Thicker Than Water

"Thicker Than Water" (original title: "Jusqu'ici tout va bien") is a French Netflix thriller-drama from 2023 created by Nawell Madani and Simon Jablonka. The story follows Fara, a journalist from a working-class neighborhood who is trying to build a serious career while protecting her family, especially her younger brother, whose troubles with local crime pull her back into the world she has tried to escape. Set against a backdrop of urban tension, family loyalty, and social pressure, the series mixes crime, drama, and a strong personal perspective on life in the banlieue. It is an eight-episode season and was released in France in April 2023, with Nawell Madani also starring in the lead role.

Reception has been mixed, with the show drawing attention both for its subject matter and for the debate around its handling of neighborhood life, race, and family dynamics. On IMDb, the series has a 5.8/10 rating, suggesting an average-to-divisive audience response. Rotten Tomatoes lists the title but does not appear to present a broad consensus score in the available result, which itself hints at limited mainstream critical aggregation rather than a universally embraced run. French-language coverage and viewer commentary often split between praise for the energy of the performances, the pacing, and the way the series puts women at the center, and criticism for leaning on familiar clichés or heightened melodrama. Some reactions described it as more engaging than expected, while others argued that its writing sometimes simplifies the very social issues it wants to confront. Overall, the response seems to be: ambitious, topical, and watchable for many viewers, but uneven enough to keep it from becoming a clear critical favorite.