Niels Schneider remarkable intensity in The World Does Not Exist (review)

A journalist investigating a murder in the village of his childhood must reconnect with the traumas of his past. A thriller in the North that is atypical to say the least.

It is a harsh and intense rural thriller that Arte will broadcast from this evening in prime time (the 4 episodes are already available online on Arte.tv). Presented in competition at Séries Mania last March, The world does not exist is the adaptation of the novel by Fabrice Humbert published in 2020.

If the plot of the book took place in a town in the United States, the creator and director Erwan Le Duc (Partridge, Her Father’s Daughter) made the smart choice to transpose the action to the north of France. It was there, in Guerches-Sur-Isoire, that Adam Vollmann grew up. Now a Parisian journalist in the web editorial team of a major national daily, he discovers one morning that a certain Axel Challe is the number 1 suspect in the case of the murder of a young woman, in his village in Pas-de-Calais. . Axel, who has since disappeared, was Adam’s best childhood friend. The reporter then decides to go there as a special correspondent, in order to discover the truth…

In the shoes of this investigative journalist, Niels Schneider is remarkable for its intensity. He is this man who reluctantly returns to the traces of a complicated past and we quickly understand that the teenage Adam Vollmann suffered physical and moral harassment which left scars. Too effeminate for the local bullies and above all too close to the famous Axel, whom he refuses to see as an assassin… Erwan Le Duc takes advantage of its northern setting, to film territories that are too little explored by fiction and bring to life secondary characters full of humor and dramaturgy (the local journalist as obsessive as she is funny; the guy from the media library whose camera captures in continues the absolute emptiness of the town).

This violence and its consequences are the main subject of the mini-series, and this is unfortunately where it gets bogged down a little (let’s point out that we were only able to see the first two episodes, out of four in total). The mystery surrounding Axel’s guilt almost takes a back seat, leaving only the confrontations between Adam and his former tormentors, most of whom have become integrated members of the community. Significant scenes (the main character’s suppressed anger in the face of these men who don’t even recognize him) but which force the plot to stall. The character study may be fascinating, but we would have liked that The world does not exist shakes up his formula a little.

The World Does Not Exist, in 4 episodes, to be seen on Arte on Thursday September 26 and October 3, 2025. Already online for free on Arte.tv