{ "id": "epkc831sdp", "slug": "dark-hearts", "title": "Dark Hearts", "updated": "2026-11-01", "topic_path": [ { "id": "culture", "label": "Arts and culture", "api_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/api/v1/topics/culture" }, { "id": "culture.performance", "label": "Screen and stage", "api_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/api/v1/topics/culture.performance" }, { "id": "culture.performance.screen", "label": "Film and television", "api_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/api/v1/topics/culture.performance.screen" }, { "id": "culture.performance.screen.series", "label": "Series and fictional screen worlds", "api_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/api/v1/topics/culture.performance.screen.series" }, { "id": "culture.performance.screen.series.series_scripted_tv", "label": "Scripted television and comedy series", "api_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/api/v1/topics/culture.performance.screen.series.series_scripted_tv" }, { "id": "culture.performance.screen.series.series_scripted_tv.drama-prestige-series", "label": "Drama and prestige series (individual series)", "api_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/api/v1/topics/culture.performance.screen.series.series_scripted_tv.drama-prestige-series" }, { "id": "culture.performance.screen.series.series_scripted_tv.drama-prestige-series.historical-and-period-drama", "label": "Historical and period drama", "api_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/api/v1/topics/culture.performance.screen.series.series_scripted_tv.drama-prestige-series.historical-and-period-drama" } ], "geo": [ { "id": "geo.weu.t2021.culture.performance.screen.series.series_scripted_tv.drama-prestige-series.historical-and-period-drama", "label": "Western Europe · 2021 and later: Historical and period drama", "api_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/api/v1/geo/geo.weu.t2021.culture.performance.screen.series.series_scripted_tv.drama-prestige-series.historical-and-period-drama", "path": [ { "id": "geo.weu", "label": "Western Europe", "api_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/api/v1/geo/geo.weu" }, { "id": "geo.weu.t2021", "label": "Western Europe · 2021 and later", "api_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/api/v1/geo/geo.weu.t2021" }, { "id": "geo.weu.t2021.culture", "label": "Arts and culture", "api_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/api/v1/geo/geo.weu.t2021.culture" }, { "id": "geo.weu.t2021.culture.performance", "label": "Screen and stage", "api_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/api/v1/geo/geo.weu.t2021.culture.performance" }, { "id": "geo.weu.t2021.culture.performance.screen", "label": "Film and television", "api_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/api/v1/geo/geo.weu.t2021.culture.performance.screen" }, { "id": "geo.weu.t2021.culture.performance.screen.series", "label": "Series and fictional screen worlds", "api_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/api/v1/geo/geo.weu.t2021.culture.performance.screen.series" }, { "id": "geo.weu.t2021.culture.performance.screen.series.series_scripted_tv", "label": "Scripted television and comedy series", "api_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/api/v1/geo/geo.weu.t2021.culture.performance.screen.series.series_scripted_tv" }, { "id": "geo.weu.t2021.culture.performance.screen.series.series_scripted_tv.drama-prestige-series", "label": "Drama and prestige series (individual series)", "api_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/api/v1/geo/geo.weu.t2021.culture.performance.screen.series.series_scripted_tv.drama-prestige-series" }, { "id": "geo.weu.t2021.culture.performance.screen.series.series_scripted_tv.drama-prestige-series.historical-and-period-drama", "label": "Historical and period