Netflix’s ‘Anthracite: Secrets of the Sect’ is a French thriller co-created by Fanny Robert, previously known for her work in crime dramas such as ‘Profiling Paris’ in 2009 and ‘Vise Le Coeur’ in 2022, and masterfully intertwines plotlines that converge into developments many would fail to predict. Revolving around two leads, Ida and Jaro, the show is a compelling and fascinating dive into the events in the past while simultaneously presenting the current dark and bizarre incidents occurring in a skiing town.
The leads are now caught in a web of mysteries as they unearth the town’s deepest secrets that seemingly involve their own pasts and the ones they love the most. The show is set in a beautiful highland region surrounded by snowy mountains and features a quaint little town. It also showcases different timelines, one that occurred in the past and one that’s playing out in current events, adding several layers to the story’s many mysteries. SPOILERS AHEAD
Anthracite Takes Place in a Quaint French Village
The show is set in a fictional town called Levionna in the French Alps. While the snowy terrain depicted in the show is shot in the Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes region of France, the fictional town is showcased within the city of Grenoble. In the show, Levionna is primarily known for its skiing, as many visitors escape to the highlands during the summers as a retreat from the heat. The town also features other institutions around its proximity, including an upscale research center run by Arcacia, a hotel where Ida initially stays, and an asylum housing the infamous Caleb Johansson, the Ecrins cult leader.
Apart from its hilly terrain and its snowy peaks, a town area or a town center is also showcased where most of the town’s residents live. While many of the incidents take place in the outer regions, the town center hosts the ‘winter carnival’ sponsored by the corporates at Arcacia. The town additionally features a Belmart Garage, which Solal used as an office and storage for his videotapes and documents during his time in town. The show also exhibits a police station where Giovanna and Erwan work.
While the town isn’t remotely bustling at all, the deep and dark secrets that are revealed through the show make it an incredibly interesting and dangerous place. At its crux, Levionna is a sleepy town drenched in a dark aura of cult horrors, demonic folklore, disturbing asylum patients, and threatening corporates. Through it all, Levionna is desperately trying to forget its past because it houses honest citizens who are ready to make the town France’s next best tourist destination.
Anthracite’s Timeline Shifts Between Decades
Two timelines are featured throughout the series. Through Solal’s recording and the many flashbacks we see at the start of each episode, the show recalls incidents from around 1994 while being set in 2024. In some episodes, we get to see incidents that took place right after Caleb Johannson was caught for the activities of the Ecrins cult, while some flashbacks take place during and before these occurrences. The final episode features a flashback from before 1994, when Caleb, who was then just a backpacking hippie, ventured into the Anthracite caves for the first time. This flashback serves as an origin point for Caleb’s beliefs and, eventually, his cult.
The majority of the show takes place in 2024, showcasing the rise of bizarre activities once again in the small town. Here, Jaro and Ida, an unlikely duo, team up to unearth the deepest secrets the town has hidden. The entire show takes place within a month, as most of its happenings occur within the first week or so. Right at the end, we get to a 3-week jump as Ida, Jaro, and his daughter recover from the collapse of the mines. To reiterate, the show takes place primarily in 2024 but showcases the town’s past events that took place in and around 1994 through Solal’s VHS recordings and flashbacks that are exhibited at the start of each episode.
