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Of the many political projects debuting at this year’s Sequence Mania, the French thriller “In the Shadows” may well be considered the best pedigree.

Although showrunner Pierre Schoeller has spent a career charting his country’s corridors of power through films like “Versailles” and “The Minister,” he found a very opportune creative partner in working with politician Edouard Philippe to adapt the 2011 novel of the latter.

Maybe the name reminds you. When Philippe published his eponymous novel more than a decade ago, he was a small town mayor running for a seat in France’s National Assembly. By the time he signed on to co-write this short screen adaptation in 2020, Philippe was coming off three years as French prime minister — while sowing the seeds for an anticipated presidential run of his own in 2027.

Just don’t expect “In the Shadows” to reflect Philippe’s own rise – or that of any political figure, as the showrunner explains.

“Making political fiction means creating a parallel universe,” says Schoeller Selection. “You have to be cautious (not to get too close to real life). You are also repeating what we already know, but not as well, otherwise you go too far in the opposite direction and end up in the realm of satire and caricature.

Developing a source text that left personal details and group affiliations purposefully opaque meant updating a political context far removed from that of 2011. This 2024 iteration involves considerations of technological malfeasance evocative of the Cambridge Analytica scandal alongside a far-right resurgence and apprehension. widespread in relation to the electoral process itself. It also meant anchoring the narrative in a better-defined partisan reality.

For this story of presidential campaign staffers grappling with concerns that they might have obtained a controversial expertise in a less-than-usual way, the creative staffers set out to find the right solution.

“The political tradition of the best wing is extremely inflexible, hierarchical and respectful of control,” says Schoeller. “Which made the context even more interesting when this political team started to doubt their own candidate.”

“Anatomy of a Fall” protagonist Swann Arlaud stars as Caesar, the chief advisor to an outgoing minister who recently emerged victorious in the right-wing presidential presidency. As newly appointed presidential standard-bearer, Paul Francoeur (Melvil Poupaud) must consolidate his party’s reactionary flank while avoiding a political – and legal – scandal that threatens to engulf him and his campaign.

“In France, the marketing campaign narrative often remains unexplored,” says Schoeller. “And it’s such a specific level of time, because the notion of responsibility is not the same. A marketing campaign is a detective story of sorts; each are countdowns. You just have to do what you can to get to the end.”

While the countdown to Election Day — offset by an increasingly paranoid web of intrigue tied to unreliable election technology and the bad actors who control it — may build the six-part series, individual episodes reveal current concerns from surprising angles. In the second episode, for example, the presidential marketing campaign faces an angry police union – an unusual schism in center-right coalitions.

“We sought to punctuate the sequence with issues and political conditions that we have never seen before and that are unprecedented (in contemporary France),” says Schoeller. “But then, instability is the story of our times.”

“None of the characters know where to stand, what department they can take over without breaking down,” he continues. “And this becomes dangerous for those who try to influence and influence their own world. That’s what makes Intense so modern – it offers modern paranoia.”

As goes without saying, the series also offers energy in games.

“Energy is a good theme, a fantastic motif for artwork,” says Schoeller. “It is part of the great human passions, informing all human stories, but it is also completely silent, invisible and difficult to understand. The energy is hidden by nature, only made soft through spoken rituals. And clearly a presidential election is one of those rituals.”

Co-leader Melvil Poupaud cuts an equally surprising figure as the nexus of this energetic game, enjoying a force of nature whose disability – and use of a wheelchair – has no bearing on his electoral influence.

“This was the direct reality of the character,” explains the showrunner. “We wanted to create an authentic figure, someone without a current reference.”

“Melvil put all his strength into his torso and never into his legs,” continues Schoeller. “This centered his performance on the upper body and built the character’s stature as a political leader, forcing those around him to lean forward to speak. This helped visualize his energy.”