Netflix’s Cash Queens Review: A Female-Led Heist With Big Energy and Big Problems

Picture Credit: Netflix An all-female amateur robber crew anchors this new Netflix offering, running from cops, drug dealers, and even their own personal issues. But is this rollercoaster ride made in France worth your time? The creative crew behind Family Business is mostly at the helm of this new Netflix series; two of the writers on that show are creators and writers of this entire series (Olivier Rosemberg and Carine Prévot, alongside Mahault Mollaret for additional material). Most importantly, established comedy star Jonathan Cohen is an executive producer through his production company and makes an appearance as a rich banker in the latter episodes of the season. As the logline states : “Five women join forces to find their way out of a tricky situation by robbing a bank disguised as men. One shot of adrenaline and 36,280 euros later, the amateur thieves are forced to start over. It’s not long before politicians, police, and gangsters are on their tails, scarcely imagining that a group of ordinary women are behind this band of mercenaries… And so The Cash Queens are born.” The five women include young Alex (Tya Deslauriers), who is enrolled in the gang somewhat by eavesdropping, mother of 3 Sofia (Naidra Ayadi), Rosalie, a young bank employee crushed by debt inherited from her relationship with her incarcerated husband (Rebecca Marder); her best friend Kim (Zoé Marchal), an intense, foul-mouthed but loyal companion who has cash problems of her own. And, finally, the late addition in circumstances we shall not spoil: Chloé (Pascale Arbillot, the most veteran actress of the bunch), a very unhappy housewife trapped in a marriage to a big-time politician and mayor of the city Marionnaud (Belgian comedian François Damiens, in a very serious role).  To their credit, the writers waste no time dropping us in the whirlwind of the women’s daily lives: partners in jail and the mess they left, odd jobs with dubious competence at it, troubled kids, and even social services. A constant state of crisis, which comes to a head for all of them and triggers the sudden idea of a bank robbery; we learn instinctively that they decide to roll with the crazy schemes because they have stuck together through thick and thin before (minus the character of Chloé). The trope of down-on-their-luck women resorting to heists has been seen before: on NBC’s Good Girls (which was broadcast as a Netflix original), in the 1996 movie Set It Off with Queen Latifah, and many times over. Therefore, Cash Queens quickly speeds his pace to bring us to the robbery and inevitable fallout.  The sisterhood angle works wonders for the show, and gives ample time to the cast to mesh together and achieve their chemistry in ever-evolving schemes and lies in order to escape certain arrest or death at the hands of Ezechiel, the drug dealer whose weapons cache they stole. As Sofia, Naidra Ayadi imposes her calm, imperious presence as the most no-nonsense “Lionne” of the gang, and Rebecca Marder proves her own chops as her character Rosalie executes her ambitions with cold intelligence and seduction.  The problems start with the show’s tone. As with many Netflix shows, and certainly Family Business, Cash Queens mixes the thrills of a heist show where the criminals have to hide their identity in plain sight and swiftly change course once a character gets too suspicious… with very broad comedy and light cringe. Though it sometimes works, especially when the Queens try to learn to shoot or train to maneuver their getaway car, Chloe’s M3 BMW, but more often than not, it also defuses the explosive tension in a lot of the scenes, leaving us unsure whether to laugh or roll our eyes. Just like Young Millionaires, another chase story but featuring teens in Marseille, the twists are coming fast and furious at almost every turn, but they really stretch believability. Cash Queens seems to want to cut corners on a lot of plot, usually setting up circumstances to have characters run into each other or – sometimes – hook up. The police investigators, themselves caught up in corruption and favors to the local politician and underworld, almost feel like dead weight, and we can’t help to feel it’s by design. Even attempts at political commentary, like the casual racism and tactics of Marionnaud, are somehow cut by bizarre quirks, like his adoration for a rooster. Ezekiel (Olivier Rosemberg, also cocreator and director) and his crew. Cash Queens features one representation of a bipolar character, Kim (Zoé Marchal), who is introduced as the loose cannon of the gang, always saying the wrong thing loudly. Even though the characters do their best to extend their sisterhood and acceptance of Kim, sometimes in the worst of circumstances, and she is the one who gets the idea of setting up a robbery first, the writing and representation of her mental health struggles leave a lot to be desired. Her numerous meltdowns and episodes are sometimes represented with literal representations of voices in her head, a visual idea which seems straight out of the 1990s and walks a thin line towards offensive. Even if Kim’s character is representative of the chaos surrounding the adventures of the Cash Queens, the writing gets a little too close to perpetuating stereotypes for comfort. What about the action scenes? As with many Netflix shows, the edits pack a punch at less than 45 minutes per episode, with effective car stunts being prominently featured through the lens of cocreator and director Olivier Rosemberg, even though they highlight spectacle instead of the trial-and-error failures of amateur bandits. All in all, the overall slickness and sometimes neon-bathed ambiance of Cash Queens make it a visually pleasant show, even though it barely feels distinctive.  Watch Cash Queens If You Like The Green Glove Gang Good Girls Baby Banditos 2.0/5Average★★☆☆☆ Despite some slick twists and a charismatic cast, the tonal shifts and some unsavory characterizations make these Cash Queens hard to get along with.