The Mantis
La Mante
Jeanne Deber, known as "La Mante", the famous serial murderer who terrorized France more than 20 years ago, is forced by the police to come out of isolation to track down her copycat. She agrees to collaborate on one condition: to have only one interlocutor, Damien Carrot, her son, who became a cop because of the crimes of his mother, and who refuses all contact with her since her arrest.
Cineit.blog reviewedOctober 12, 2025
"La Mante" kicks off with a killer premise: a famous serial killer, "The Mantis," helps the police hunt a copycat, but will only speak with her estranged cop son. It sounds like a French "Silence of the Lambs," but it falls apart almost immediately. The story is a mess of plot holes and storylines that go nowhere. Carole Bouquet is fantastic as the chillingly calm killer, but she's trapped in a show that's just plain boring. The motivations for the copycat are laughable, and the family drama feels like a bad soap opera. It had so much potential, but ended up being a predictable, poorly written disappointment. A total waste of a great concept.