HBO max - Paolo: HBO Max Unveils the First Teaser for Sébastien Marnier's Gripping Psychological Thriller

By Mulder, 07 july 2026

HBO Max has officially unveiled the first teaser and a new collection of images from Paolo, one of the platform's most ambitious French original productions to date, confirming that the seven-episode psychological thriller will premiere on September 25. The announcement follows the series' highly noticed world premiere in the International Competition at Séries Mania 2026, where the first two episodes generated enthusiastic reactions from both critics and festival audiences. Created, written and directed by Sébastien Marnier, with Juliette Soubrier serving as co-writer, PAOLO adapts Mimi, the filmmaker's first novel published in 2011, while expanding its central themes into a contemporary television narrative examining obsession, social mobility and the fragile boundaries separating admiration from destructive fixation. The project represents another significant step in HBO Max's investment in premium French-language originals, reinforcing the platform's ambition to produce locally rooted stories with international appeal.

Rather than embracing the conventions of a traditional crime thriller, Paolo builds its suspense around an intimate psychological descent. The story follows Paolo, portrayed by Jérôme Niel, whose seemingly ordinary existence is disrupted when he unexpectedly reconnects with Téophane, played by Yoann Gasiorowski, a former schoolmate who has become the charismatic favourite in his hometown's mayoral election. What initially appears to be admiration and a desire to support the campaign gradually transforms into an all-consuming obsession, plunging the protagonist into a dangerous spiral where envy, fascination and social frustration become increasingly indistinguishable. Set against the backdrop of a fictional provincial town in political turmoil, the series explores class anxiety, influence, deception and personal ambition, with municipal politics serving less as the central subject than as the catalyst for an unsettling examination of identity and unfulfilled aspirations.

For longtime followers of Sébastien Marnier, the adaptation represents a fascinating full-circle moment. While audiences internationally have come to associate the filmmaker with acclaimed features such as Irréprochable and L'Origine du mal, his literary debut Mimi already contained many of the obsessions that would later define his cinematic work: toxic fascination, social hierarchy, concealed violence and the corrosive effects of desire. Instead of offering a straightforward page-to-screen translation, PAOLO appears to rework those ideas for serialized storytelling, allowing the gradual escalation of its protagonist's psychological collapse to unfold across seven episodes. Festival observers also noted how the series preserves Marnier's trademark ability to introduce profound unease into seemingly familiar environments, transforming the ordinary rhythms of provincial France into an increasingly claustrophobic landscape where every encounter carries the potential for manipulation or betrayal.

One of the production's most striking assets is its ensemble cast. Alongside Jérôme Niel and Yoann Gasiorowski, the series features Magalie Lépine-Blondeau, Marie Oppert, Léo Chalié, Véronique Ruggia, Guslagie Malanda, Salif Cissé, Françoise Lebrun, Léa Lopez, Philippe Katerine, Guilaine Londez, David Ayala and Cyril Metzger. Several performers, including Yoann Gasiorowski, Marie Oppert and Léa Lopez, are members of the prestigious Comédie-Française, further underlining the project's artistic ambitions. Behind the camera, cinematographer Romain Carcanade is responsible for the visual identity, while composer Thomas Kuratli provides the musical score, with production overseen by Floriane Cortes and Gaspard de Chavagnac for Mintee Studios and Asacha Media Group, part of the Fremantle group. Principal photography took place between March and August 2025, notably in Reims and Épernay, whose distinctive urban landscapes provide an authentic regional backdrop to the fictional town at the heart of the story.

The creative team has consistently described the series as much more than a suspense drama. During the project's presentation, Vera Peltekian, Vice President of Original Productions for HBO Max France, explained that PAOLO perfectly embodies the platform's ambition to commission bold, contemporary and universal stories capable of resonating with modern audiences. She notably compared its psychological construction to Patricia Highsmith's Ripley, while also evoking echoes of Dexter—not because the protagonist is a serial killer, but because he gradually becomes willing to cross every moral boundary in pursuit of the ideal represented by his former classmate. The series ultimately questions the life paths people did not take, the opportunities they believe they have missed and the lingering frustration that can transform regret into obsession. Producer Floriane Cortes similarly highlighted the story's examination of class relations and systems of domination, arguing that the expanded television format allows Sébastien Marnier to deploy the full force of his unsettling, genre-driven cinematic language across an extended narrative.

The newly released teaser reinforces those thematic ambitions through a deliberately enigmatic approach. Rather than revealing major plot developments, the footage emphasises atmosphere, mounting tension and the increasingly distorted relationship between its two central figures. Combined with the newly released stills, the promotional material suggests a visually elegant yet deeply unsettling production, where carefully composed imagery mirrors the psychological instability of its protagonist. Early reactions from Séries Mania praised precisely this balance between sophisticated formal craftsmanship and slow-burning suspense, with the festival itself describing the series as an elegant yet venomous exploration of toxic fascination capable of transforming an ordinary municipal campaign into a dizzying hall of mirrors.

With a total running time of approximately 364 minutes spread across seven episodes, PAOLO arrives at a moment when HBO Max continues to strengthen its catalogue of premium international originals alongside its globally recognised HBO productions and Warner Bros. franchises. If the teaser is any indication, Sébastien Marnier has successfully translated the unsettling atmosphere of his literary universe into a sophisticated psychological thriller that favours moral ambiguity and emotional discomfort over conventional genre spectacle. When PAOLO premieres exclusively on HBO Max on September 25, it will not simply introduce viewers to another crime mystery, but to a meticulously crafted study of envy, ambition and the dangerous consequences of becoming obsessed with the life someone else appears to have built.

Synopsis :
La vie ordinaire d'un homme bascule lorsqu'il recroise la route de Téophane, un ancien camarade d'école aujourd'hui candidat à la mairie de sa ville. Ce qui commence comme une simple admiration et une volonté de soutenir la campagne se transforme rapidement en une obsession dévorante… Paolo nous plonge dans l'univers clos d'une petite ville de province en plein ébullition où s'entrechoquent transgressions, angoisses de classe, jeux d'influence et faux-semblants.

Paolo 
Created and directed by Sébastien Marnier
Written by Sébastien Marnier, Juliette Soubrier
Produced by Floriane Cortes, Gaspard de Chavagnac
Starring  Jérôme Niel, Yoann Gasiorowski, Magalie Lépine Blondeau, Marie Oppert, Léo Chalié, Véronique Ruggia, Guslagie Malanda, Salif Cissé, Françoise Lebrun, Léa Lopez, Philippe Katerine, Guilaine Londez, David Ayala, Cyril Metzger, Zahia Dehar, Bernard Ménez
Cinematography : Romain Carcanade
Music by Thomas Kuratli
Production companies : : Mintee Studios, Asacha Media Group
Distributed by HBO Max[
Release dates :  September 25, 2026 (Frrance)
Running time : 364 minutes

Copyright : Copyright Alessandro Clemena / Warner Bros Discovery