innocent villager.
At the start of the game, each player receives a card that assigns their role, which they’ll keep for the duration of the game. Three of the players are secretly werewolves, and it’s up to the villagers to unmask them. If you’re a werewolf, you’ll need to lie to protect yourself. If you’re a villager, be on guard, because your real-life friends might just devour you come nightfall in the game. Alongside the basic villager and werewolf roles, there are special cards that offer clues to help catch the wolves: the Little Girl, the Witch, Cupid, the Seer, and more. So you see, Le Loup-Garou is a role-playing game built on lies and betrayals, and it only ends when all the werewolves are unmasked or all the villagers are eaten.
This year, two major streaming platforms have decided to adapt this best-selling game: Canal+ and Netflix.
Netflix produced a French movie starring Franck Dubosc and Jean Reno—a charming film, though it didn’t capture our hearts as much as we’d hoped.
Canal+, on the other hand, has produced an addictive reality-style game show conceived by Panayotis Pascot and Fary. This live-action game leaves nothing to chance. Hosted in a recreation of the village of Thiercelieux in the middle of a forest, 13 players come together for a round of Le Loup-Garou. To unlock special cards, like the Seer, players have to complete quests, which the werewolves can, of course, sabotage. The roles are assigned completely randomly, so there’s no chance of cheating. And the players? They’re a colorful mix: a professional poker player, a former spy, a psychic, a journalist, a champion freediver, a theater teacher, and a player with over 1,000 games of Loup-Garou under his belt. Each of them is uniquely equipped for this game—whether it’s looking for clues, lying, or reading others. Yes, even the freediver, who describes how he has to lie to himself to survive in deep water and has trained his body to handle extreme pressure.
The show releases two episodes at a time, keeping viewers on the edge of their seats as they try to guess who the werewolves are and, more importantly, who will win—the wolves or the villagers.
The show’s addictive nature also provides fascinating insights into different professions, like Elodie’s, for example. Our personal favorite, though, is Alexiane, the former poker player who’s fiercely determined to win at all costs. She’s a top-notch competitor and a truly exceptional player. Her intelligence and pragmatism make her a formidable opponent who can lead anyone right where she wants them.
And what’s at stake in this game? A prize of €100,000, which the winning team, either the villagers or the werewolves, gets to share.
With hilarious commentary from the one and only Mister V, the show is packed with mystery and humor, thanks to the players as well as appearances from Panayotis, Fary, and Mister V himself. The best part? The ending hints that a second season of Loup-Garou might be on the horizon. This show is utterly addictive, and waiting between episodes was torture—lucky for you if you can binge-watch them all at once! So, who do you think will be a werewolf or a villager? All we can say is that it really kept us guessing.
Loups Garous is available on Canal+ in France.
