David Farnor | On 22, Nov 2018

“In eighteenth-century France there lived a man who was one of the most gifted and abominable personages in an era that knew no lack of gifted and abominable personages.” That’s how Patrick Suskind’s novel, Perfume: The Story of a Murderer, begins, introducing us to the tale of a young man with an extraordinary sense of smell. That helps him sniff out and manipulate others, a power and obsession that leads him to create the perfect perfume – using the scents of other people. A serial killer is born, one that went on to earn the book the World Fantasy Award in 1987. It has since inspired a 2006 feature film starring Ben Whishaw and Dustin Hoffman. Now, a new TV version is on the way – and it’s heading to Netflix.

Shifting action from 18th century France to the present day, the German series is produced by Constantin Film and ZDFneo. Its star-studded cast includes Wotan Wilke Mohring (Valkyrie), August Diehl (Inglourious Basterds), Friederike Becht (The Reader), Christian Friedel (The White Ribbon), Susanne Wuest (Goodnight Mommy) and Ken Duken (Inglourious Basterds). Behind the camera is Philipp Kadelbach, a director who has given us the Emmy-winning Generation War and impressive BBC thriller SS-GB.

The production was announced earlier this year, when Netflix bought the worldwide rights for the show outside of German-speaking Europe. It sees a young profiler investigate a string of brutal murders, leading him back to a boarding school where a small group of boys are manipulating people with human scents. When one is brutally murdered years later, disturbing secrets about the group are revealed.

Perfume premieres on Netflix UK on Friday 21st December. Here’s a trailer:

 

Perfume: Season 1 is available on Netflix UK, as part of an £9.99 monthly subscription.

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