Dangerous Liaisons has been a best seller since before the French Revolution and in some ways a direct and genuine account of the debauchery of the French Court. It was considered so innovative in its narrative and so accurate with the facts that many – for many years – maintained that it was not a work of fiction.

Although fascinating, the story took a while to reach screens and stages, but Christopher Hampton‘s version was the one that won an Oscar and became a reference for material written by Choderlos de Laclos. And it is he who is behind the excellent series of Lionsgate +, which arrived in Brazil in early November and already has a second season guaranteed. As an executive producer, the playwright is certainly a good source for the series’ interesting proposal, that of showing the youth of the Marquise de Merteiul and, of course, Valmont. In other words, how the bad people we met at the beginning of the movie turned out to be. The showrunner is Harriet Warner.

The eight-episode series proposes to be “a prelude” to the story, introducing us to how Camille, a young woman who had to prostitute herself for a living, rose socially to be the Marquise de Merteuil, and how, Pascal Valmont, a young libertine had to fight to have to be a birth title – Viscount of Valmont restored. In the midst of decadent and pre-revolutionary Paris, the young people fall in love, but their immediate interests and needs have since made them more opponents than lovers.

Alice Englert is Camille and Nicholas Denton, Valmont, but it’s the spectacular Leslie Manville, who is also in The Crown, who promises to dominate the first season, as the original Marquise de Merteuil. That’s right, as Camille’s mentor, she will teach the young woman how to win in the wanton Parisian society. An award-winning and respected actress, Leslie brings to her Marquise the anguish, frustration, and feminine assurance that will make the next Merteuil a surefire woman. After all, Camille will learn from the best how to navigate and gain power in a man’s world. The series’ motto comes from what will happen in the future between the lovers: “It’s not love… it’s war”.

Alice brings the passion to Camille that she later learns to omit and looks great, but it’s Nicholas who rescues Valmont’s irresistible charm, immortalized by John Malkovich on screen. At least in the first episode, the series showed pace, an excellent reenactment of the period, and a beautiful soundtrack. It has everything to engage!

We’ll also see Game of Thrones‘ Carice van Houten as the demure Jacqueline de Montrachet, Michael McElhatton as the Marquis Jean de Merteuil and another Game of Thrones departed Tom Wlaschiha will appear in the series. As a curiosity, if you think that the young Mia Threapleton resembles someone, it is because the young woman, who plays a brothel colleague of Camille, is the firstborn of Kate Winslet, showing us that talent is really in the family’s DNA…

Episodes go up on the platform every Sunday, let’s follow them all!