Chapter 1 (Lupin)

Chapter 1 is the first episode of the first part of the Netflix series Lupin.

Synopsis
Years after a tragic injustice, Assane seeks to settle a score — and a debt — by stealing a diamond necklace, but the heist takes an unexpected turn.

1995
Babakar Diop, a Senegalese widower with a fourteen-year-old son named Assane, is employed in Paris as a driver for the wealthy Pellegrini family. Babakar and Assane’s interactions with the Pellegrinis are mixed. Madame Anne Pellegrini seems to like the pair, calling Babakar a “gentleman,” while daughter Juliette flirts with Assane. On the other hand, Hubert, the family patriarch, behaves coldly towards Babakar. Anne apologizes for Hubert’s attitude and tells Babakar to choose a book from their library to give to Assane. Babakar selects Arsène Lupin, Gentleman Burglar by Maurice Leblanc.

Later, a diamond necklace that had belonged to Marie-Antoinette disappears from a safe in Hubert Pellegrini’s study, and Babakar is brought in for questioning. Despite Babakar’s denials that he even knew of the safe's existence, Pellegrini accuses him of having taken the necklace due to resentment about his status in life compared to that of his employers. The detective called in by Pellegrini, Gabriel Dumont, offers to take Babakar to the police station to clear everything up. Babakar is furious, swears on Assane’s life that he was not the thief, and begs Anne for help; however, she remains silent.

Babakar is found guilty and sent to prison. On one of Assane’s visit days, the guards find that he has hanged himself in his cell. Devastated by his father's death and convinced of his innocence, Assane is furious at the Pellegrini family. Later, while going through Babakar’s belongings, he finds the Arsène Lupin book, and is immediately entranced by its contents.

Present day
Assane meets his ex-girlfriend, Claire, in a café, to give her an alimony payment and to discuss his visitation rights with their son Raoul. Claire wants Assane to be more involved in Raoul’s life. Assane promises to visit them the following weekend and claims that things are going to change; Claire, having heard this before, is unconvinced.

Under the alias Luis Perenna, Assane gains employment as a Janitor at the Louvre museum, where the Pellegrinis’ recovered necklace is being auctioned. Assane intends to steal the necklace in an act of vengeance for his father's death. He appeals to three loan sharks, Kevin, Vincent and Rudy, for help with the crime; although initially reluctant they agree after he presents his plan of action. On the day of the auction, the loan sharks infiltrate the museum disguised as janitors carrying spray bottles filled with chloroform. Assane adopts the persona of a multimillionaire tech businessman named Paul Sernine and enters the auction, which is being overseen by Juliette Pellegrini.

The heist does not go according to plan, as all three loan sharks find out that their spray bottles of chloroform are ineffective in knocking the museum’s security guards out, and are thus forced to fight them physically, costing precious time. Assane, meanwhile, begins bidding increasingly high amounts for the necklace due to competition from a wealthy German man, driving the price up dramatically, until he finally makes the winning bid of sixty million euros. Kevin and Vincent, now wearing the suits of the security guards, decide to betray Assane in order to get the necklace for themselves.

As the necklace is being presented to Assane by the auctioneer, the pair attack them and tie them up, grabbing the diamonds for themselves and racing out the door and into an inconvenient and ostentatious two-seater Ferrari that Rudy has brought as a getaway car. Due to Rudy’s incompetent driving, the car winds up jumping the embankment surrounding the museum and crashing through the Pyramide Inversée. After the police arrive and retrieve the necklace, all three are arrested. Assane is briefly questioned by Romain Laugier, the captain, who finds him suspicious but ultimately allows him to leave.

Unbeknownst to everybody, Assane, having anticipated that Kevin, Vincent and Rudy would try to double-cross him, switched out the necklaces during the fight, allowing Kevin and Vincent to make off with a fake created by Assane’s close friend Benjamin. After changing back into the uniform of a janitor, Assane exits the museum with Marie-Antoinette’s diamonds safely in tow.

That weekend, Assane upholds his earlier promise to visit Raoul and Claire. While walking along the Seine with Raoul, Assane gifts him the same collection of Arsène Lupin stories that his own father had given him twenty-five years earlier.

Cast

 * Omar Sy as Assane Diop
 * Ludivine Sagnier as Claire
 * Clotilde Hesme as Juliette Pellegrini
 * Nicole Garcia as Madame Anne Pellegrini
 * Hervé Pierre as Hubert Pellegrini
 * Antoine Gouy as Benjamin Ferel
 * Fargass Assandé as Babakar
 * Kamel Guenfoud	as Kevin
 * Grégoire Colin as Vincent
 * Arthur Choisnet as	Rudy
 * Soufiane Guerrab as Youssef Guedira
 * Vincent Londez as Capitaine Romain Laugier
 * Shirine Boutella as Lt. Sofia Belkacem


 * Johann Dionnet	as Jeune Gabriel Dumont
 * Xavier Lemaître as Thibault Du Quenoy
 * Jocelyne Vignon as Aminata
 * Mohamed Nouar as Ibrahim
 * Charlotte Saliou as Guide Musee du Louvre
 * Adama Niane as Leonard
 * Ary Gabison as Garde Barriere Securite Louvre
 * Martin Trouvé-Dugény as Thomas A Salle de Controle
 * Xavier Gojo as Policier Ferrari
 * Mamadou Haidara as Jeune Assane
 * Lea Bonneau as Jeune Juliette Pellegrini
 * Etan Simon as Raoul

Music

 * "Coffre-fort" by Mathieu Lamboley
 * "Diamants" by Mathieu Lamboley
 * "Louvre" by Mathieu Lamboley
 * "Sensualité" by Axelle Red
 * "I Got the..." by Labi Siffre (2006 Remastered Version)
 * "Cambrioleur" by Mathieu Lamboley
 * "Arsène" by Mathieu Lamboley

Trivia

 * As indicated by Assane's invitation card, the auction at the museum took place on Friday, October 16th, 2020.