drama", "api_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/api/v1/geo/geo.weu.t2021.culture.performance.screen.series.series_scripted_tv.drama-prestige-series.historical-and-period-drama" } ] } ], "excerpt": "Dark Hearts (Cœurs noirs) is a French action-war series created by Duong Dang-Thaï and Corinne Garfin about a special forces commando in 2016 Iraq; two seasons on Prime Video and France 2, distinct from other works of the same name.", "snippet": "Dark Hearts (Cœurs noirs) is a French action-war series created by Duong Dang-Thaï and Corinne Garfin about a special forces commando in 2016 Iraq; two seasons on Prime Video and France 2, distinct from other works of the same name.", "node": "culture.performance.screen.series.series_scripted_tv.drama-prestige-series.historical-and-period-drama", "markdown": "# Dark Hearts\n\n**Dark Hearts** (French: *Cœurs noirs*) is a French action-war television series about a special forces commando unit deployed to Iraq in 2016 to fight the Islamic State, created by Duong Dang-Thaï and Corinne Garfin and first released on Amazon Prime Video in France on 3 February 2023.[1](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt26605367/) • [2](https://www.francetvpro.fr/contenu-de-presse/64385725) It is the first co-production between [France Télévisions](https://www.edgepedia.org/france-televisions) and Amazon Prime Video, with Prime Video as the original broadcaster.[2](https://www.francetvpro.fr/contenu-de-presse/64385725) Two seasons of six episodes each were produced between 2023 and 2025.[3](https://www.francetvpro.fr/contenu-de-presse/66245784)\n\n| Key fact | Detail |\n|---|---|\n| Original title | *Cœurs noirs*; also known internationally as *Black Hearts*[1](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt26605367/) |\n| Creators | Duong Dang-Thaï and Corinne Garfin, both co-writers on *The Bureau*[2](https://www.francetvpro.fr/contenu-de-presse/64385725) • [4](https://senalnews.com/en/content/newen-connect-will-take-the-second-season-of-amazons-dark-hearts-worldwide) |\n| Format | Season 1: 6 × 52 minutes, directed by Ziad Doueiri; Season 2: 6 × 45 minutes, directed by Frédéric Jardin[2](https://www.francetvpro.fr/contenu-de-presse/64385725) • [3](https://www.francetvpro.fr/contenu-de-presse/66245784) |\n| Setting | Iraq, October 2016, on the eve of the Battle of Mosul; based on real events[2](https://www.francetvpro.fr/contenu-de-presse/64385725) |\n| Broadcast | Prime Video France from 3 February 2023; France 2 from 22 January 2024; season 2 on Prime Video in 2025, then France Télévisions six months later[2](https://www.francetvpro.fr/contenu-de-presse/64385725) • [3](https://www.francetvpro.fr/contenu-de-presse/66245784) |\n| Production | Mandarin Télévision, producer Gilles de Verdière; filmed in Casablanca, Morocco; languages French, English, and Arabic[1](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt26605367/) • [2](https://www.francetvpro.fr/contenu-de-presse/64385725) |\n| Reception | 7.8/10 on IMDb from about 2,300 ratings; the most-watched series on Amazon Prime Video France at its February 2023 launch[1](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt26605367/) • [4](https://senalnews.com/en/content/newen-connect-will-take-the-second-season-of-amazons-dark-hearts-worldwide) |\n\n## Spoilers\n\n### Premise and season 1\n\nThe first season is set in October 2016, on the eve of the Battle of Mosul, when Iraqi forces backed by the United States sought to retake the city from ISIS. Martin Manzard (Nicolas Duvauchelle) leads Group 45, a French special forces commando, and is preparing to hand over command and return to Paris when his men capture Zaïd (Moussa Maaskri), a high-ranking French emir of Daesh. Zaïd will cooperate with French intelligence only on condition that the soldiers exfiltrate his daughter Salwa and grandson Yanis from the city.