Off the Hook (Détox) is a French romantic comedy series, released on Netflix on 1 September. The series is directed and written by Marie Jardillier, while it is produced by Lisa Leboff. There are 6 episodes in total with a runtime of about 30-35 minutes. It follows thirty-something Lea and Manon who turn their lives upside down when they go on a digital detox, bringing their whole families along on the challenge.
The cast of the series includes Manon Azem as Manon, Tiphaine Daviot as Lea, Charlotte de Turckheim as Mireille, Helena Noguerra as Patricia, Zinedine Soualem as Philippe, Oussama Kheddam as Gagan, Laurent Bateau as Bernard and Paul Muguruza as Yacine.
-Off the Hook Review Does Not Contain any Spoilers-
The series starts off with Lea making popcorn, setting the mood to watch something perhaps and she does so but not what you would expect. She is spying on her boyfriend through the camera on his phone and even has access to all his socials and mail etc. On the other hand, Manon, a singer, is getting ready for her show tonight but is not particularly excited about it.
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She has been asked to wear a butt pad by her manager and get on the stage, but the audience isn’t feeling it and to hype it up, she decides to crowd surf, except no one holds her up and she falls flat on the floor with her butt pad on her face. The whole moment is recorded by everyone and shared on social media.
So when Manon’s disastrous live performance goes viral and Léa’s ex also catches her cyberstalking him, he ends up blocking her. But as relentless as Lea is, she ends up going to his office. We then realise that they have been broken up a year ago and Lea is horrifically stalking him since. After being complained to the police and public embarrassment, the two drunkenly decide to forgo phones for a month.
Usually, people would get off the social media apps and try to use their phones less, but the two girls go into destruction mode and destroy all the gadgets from phones to laptops and tabs. They put it all in a box and give it to the grocery store owner, Gagan, who is also their friend.
When they step into the world with no gadgets on them, they literally feel naked and lurk around others’ phones. After their detox announcement, even their family gets on the idea as Lea’s brother Nico takes away his teenage son, Yacine’s electrical devices and her mother starts to notice that his husband is always clung to his phone as well.
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What started as a rash decision taken by two cousins, turn into a chain reaction in their families. As if everyone is opening their eyes to the reality of their spouses and themselves. Even Manon decides that she wants to make the music that she wants, not what her manager tells her to do. They even had to go on a social media detox program, because of Lea’s actions but it wasn’t the healing retreat they hoped for.
As bizarre as the retreat could be, it really knocked some sense into their minds as Lea and Manon really mend their ways and get out of the toxic cycle, they have been running into. What comes next for them is a future full of possibilities and new romances.
Summing Up: Off the Hook
This quirky French comedy series takes the idea of a digital detox to the next level. The comedy is silly and definitely not meant to be taken seriously. Lea is living in a delusion where she thinks that her ex-boyfriend Guillaume will take her back and is completely obsessed with him. Whereas Manon is unhappy with her life.
But to see it rationally, Manon already has a stage and opportunities to become a singer. All she has to do is find ways to do it in her way, maybe communicate with the manager. And even if Lea finds herself happy in a new relationship, what are the chances, she won’t go back to her stalker mode again? In the end, Manon got an opportunity because of her viral singing video on the internet. So maybe, going away from the internet wasn’t the solution but using it in the right way was.
Off the Hook (Détox) is currently streaming on Netflix.
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