In Fiasco (2024), Raphael’s chaotic attempts to make a film are captured by a camera crew as all hell breaks loose on set. The series is streaming on Netflix.
Warning: This article contains heavy spoilers
Plot summary:
Raphael Valande is a first-time director on the set of ‘A Woman in Resistance’, a screenplay he wrote about his grandmother in Nazi Germany.
He’s a nervous man who doesn’t command much authority on set and is looked down upon by his grandmother and siblings.
Supporting Raphael is his assistant director, Magalie, and the producer, Jean-Marc. Magalie is more capable on set, but she does tend to let her inhibitions take over.
Jean-Marc isn’t the brightest bulb either and the real financial backing comes from his ex-wife, Nora.
There is a camera crew covering the entire production led by a man named Slice and he ensures that he captures everything.
Raphael has been in love with the lead actress, Ingrid, since they were both young and it’s a dream come true for him to work with her.
The lead actor, Robin, is a star but that also means he is very high maintenance and makes filming difficult.
When Jean-Marc asks Raphael to give the crew a speech on the first day of filming, he rambles and says some offensive things that are recorded by an unknown crew member.
That person edits the video and blackmails Raphael for fifty thousand euros. Raph, Magalie, Jean-Marc, and Gabrielle try to figure out who the mole is.
Meanwhile, one thing after another goes wrong on set, with a stuntwoman getting her foot cut off after a malfunction caused by Raphael which he keeps secret.
The video is released attracting a ton of bad buzz and Robin leaves the production, forcing Raph to take the lead role.
Nora backs out and Raph loses the major budget of the film. He enlists his best friend Tom to pose as an investor and approach Jean-Marc with a proposal.
Then Jean-Marc can get an advance on the money to finish the film and Raph would pay him back after convincing Nora with what he’s finished.
However, Tom poses an eccentric character named Bartabe and goes overboard, foiling all of Raph’s plans.
The set makeup artist, Ludivine, had horrible breath but no one was brave enough to tell her about it.
She was close to Karim, the chef on set who had lost his sense of taste and smell because of COVID-19 but was unaware that he contracted it.
When Raph fires Ludivine at Ingrid’s request, Karim poisons his food with laxatives, causing Raph, Jean-Marc, and Ingrid to relieve themselves on live television.
Raph wants to have something special with Ingrid but circumstances keep getting in the way. Magalie asks Gabrielle to keep them separate for the sake of the film.
Tom sleeps with Ingrid during a party because he gets deep into his character. Ingrid goes along because Gabrielle lies that Raph is dating someone else in the crew.
With money tight and no sign of the mole, the set is destroyed giving the production one more big problem.
They have no choice but to shoot the scenes at his grandmother’s house because it was the inspiration for the set.
Raph goes into his grandmother’s room and finds a secret passage leading to a basement filled with Nazi memorabilia.
After discovering that his grandmother wasn’t a resistance fighter but a collaborator, he publicly lambasts her, sending her into a state of shock that kills her.
The crew is getting ready to leave after the shooting is derailed once again but someone steals a spark plug from the bus.
Bartabe suggests a game of truth or dares to root out the mole, but it leads to baseless accusations and the airing of dirty laundry.
Everyone finds out that Bartabe is Tom, Raph’s childhood friend. Jean-Marc puts his foot down and says that the film is finished since they’re out of money and nothing seems to be working in their favor.
Months later, Raph is narrating all of this to Slice, who created a docu-series called ‘Fiasco’ with all of the behind-the-scenes footage that was picked up by Netflix.
Raph has a plan to find the mole once and for all at the premiere.
Ending explained:
One final plan
A couple of hours before the premiere, Raphael gets in touch with Jean-Marc who is now living in his car.
He starts by apologizing and handing over a cheque of 4 million to pay him back. Raph got all that money by selling the Nazi memorabilia belonging to his grandmother.
He tells Jean-Marc that he saw some graffiti on the destroyed set with the ‘i’ written in a specific way and he’s using a visitor’s book to get everyone’s sign at the show.
Jean-Marc agrees with the plan and they head to premiere together.
Reconnecting with everyone
Raph meets Tom at the premiere, who comes as himself and Bartabe in a 50-50 attire. Jean-Marc is angry with Tom because he felt they had a real connection.
They meet the others in the cast and crew and Raph goes around getting notes from everyone. Raph’s siblings show up and for once, they give him compliments for his work.
Ingrid arrives with Diego, the man from Wardrobe whom Magalie had a crush on and tried to seduce during filming.
Tom makes up with Jean-Marc and Magalie tries to woo Diego one more time even though he is with Ingrid.
Raph tries talking to Ingrid but a flaming shot is knocked over, burning his pant leg and the book with the signatures.
A fitting end
The screening takes place and Slice gets a standing ovation for his work. Jean-Marc asks Raph if Slice signed the book and that’s when he gets an epiphany.
He checks his sister’s hat that has Slice’s autograph and spots the same ‘i’. He goes after him in a chase throughout the theatre until he corners him on the terrace.
Slice says that while he did do a few things here and there to nudge the story in the right direction, most of the catastrophes were Raphael’s fault.
Raph realizes that what Slice said is true and he goes up to the band and grabs a microphone to apologize to everyone for how he fumbled the bag.
He then sings an Elton John song about apologizing and gets a kiss from Ingrid who is touched by his words.
Slice’s crew is still recording everything and he grabs a camera to get a shot of Raph and Ingrid followed by the Eiffel Tower in the background.
In his efforts to get the perfect shot, he falls off the edge of the roof to his death and adds to the growing list of problems with the production.
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