[2](https://www.francetvpro.fr/contenu-de-presse/64385725) • [4](https://senalnews.com/en/content/newen-connect-will-take-the-second-season-of-amazons-dark-hearts-worldwide)\n\nThe ensemble includes Marie Dompnier as Adèle Brockner, Nina Meurisse as sniper Sabrina Besson (\"Sab\"), Thierry Godard as Colonel Roques, Tewfik Jallab as Rimbaud, Jérémy Nadeau as Paco, Victor Pontecorvo as Spit, and Quentin Faure as Olivier Revel.[2](https://www.francetvpro.fr/contenu-de-presse/64385725) The season ends with the unit shaken by a combat death and Sabrina's abduction by an Islamic State unit, which sets up the second season.[5](https://www.lemonde.fr/culture/article/2025/05/09/c-urs-noirs-sur-prime-video-pour-sa-deuxieme-saison-la-serie-combat-l-etat-islamique-sans-etat-d-ame_6604436_3246.html)\n\n### Season 2\n\nSeason 2 entered production on 15 April 2024 in Morocco, for six episodes of 45 minutes. It was written by Virginie Brac (*Engrenages*, *Cheyenne et Lola*) and directed by Frédéric Jardin (*Braquo*, *Engrenages*, *Totems*), replacing the season 1 creative team. The main cast returned, joined by Patrick Mille as a DGSE agent, along with Louis Séguier, Hugo Palomba, and Radouan Leflahi. The season aired exclusively on Prime Video in France in 2025, followed by France Télévisions six months later.[3](https://www.francetvpro.fr/contenu-de-presse/66245784)\n\nThe story follows Group 45's single objective: freeing their comrade Sab, held hostage by Daech. A *Le Monde* review noted that the second season, with the French military institution's cooperation, tilts toward efficiency and spectacle, and that the series avoids geopolitical consideration, keeping the focus on suspense rather than the morality of the 2015–2017 campaign against the Islamic State.[5](https://www.lemonde.fr/culture/article/2025/05/09/c-urs-noirs-sur-prime-video-pour-sa-deuxieme-saison-la-serie-combat-l-etat-islamique-sans-etat-d-ame_6604436_3246.html)\n\n## Production and distribution\n\nFrance Télévisions began developing the series, produced by Gilles de Verdière for Mandarin Télévision, in 2018; Amazon Prime Video joined later.[2](https://www.francetvpro.fr/contenu-de-presse/64385725) According to IMDb, the project was initially developed under \"The Alliance\", the co-production agreement between France Télévisions, Rai, and ZDF that had delivered series such as *Mirage* (2020) and *Around the World in 80 Days* (2021), before becoming a co-production between Amazon Prime Video and France Télévisions.[1](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt26605367/) The first season received CNC support through the audiovisual support fund for preparation and production.[6](https://www.cnc.fr/series-tv/actualites/ziad-doueiri-de-tarantino-a--coeurs-noirs_1887230)\n\nSeason 1 was an immediate critical and commercial success, becoming the most-watched series on Amazon Prime Video France when it launched in February 2023. Newen Connect, the distribution arm of Newen Studios (TF1 group), handles international sales and partnered with Amazon again for the second season.[4](https://senalnews.com/en/content/newen-connect-will-take-the-second-season-of-amazons-dark-hearts-worldwide) The series has streamed in more than 17 countries, including via the France Channel on [The Roku Channel](https://www.edgepedia.org/the-roku-channel).[7](https://helposter.com/tv/217583-217583-dark-hearts) • [8](https://www.justwatch.com/us/tv-show/coeurs-noirs) In the United Kingdom it is available on Apple TV, which describes it as an action drama about a French special forces commando capturing French Islamic State fighters outside Mosul in 2016.