Manon Bresch leads "Privilèges," a six-episode HBO Original mini-series that launched March 27, 2026 on HBO Max, with a trailer now out. She plays Adèle Charki, a young inmate who accepts a bellhop position at the fictional Citadel, a Parisian palace hotel, through a day-release program run by the hotel's all-powerful director, Édouard Galzain (Melvil Poupaud). Once inside, she is pulled into a power struggle between ambitious staff, influential guests, and outside networks all fighting for control. As her relationship with Édouard darkens, her survival depends on turning that precarious position into a calculated ascent.
The series was created, written, and directed by Marie Monge and Vladimir de Fontenay — their second collaboration after "Vampires" (Netflix) — and produced by Hugo Gélin via Zazi Séries, with Warner Bros. handling international distribution. The full cast alongside Bresch and Poupaud includes Nina Zem, Anne Azoulay, Zar Amir Ebrahimi, Sandor Funtek, Joseph Olivennes, Stéphanie Atala, and Eva Huault.
Shooting began January 8, 2025 and ran through spring, split between Paris locations and studios at Bry-sur-Marne, where the Citadel was built from scratch. Production designer Emmanuelle Duplay — whose credits include "Emilia Pérez," "Anatomie d'une chute," and "120 Battements par minute" — visited real palaces with the creators for reference: Le Cheval Blanc, the Grand Hyatt, Le Meurice, the Plaza Athénée, and the Lutetia spa, which was used for actual location shooting. The set was designed to feel like a fortress where guests lose track of time, and built to be reusable for potential future seasons. Cinematography is by David Cailley, costumes by Caroline Spieth, and the score by Amine Bouhafa.
For Véra Peltekian, HBO Max's VP of French original productions, "Privilèges" was chosen because it perfectly embodies the platform's editorial goals — bold stories rooted in the present, channeled through psychological thriller. It is not HBO's first French series ("Merteuil" and "Le Sens des choses" preceded it), but it is the most ambitious in production scale to date.
The series competed in the official French Competition at Séries Mania 2026 — the 17th edition, held in Lille from March 20 to 27 — one of six French series presented in world premiere alongside "Camarades," "Eldorado," "Enchaînés," "Grandiose," and "L'Été 36." At the closing ceremony, "Privilèges" won the Prize for Best Original Music, awarded to Bouhafa.
