Xavier Gens – Picture Credit: Getty Images
Even if he is only an executive producer on Under Paris 2, Xavier Gens already lined up his next project with Netflix: an all-star cast with a bestselling book series at the center. Here is what we know.
Xavier Gens is an in-demand director: as he wrapped production on the movie Homewrecker, the French genre specialist was also quietly in production on a new thriller series based on a Nordic noir series of books by Mons Kallentoft. Netflix officialized the series as entitled La Part Du Mal, adapting the stories of superintendent Malin Fors today; here are the details.
What is La Part Du Mal about?
According to the logline:
Police superintendent Malin Fors is investigating a mysterious murder in the middle of a hard winter in the East of France. Every clue leads her to a carefully hidden past. Between pulse-pounding suspense and introspection, she will have to face the darkness of others as well as her own.
The logline seems to match the first novel in the Malin Fors series, Midvinterblod, first published in 2007. It is unknown whether that is the base for the series; a reissue in France under the title of the Netflix series is currently set for February 2027.
Who is cast in La Part Du Mal?
Cécile De France is starring as Malin Fors. The Belgian actress has accumulated award-winning work in a variety of genres for the past two decades; on the TV show side, she starred as Sofia in The Young Pope and its follow-up, The New Pope.
Grégory Gadebois is a repertoire comedian with a lot of stage and screen credits. His role is unknown.
Damien Bonnard was nominated for a Best Actor César for Ladj Ly’s Les Misérables; he was seen in the series Malditos for HBO Max in 2025.
Simon Abkarian is a character actor with numerous credits in film and television; he was recently seen as General De Gaulle in the blockbuster 2-part movie directed by Antonin Baudry; on Netflix, he was one of the leads in the 2022 miniseries Notre-Dame.
The cast is rounded out by Moussa Mansaly and Lubna Azabal.
Who wrote and directed the series?
Xavier Gens has directed an unspecified number of episodes, alongside Olivier Abbou (2019’s Get In), and Éric Valette (One Missed Call). Coming from one of the producers of Under Paris, Vincent Roget and his company Full Players, the series was written by Bastien Dartois, Mary Milojevic, Sarah Angelini and Louis Aubert; this is the first Netflix project for most of them.
When was La Part Du Mal produced?
Even though the project was flying under the radar, it was shot in the fall of 2025, until December, in the east of France in the departments of Aisne and Haut-Rhin. The status of the series is unknown, as it could very well undergo pick-up shoots before the formal launch.
The series lends itself to a winter release, so if we had to guess, we can expect it in the first quarter of 2027. Netflix did not confirm a release window or the number of episodes for the series; we reached out to them for comment. Also unknown is whether that series is set to launch additional investigations by Malin Fors on the streamer.
Did you read the Malin Fors novels, and are you excited for this new book-to-screen adaptation? Let us know in the comments below!