Sambre is a six-part French limited series that casts an eye back on a shocking criminal case spanning three decades. Beginning in 1988 in northern France, women are repeatedly sexually assaulted in the early morning along the same road near the Sambre River. Despite multiple reports, police fail to connect the attacks, while an overburdened justice system struggles to respond. It takes until 2018 to identify and arrest the perpetrator.

The series follows the case through several characters and different periods, showing how attitudes toward sexual violence and the treatment of victims gradually change. Alix Poisson (Germinal) plays Christine Labot, a fictional survivor whose life is profoundly affected by her assault. Olivier Gourmet (Haven of Grace) plays police commander Étienne Winckler, while Clémence Poésy (In Therapy) plays geospatial specialist Cécile Dumont and Pauline Parigot (The Returned) is judge Irène Dereux.

Sambre is loosely based on a true story, specifically the case of serial rapist Dino Scala, who attacked dozens of women in northern France and Belgium between 1988 and 2018. The series was freely adapted from journalist Alice Géraud’s book Sambre: Radioscopie d’un fait divers. The characters representing victims are fictional, allowing the series to explore the broader impact of the crimes without directly depicting Scala’s actual victims.