Fiasco Plot Summary
Fiasco is a Netflix series about a wannabe filmmaker, Raphael Valande, who wants to make a film inspired by the heroic acts of his grandmother, Huguete Valande. It explores his journey as he struggles with affirming authority on set while still trying to please everybody and get on the good side of his childhood crush, Ingrid, whom he has cast as the film star.
Raphael is passionate about filmmaking and leaves his hometown and family’s farming business to chase his dreams in the city. His impeccable script catches the attention of the producer, Jean-Marc, and his ex-wife. Raphael’s lack of confidence makes him a pushover on set, and Jean-Marc pushes him to stand up for his vision by showing the cast that he is the boss. However, his speech goes overboard, starting with a series of unfortunate events on set that spiral out of control.
What happened during Raphael’s speech?
At the start of the series, the lead co-star complains about the smoke on set and suggests they shoot the opening scene without all the smoke. However, the purpose of the smoke is to hide the wires and the set structures during the shooting and enhance the character’s near-death experience. Raphael is scared of everyone on set and lets them walk all over him, so when the hero makes the suggestion, he chooses to follow it instead of affirming his control.
Without the smoke, the camera crew complains about the wires and the behind-the-scenes machines being visible. Still, Raphael’s people-pleasing tendencies make it impossible for him to stand his ground.
Therefore, Jean-March suggests that Raphael shows the cast crew his authority during the group lunch on the first shooting day and demands their respect. Before the speech, his family had also approached him and forced him to hire the daughter of a family friend as Ingrid’s stunt double, which made her angry since he had promised to let her do her stunts, which she was excited about. Therefore, he had disappointed her as he was migonistic like all the other directors she had worked with.
During his speech, he tries to defend himself by giving examples of some comments and behaviour that will not be allowed on set, but he ends up making fun of the stunt manager’s accent and making some sexually harassing comments about Ingrid. Raphael’s anxiety levels shoot out of control, and he keeps spouting nonsense nonstop, and someone takes a video of his speech.
Who posted the video online?
Someone sends Jean-Marc the clip of Raphael’s speech and threatens to post it online if he is not paid fifty thousand euros in fifty-eight hours. Jean-March tries to get the money together in 58 hours, but 48 hours later, the video is posted online, and it becomes viral, starting a controversy about the film and Raphael. Jean-Marc’s ex-wife shows up on set to question them about the controversy, but they have no clue who might be the mole among the crew and cast other than he wears a vermillion sweater.
How does Raphael become the leading actor?
After the viral video, Robin, the male hero, starts arguing with Raphael about the content of the video and storms out of the set in anger, afraid of hurting his public image. Jean-Marc’s ex-wife is on set when Robin leaves, and she threatens to withdraw her funding if they do not find a replacement in two hours. They try to call various actors to replace Robin, but nobody is willing to join the set with a controversial director.
Suddenly, Jean-Marc realises that the perfect replacement is Raphael since he knows the screenplay and understands the story. In addition, casting Raphael helps him negate the tight budget problem, and he agrees to step up. At first, his acting is not very refined, but when acting alongside Ingrid, he gets calm when he looks into her eyes and gets the confidence to play the role of the hero.
How does Tom become part of the film?
Tom is Raphael’s best friend and desperately wants a role in the film, but Raphael cannot find one that suits him. However, when Nora, Jean-Marc’s ex-wife, pulls out of the project after a fallout, she takes away almost 7 percent of the film’s finances. Jean-Marc was not confident he could complete such a large-scale project, but Raphael wanted to keep shooting.
Therefore, Raphael approaches his friend, Tom, and asks him to pretend to be an affluent investor and meet up with Jean-March to make him keep investing in the film. Tom saw an opportunity to display his acting skills and came up with a different persona, Bartabe, showing up to the meeting in a Ferrari. He tells Jean-Marc he is willing to invest eight million Euros and has connections with other prominent investors.
What happened between Jean-Marc and Tom?
