Keep an eye on your diamonds — because Lupin Part 4 is on its way.
The global phenomenon is making its grand return on Oct. 23, and you can watch the trailer, above. In Lupin Part 4, Omar Sy reprises his iconic role as Assane Diop, the gentleman thief who has captured the hearts of viewers in France, and around the world. Four years after the end of Lupin Part 3, Assane is still in prison. For him, Lupin is no more: He wants to serve out his sentence and keep the promise he made to his son to go and meet their family in Senegal. But his plans are turned upside down by a mysterious announcement signed by “Lupin”: Multiple museums are to be hit with simultaneous heists. In spite of heightened security, the thefts go off as planned. Assane proclaims his innocence, but everything points to his guilt. A camera even shows him in one of the museums during a robbery in which Captain Belkacem is seriously injured. To prove his innocence and unmask the copycat, Assane must escape and don the Lupin costume once more.
“I often say that Lupin is an extraordinary plaything,” Sy told Netflix. “I find great joy in it every time.”
Inspired by the legendary Arsène Lupin, the Lupin saga constantly surprises with its plot twists and captivating characters, all set against the enchanting backdrop of Paris. It’s little wonder, then, that Lupin has established itself as one of the most popular non-English productions in Netflix’s history. Read on below to catch up on what you might have missed in prior seasons.
We first meet Assane in the process of a major heist at the Louvre, and while it ends with a car crashing into the iconic glass pyramid, he still manages to steal Marie Antoinette’s necklace — the same one his father, Babakar (Fargass Assandé), was accused of stealing years ago. It turns out that Babakar was framed by his boss, Hubert Pellegrini, with the help of now-police Commissioner Dumont (Vincent Garanger). After Babakar’s death, Pellegrini’s guilt-stricken wife Anne (Nicole Garcia) paid for Assane to attend a fancy private school. That’s where he became obsessed with the character of Arsène Lupin, the gentleman thief created by author Maurice Leblanc.
In the present day, Assane teams up with investigative journalist Fabienne Bertiot (Anne Benoît) to bring down Pellegrini, but she ends up dead under mysterious circumstances. Meanwhile, police inspector Youssef Guédira (Soufiane Guerrab) realizes the suspect in the necklace theft has been taking inspiration from Lupin. When Assane and Claire take their son, Raoul, on a birthday trip to a famous Lupin-related location, a hit man follows an order to kill Assane — but instead kidnaps Raoul. Just as Assane realizes Raoul is missing, he comes face to face with Guédira.
Guédira and Assane team up to track down Raoul, but before they find him, Guédira’s colleague, Lieutenant Sofia Belkacem (Shirine Boutella), arrests Assane. Guédira rescues Raoul anyway, and Assane arranges his safe return to Claire, who refuses to let Assane see him anymore.
Assane catches up with childhood friend Juliette Pellegrini (Clotilde Hesme) and inspires her mother to tell the truth about Pellegrini’s crimes. Anne confesses to Guédira, who is then able to arrest Pellegrini for fraud. But Pellegrini’s cronies help him get released from custody, and upon release, he gets back in touch with the hit man he had hired before. In a twist, Pellegrini kills the assassin and frames Assane for the crime. Police release Assane’s photo to the public, making him France’s most-wanted man.
But don’t worry, Assane has a plan to take Pellegrini down: At the Pellegrini Foundation’s charity concert, he sneaks into Pellegrini’s box and records him confessing to setting up his father in order to commit insurance fraud (as well as to having Fabienne Bertiot killed). Assane and Benjamin also inform the mega-rich donors that Pellegrini was routing much of their charitable donations to himself via an offshore account, but they’ve rerouted the money back to the foundation. The cops arrest Pellegrini and the corrupt Dumont, and Assane escapes. He stops long enough to say goodbye to Claire and Raoul before disappearing for a while.
In Part 3, Assane steals the Black Pearl, earns the support of the French public, fakes his own death, and saves his estranged mother’s life. That’s all before realizing the only way he can ensure a safe and quiet life for his wife, son, mother and best friend is to sacrifice himself, and so he turns himself into the police. Part 3 ends with Assane behind bars at last — we can only hope that imprisonment won’t last long. At least he has a full set of Arsène Lupin books to keep him company in his prison cell.
Lupin is created by George Kay in collaboration with François Uzan, and with the participation of Marie Roussin, Florent Meyer and Tigran Rosine. Sy and Louis Leterrier serves as showrunners. The series is produced by Gaumont in collaboration with Carrousel Studios. The series was inspired by the character “Arsène Lupin” created by Maurice Leblanc.
All eight episodes of the season come out on Oct. 23. Until then, keep coming back to Tudum for more on Lupin, and (re)watch Parts 1-3 now.
