“The Serpent” (2021)
Truth is again stranger than fiction.
Truth is again stranger than fiction.
Following a recommendation from my teenage son I watched the entirety of this seven and a half hour eight part mini-series on a cold and unwelcoming 2nd February 2023 and was immediately amazed that I wasn’t already aware of this twisted and horrific murderous tale. Furthermore, this dual BBC/Netflix series also checked the box marked “truth is stranger than fiction” once more as it did the “improved as the series went along” box as I was soon won over by the end of the second episode and lastly, even though catalogued as a serial killer, this bizarre tale had the somewhat unique factor being as the killer himself was part of a cultish gang with two co-conspirators as they wreaked havoc and destruction around the world, as well as utterly destroying tens upon tens of lives in the process.
This incredible series tells the grisly and macabre true life tale of Charles Sobhraj who gained as many monikers and nicknames as he did aliases. Originally known as the “Bikini Killer” for the murders attributed to him (and those still unaccounted for) in Thailand, as well as the “Splitting Killer” and “The Serpent”, Sobhraj, in league with his partner in murderous crime Ajay Chowdhury and would be girlfriend/wife Marie-Andrée Leclerc, left a trail of destruction wherever they travelled. Ostensibly trying to return to, and make a life for himself in France, the Vietnamese born serial killer duped and stole from his many victims as well as deliberately making them ill and dependent upon his gang of three for help. The horrific slayings would soon follow before the repugnant gang upped sticks and travelled once more throughout Europe, Afghanistan and Asia before Sobhraj was finally captured in India and sentenced to 12 years in prison in 1976.
This is of course but the tip of a much larger and gruesome set of murderous crimes and where the series itself excels is with the extensive back catalogue of lies, deceit and murders that ravaged and damaged so many lives from the late 1960’s right through to the present day. The series depicts these in regular flashback narratives that will remain untold or unremarked upon here as by midway through the series you may well be unnerved and amazed at the ginormous levels to a story as yet untold.
Four roles are worthy of note with Tahar Rahim (A Prophet) standing alone as the aloof, smiling assassin Charles Sobhraj. Living on his wits, good looks and charm, Sobhraj is painted as the uncatchable killer who slithers away from any possible chance of capture with the ease of the mythological figure he still remains in India and around the world to this very day. Whilst his second in killing command is portrayed very well by Amesh Edireweera (Savage River), it falls to the excellent Jenna Coleman (Doctor Who) to imbue a somewhat moral centre but still misguided fascination for a man she loves, a man she believes to be truthful and innocent and all the while refusing to believe her lying eyes. Tim McInnerny returns to our screens as a Belgian diplomat in Thailand (an always welcome sight from the days of BlackAdder fame) but last and definitely by no means least is a superlative performance from Billy Howle as a Dutch diplomat who, along with his wife at the time, refuses to give up the chase of Sobhraj despite being one of a huge number of people having their lives irrevocably interrupted and destroyed by “The Serpent”.
The Serpent True Story: What Happened To Every Character After The Show
Netflix's latest crime drama, The Serpent jumps back and forth in time with the majority of the drama unfolding during…screenrant.com
Charles Sobhraj - Wikipedia
Charles Sobhraj (born Hotchand Bhawnani Gurmukh Sobhraj, 6 April 1944) is a serial killer, fraudster, and thief, who…en.wikipedia.org
Afterword — The TV Series
The Serpent received 14 worldwide nominations in 2022 including two BAFTA nominations and a single nomination at the Golden Globes.
Afterword — Selected critical reactions
“Tahar Rahim’s unnerving performance brings reptilian menace to The Serpent, but this uneven slice of true crime is too byzantine in structure and too pat about its central villain’s motivations to really get under the skin.”
Rotten Tomatoes
“The best BBC drama series in ages”
The Spectator
“A refreshing restoration of balance…….reduces Charles Sobhraj from an image to an individual, a portrait to a person — and most importantly, from a human to a reptile.”
Film Companion
Afterword — Charles Sobhraj
Ostensibly in and out of prison for a large part of his adult life, Sobhraj was released from a Nepalese prison on 21st December 2022 due to ill health and after serving 19 years of his seemingly last and final custodial sentence. Aged 78, he was deported back to France.
Thanks for reading. Just for larks as always, and always a human reaction rather than spoilers galore. My three most recently published film and television articles are linked below or there’s well over 200 blog articles (with 400+ individual film reviews) within my archives from which to choose:
“The Rig” (2023)
AKA “Alien” in the North Sea.medium.com
“The Last of Us” (2023)
Depeche Mode and a whole lot of love.medium.com