Tom took his role seriously and went all in his attempt to convince Jean-Marc to keep investing in the film, which started a friendship and affair between them. When they play the truth or dare game, Jean-Marc realises that Tom lied to him, and he is heartbroken because he has started developing feelings for him.
Tom did not confess his feelings until they met during the premiere of Slice’s documentary, Fiasco. Tom brings Jean-Marc an apology gift, but he turns it down at first. However, later in the bathroom, Jean-Marc accepts the gift, which is a nose trimmer. Tom says that when they kissed, Jean-Marc’s nose hairs were ticklish, and he thought that if they were trimmed, kissing him would feel nicer. The two confess their feelings for each other and kiss.
When did Raphael find out the truth about his grandmother?
After Nora pulls out her funds, the film loses its shooting venue when the floor is destroyed, so they move the venue to Raphael’s farm. While on the farm, Raphael looks through the house for a letter he never sent Ingrid and finds a secret door behind a fake bookshelf. Inside, Raphael finds undeniable proof that his whole movie is a lie.
Pictures of his grandmother cosying up to the Nazis, including half-nude photos with Hitler and a swastika flag, shows that his grandmother did not help the Jews, but she was a Nazi collaborator. The discovery flips Raphael’s world upside down, and he discloses it to the cast and crew in anger. Suddenly, his grandmother suffers from a heart attack.
Why did Ingrid leave the project?
One of the reasons why Ingrid was excited about playing the role of Raphael’s grandmother was because her family had suffered at the hands of the Nazis. Regardless, Raphael wants to continue shooting the film, and he convinces Ingrid to stay when he says that he will change the ending and take the liberty to disclaim that the film is fiction and not based on a true story.
However, her conscience is not yet clear since she feels that Raphael never faces his truth but chooses to manipulate things and paint a pretentious picture of himself to get validation from the public. He is always afraid of facing his true self and accepting his shortcomings.
Ingrid challenges Raphael to tell the truth, and he tells the truth about himself, leading to the two making up and Ingrid showing her true feelings through a kiss. However, as the game of truth and dare continues, Ingrid learns an even bigger lie about Raphael, how he used Tom to take advantage of Jean-Marc but manipulate his feelings. She gets furious at Raphael and even slaps him when he tries to talk to her. Jean-Marc stops the shooting, and Raphael and Ingrid do not speak again until the premier of Fiasco.
Who is the mole?
During his investigations, Raphael discovers that someone has been deliberating and sabotaging the project by instigating conflicts, destroying the set, and even leaking his controversial video online. A year after the project failed, Raphael is still determined to find the mole.
Therefore, he meets up with Jean-Marc to give him a check for four million euros to pay for the debt, and after they reconcile, he mentions that he found something peculiar about the mole. Raphael shows him the materials the blackmailer wrote, and he wrote them with an oval dot on top. His foolproof plan to find the mole is to get everyone who was a part of his project to write something in the diary and compare the handwriting, and he comes to a shocking discovery.
Slice was documenting Raphael’s entire journey and the chaos, but nobody knew what he had done behind the scenes until the day of the premier. His documentary, Fiasco, gets funding from Netflix, and when everyone gives Slice a standing ovation, Raphael casually mentions that the only person who benefitted from the chaos is Slice.
The statement suddenly sparks a realisation, and he remembers that Slice had not signed the diary. Raphael’s sister has brought a cap for Slice’s signature, and he confirms that Slice is the mole. Raphael loses his cool and chases Slice all over the theatre, threatening to kill him, and the two get into fights along the way while Slice’s team continues to shoot the confrontation.
How does Fiasco end?
Raphael finally catches up to Slice when he is backed into a corner with nowhere to run. He admits that he intentionally created the chaos on set to make his documentary enjoyable, but Raphael is responsible for everything regardless of his actions. He sabotaged his film due to his lack of confidence, which gave others a chance to take advantage.
Slice’s words hit deep, and Raphael decides to face one of his deepest fears. He goes on stage during the after-party and confesses to Ingrid by singing Elton John’s song. As Ingrid and Raphael kiss, Slice takes his camera to record the moment, and he falls off the roof.