Imagine being so good at your job that even when you are sitting in prison, people still think you are out there robbing museums. Must be quite the reputation, no? Welcome to the world of Assane Diop, the gentleman thief who has made a career out of fooling the police, charming his way out of impossible situations and reminding us that sometimes, the smartest person in the room is the one nobody is looking at. Only this time, the joke is on him.
Netflix’s Lupin returns with Part 4, and Omar Sy’s ridiculously charming thief is in trouble. Someone is stealing in his name, borrowing his tricks and turning his carefully cultivated reputation into a weapon against him. Imagine working so hard to build a brand, only for someone else to hijack it. The audacity!
The French crime thriller has always understood the joy of a good con. The disguises, the elaborate escapes and the satisfaction of watching Assane pull off something everyone else considers impossible are central to its appeal. Part 4 introduces an opponent who knows his playbook and raises the stakes. The premise is a clever reversal of the show’s familiar formula, even if the execution occasionally gets carried away.
The story picks up four years after Assane surrendered to the authorities at the end of the previous season. Having behaved himself in prison, he is finally close to freedom. His ambitions are refreshingly simple: reunite with Claire (Ludivine Sagnier), reconnect with his son Raoul (Tho Christine) and finally take him to Senegal, as promised. No more robberies, elaborate disguises or run-ins with the police. Just a father trying to get his life together. Surely, that cannot be too much to ask? Apparently, it can.
Days before his release, a series of museum robberies rocks Paris, with the criminal claiming the identity of Lupin. The real Assane is behind bars, but the crimes are convincing enough to put him under suspicion. His reputation, which has helped him get away with almost everything, has suddenly become his biggest liability. For once, the man who usually controls the narrative must figure out who is exploiting his methods and why.
The heists remain a major attraction, with inventive disguises and ambitious set pieces. A sequence involving the Eiffel Tower and a ruby delivers the kind of big-screen spectacle the show clearly wants to be known for. However, some plans demand an extraordinary amount of luck, precision and conveniently timed interventions. The spectacle is entertaining, but the plotting occasionally stretches credibility a little too far.
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