When it was released in 2019, “Paradise Beach” did not really meet the expected success. But the thriller inspired by real anecdotes and carried by Sami Bouajila, Seth Gueko as well as Kool Shen is currently a hit on Netflix.
Paradise Beach: what is this thriller with Sami Bouajila?
After Chok Dee and The conquestXavier Durringer signs Paradise Beach. Released in 2019, this thriller begins with the festive reunion of a group of friends in Phuket, Thailand. Freshly released from prison after fifteen years of incarceration due to a robbery that went wrong, Mehdi (Sami Bouajila) arrives where all his friends have made their fortunes. Eager to recover his share of the cake, the former thief discovers with amazement that the money has flown away.
Bad investments, ill-intentioned associates, losses caused by the 2004 tsunami… The reasons for their financial failures are numerous. But they will not be enough to succeed in convincing Mehdi to give up. In this little corner of paradise, the settling of accounts will follow. Tewfik Jallab, Mélanie Doutey, Hugo Becker, Kool Shen, Seth Gueko, Hubert Koundé, Dosseh, Nessbeal and Hache-P complete the cast.
Jean Miez, the former criminal behind the film
Xavier Durringer co-wrote Paradise Beach with Jean Miez. Before reorienting himself towards the cinema and the small screen, the screenwriter begins a very young criminal career. After several car thefts, he was imprisoned at the age of 17 in Fresnes, according to Allocinated. Quickly caught up in organized crime, he was sentenced to 20 years in prison two decades later. Saved by his passion for literature, he finds freedom after serving five years of his sentence. At the Bois-d’Arcy remand center, he stood out during a theater workshop and was spotted by an agent.
Jean Miez met Xavier Durringer shortly after his release in the late 80s. Together they wrote I will go to heaven because hell is here. The duo regularly works together notably signing the script for the TV movie Villains. The director also directs the screenwriter and actor in Chok-Dee, The Conquest, or the series The source.
For Paradise BeachXavier Durringer and Jean Miez include real anecdotes in the screenplay, as the first tells:
From his past as an ex-gangster and ex-con, Jean conveys stories and knowledge worthy of Shakespearean tragedies. The sequence where Winny (Kool Shen) orders his wife to put her hands on her head to punish her is an authentic anecdote told to me by Jean Miez. The film is riddled with this kind of sequences which shows the middle of organized crime as it is. Jean Miez explained to me the difference between these guys and us. We have a problem with someone, because he owes money, because he sleeps with your wife, at the worst of the worst, we break his teeth or his knees. Them, they stumble directly.
A second life on Netflix
A desire for authenticity that does not guarantee success in the cinema. Upon its release, the feature film ends its career in dark rooms having barely exceeded 36,000 entries. Paradise Beach has just obtained his revenge three years after this bitter failure.
Uploaded to Netflix on Sunday, February 20, 2022, the thriller quickly found its way into the top 10 most viewed programs in France. After going unnoticed, the film thus offers itself a second life.
