Hot Picks: The Missing Heiress: Betrayals In The Riviera

Adapted from the book by French author Pascale Robert-Diard, The Missing Heiress: Betrayals In The Riviera follows the notorious Le Roux-Agnelet affair.

A three-part true-crime documentary, it centres on the mysterious disappearance of a young heiress, Agnes Le Roux, in 1977. To this day she has not been found but Maurice Agnelet, her lover at the time and the main suspect, was eventually imprisoned for her murder – almost four decades after the event.

Emmanuelle Guilbart, joint chief executive and founder of About Premium Content (APC), says the story involves “a clash between two wealthy clans [the Le Roux and Agnelet families], against the backdrop of the French Riviera. The series is a saga spanning from the seventies until today, fuelled by a merciless war over a casino palace, passionate loves, stubborn hatreds and family betrayals.”

The series is ARTE’s first true-crime docuseries, which Guilbart says was one of the reasons APC was so keen to pick up international distribution rights: “We got involved in the project from the beginning. We were interested in exploring true-crime stories and, this being ARTE’s debut in the space, it was exciting to see their particular take on the genre.

“We were also keen to work with the talented team at Rectangle Productions [Happening]. In addition, we were convinced by the passion that author Pascale Robert-Diard and director Rémi Lainé [The Ransom] showed about telling this outstanding story.”

In terms of international marketability, Guilbart says the intrigue of the story, combined with the setting, will pique buyer interest: “The idyllic image of the world-famous French Riviera gets shattered as we follow the twists and turns of the case, through the main suspect’s four-decade-long battle with the justice system and how two opposing families are deeply affected. The originality of this series is that Shakespearian element of betrayal and tragedy.”

True crime is, of course, a competitive genre – but Guilbart says The Missing Heiress takes the genre into new areas.

“True crime has reached a new peak in popularity,” she adds. “But viewers seem more interested in a nuanced strand of the genre, avoiding traditional whodunnits, which are sometimes too fascinated with the killers and exploitative towards the victims, and instead exploring the close-range impact of a case in people’s lives and what it says about our society.”

In terms of the production itself, Guilbart says it carries the usual ARTE hallmarks of quality: “The series turns to family footage, media clips, revealing audio tapes but, most compellingly, to intimate interviews with members of both sides: the Le Roux family, who were denied mourning for such a long time, and the Agnelet family, torn apart under the influence of their father. In the process, we get the sense that they reflect on the past, with a new angle and a better understanding of what the other parties have been through.”