Privileges (HBO Max): that’s palace! (critical)

A fool’s game extending from the top to the basement of a 5-star Parisian hotel, carried by an electrifying face-to-face between Manon Bresch and Melvil Poupaud.

Welcome to the Citadel. Can we take your luggage?

Great luxury is at your fingertips on HBO Max. The platform has today put Privilèges online, which will take you into the mysteries of a sumptuous Parisian palace. The Citadel competes for the top spot with the Ritz and the Crillon. The kind of place that few people are used to frequenting and which naturally feeds all fantasies. This is the case of Adèle, still in prison when she gets this job which should allow her to reintegrate. Taking advantage of a program set up by the director of the five-star hotel, the young woman from working-class neighborhoods finds herself in semi-freedom during the day, far from her cell but in an environment almost as wild! Ready to do anything to get by, Adèle will fight tooth and nail to survive in this world of luxury…

From baggage handlers to concierge, from chambermaids to management, from housekeepers to VIP clients, Privilèges explores this delightful playground in every nook and cranny. But the idea is not to have fun doing an upper class painting or a floor-by-floor dry cleaning. This new French creation, produced by Hugo Gélin (Mon Inconnue) is designed as a pure psychological thriller, intelligently put together. An infernal spiral in six episodes, which will grab you and won’t let you go from start to finish.

Privileges are first and foremost a fool’s game from the top to the bottom of the social ladder – and vice versa. A festival of pretense that enjoys small manipulations, both among the wealthy clients and among the staff. The series avoids a lot of pitfalls – notably that of the hotel soap – and does not hesitate to turn away from a certain moral ease. Everyone is a little rotten in this merciless world and that’s why it’s exciting. In the middle of the palace, an electric face-to-face heats up between Manon Bresch, who breathes crazy energy into the whole, and Melvil Poupaud, always so elusive. Who is sincere? Who uses the other? We advise you to book a suite.

Privileges, on HBO Max, to be seen in France from March 27, 2026