The Chalet (TV series)

Jean-Louis Rodier, a Parisian writer suffering from writer's block, decides to move with his family to his wife Françoise's hometown Valmoline: a small village in the Alps. He rents a chalet owned by Philippe and Florence Personnaz, who are also the owners of the only bar in town. The family's transition into their new life is complicated by the insular nature of the village, and by Jean-Louis's lack of progress on his second novel. Due to his feelings of inadequacy, Jean-Louis alienates his wife and seeks solace by befriending Philippe's sister Muriel, the local barkeep. Jean-Louis sees Muriel's provincial life as possible setting for his future novel.

At the same time, Julien, Jean-Louis and Françoise's son, befriends Alice Bordaz, the local carpenter's daughter. This is met with open hostility by the other boys in the village, particularly by Sébastien Genesta, who has unrequited feelings for Alice.

Then suddenly the Rodiers are gone, without any explanation.

Manu Laverne, who spent his summers in Valmoline as a child, arrives at the newly renovated chalet with Adele, who is two months pregnant. They have returned for the wedding of Tiphaine and Laurent, son of Philippe who still lives in the village and owns the chalet.

The wedding party arrives at the nearby train station and travels towards the chalet. After they cross the bridge that serves as the only access to Valmoline, there is a rockslide which completely cuts the group off from the outside world. They soon discover that the phone and Internet connection have also stopped working.

Isolated with the last six members of the village, secrets emerge from the past and a terrible revenge starts to unfold.

Pont du Diable

Filming took place during the summer of 2016,[1] at Chamonix,[4] where the chalet is located and also at Bozel,[1] and the hamlets of the Tincave, La Chenal and at Morez Station. The bridge that collapses partially in the series is the Pont du Diable, which connects Crouzet-Migette and Sainte Anne. These distant places made the production of the series complex.[4]

The duo Camille Bordes-Resnais and Alexis Lecaye already made Les Dames.[1] They presented the first two episodes at the La Rochelle TV Fiction Festival, but these were judged to be too confusing by professionals. The broadcast network, France 2, therefore requested changes to the script.[3]

The series is dedicated to Blanche Veisberg (Christine Genesta), who died in December 2017.[5]