“Luther: Fallen Sun” on Netflix: after the series, the film

It’s been almost thirteen years since viewers discovered Idris Elba in the skin of “Luther”. The one who gives his name to the British series (which was also entitled to a French remake), is a London policeman deeply touched by the darkness of the crimes he investigates. This sometimes pushes him into violence and to blur the lines between good and evil to succeed in putting criminals out of harm’s way.

The film “Luther: Fallen Sun”, posted this Friday, March 10 on Netflix, begins with the disappearance of a young man, a case for which John Luther was responsible. But he did not have time to solve it since he himself was sent behind bars. He had indeed been arrested at the end of season 5. It is therefore here to follow a disgraced cop who will escape from prison in order to pursue the killer and finish what he had started before To be condemned.

Neil Cross, the creator of the series and screenwriter of the film, keeps bringing back this tortured hero, with seasons sometimes spaced out by several years, and now this film, four years after the end of the series. “It’s not a matter of choice,” he tells us. It is a need. Luther is always with me. I don’t feel like it’s a character I invented, but someone who shares my universe. »

A ******ic killer who uses new technologies

In “Luther: Fallen Sun”, the former cop finds himself pursuing a particularly ******ic killer, David Robey, who uses new technologies to establish his grip. “The biggest problem throughout the series, and I was still thinking about it while writing the film, is finding someone to play the antagonist, who can measure up and potentially be a threat to Idris Elba. It’s not an easy task, admits Neil Cross. With the director Jamie Payne we were starting to worry about the subject, then we had a discussion on zoom with Idris. He said : I think it should be Andy Serkis. There you go, it was as simple as that. »

The comedian who rose to prominence playing Gollum in the trilogy ” the Lord of the Rings “ is absolutely perfect in the skin of the psychopath. “When Andy read the scenario, his first reaction was to say that he wanted to take a shower, smiles Neil Cross. He didn’t take it lightly at all, he knew it was going to be very heavy to play such a character. On screen, the face-to-face between David Robey and John Luther is a great success.

“Luther: Fallen Sun” also takes advantage of larger means than the series, and it shows. “It was liberating, admits Neil Cross, as if we had been removed from the handcuffs. But we also had to make sure we weren’t going to act like teenagers throwing their first party. However great the scene or the action, it always had to be connected to the psychological terrain from which the character comes. We were very careful. »

A film noir, but not gore

Leaving London to bring the action to Norway, the screenwriter not only increased his playing field but went even further into the darkness of the universe of “Luther” which was already very dark. “The film is very dark but not gore, specifies Neil Cross. We suggest a lot more than we show, it’s much more interesting. »

Abroad, the film was entitled to a release in some cinemas. “The first time I saw it on the big screen, I cried,” breathes the screenwriter. In France, you have to be content with putting it online on Netflix, but “Luther: fallen sun” remains a great show that does not betray its origins.

Besides, John Luther’s story may not be over. “Luther will never return to television, there will be no more series,” says Neil Cross. But if Luther will return? That’s another question. The door to another film therefore remains open.