[9](https://tv.apple.com/gb/show/dark-hearts/umc.cmc.6h36xhh8sfy0g39nzdhc5g7uj)\n\n## Other works titled Dark Hearts\n\nThe title has been used by several unrelated projects. **The Dark Hearts** is a six-episode television series in development by Amye Pictures, written by Frank Amye and adapted from his collection of psychological crime fictions, set in England and Ireland from 1991 to the present and centered on a decade-long organ trafficking investigation.[10](https://www.amyepictures.com/the-dark-hearts) A separate 2023 American drama series titled *Dark Hearts* (IMDb tt22311536), starring Eileen Grubba and Brian Gleason, deals with a family's ordeal when a child goes missing and with child trafficking.[11](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt22311536/) *Dark Hearts* is also a 2014 American drama-thriller film directed by Rudolf Buitendach, starring [Kyle Schmid](https://www.edgepedia.org/kyle-schmid), Sonja Kinski, and [Lucas Till](https://www.edgepedia.org/lucas-till), about an artist whose romance with a singer becomes a game of deception and betrayal.[12](https://www.prisma.de/streaming/Dark-Hearts-mavK1lKl0) In publishing, *Dark Hearts* is a dark mafia romance audiobook series by Jagger Cole, beginning with *Deviant Hearts* (2025), performed by Ryan West and Sophie Daniels.[13](https://podiumentertainment.com/series/675/dark-hearts) In HBO's 2025 crime series *Task*, the Dark Hearts are an outlaw motorcycle gang whose mole inside the FBI task force drives the plot of the penultimate episode.[14](https://www.thedailybeast.com/obsessed/task-the-best-tv-episode-of-the-year-starts-with-a-20-min-shootout/) A South African murder-mystery series pitch titled *Dark Hearts* (ZDF Enterprises, MNet, and Quizzical), about an investigative journalist drawn into her brother's murder, was in development around 2020 with a planned shoot in [Cape Town](https://www.edgepedia.org/cape-town) and Johannesburg.[15](https://cdn.c21media.net/wp-content/uploads/2021/06/fullagenda.pdf)\n\n## References\n\n1. [Dark Hearts (TV Series 2023–2025), IMDb](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt26605367/)\n2. [Cœurs noirs press kit, FranceTvPro.fr (2 January 2024)](https://www.francetvpro.fr/contenu-de-presse/64385725)\n3. [Cœurs noirs saison 2 press release, FranceTvPro.fr (11 April 2024)](https://www.francetvpro.fr/contenu-de-presse/66245784)\n4. [Newen Connect will take the second season of Amazon's \"Dark Hearts\" worldwide, Señal News (20 June 2023)](https://senalnews.com/en/content/newen-connect-will-take-the-second-season-of-amazons-dark-hearts-worldwide)\n5. [« Cœurs noirs », sur Prime Video : pour sa deuxième saison, la série combat l'Etat islamique sans état d'âme, Le Monde (9 May 2025)](https://www.lemonde.fr/culture/article/2025/05/09/c-urs-noirs-sur-prime-video-pour-sa-deuxieme-saison-la-serie-combat-l-etat-islamique-sans-etat-d-ame_6604436_3246.html)\n6. [Ziad Doueiri, de Tarantino à « Cœurs noirs », CNC](https://www.cnc.fr/series-tv/actualites/ziad-doueiri-de-tarantino-a--coeurs-noirs_1887230)\n7. [Dark Hearts (2023), Helposter](https://helposter.com/tv/217583-217583-dark-hearts)\n8. [Dark Hearts (Coeurs Noirs, 2023), JustWatch](https://www.justwatch.com/us/tv-show/coeurs-noirs)\n9. [Dark Hearts, Apple TV](https://tv.apple.com/gb/show/dark-hearts/umc.cmc.6h36xhh8sfy0g39nzdhc5g7uj)\n10. [The Dark Hearts, Amye Pictures](https://www.amyepictures.com/the-dark-hearts)\n11. [Dark Hearts (TV Series 2023– ), IMDb](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt22311536/)\n12. [Dark Hearts (2014), Prisma streaming guide](https://www.prisma.de/streaming/Dark-Hearts-mavK1lKl0)\n13. [Dark Hearts series, Podium Entertainment](https://podiumentertainment.com/series/675/dark-hearts)\n14. [\"Task\": The Best TV Episode of the Year Starts With a 20-Minute Shootout, The Daily Beast (October 2025)](https://www.thedailybeast.com/obsessed/task-the-best-tv-episode-of-the-year-starts-with-a-20-min-shootout/)\n15. [Drama Series Pitch, C21Media agenda (2021)](https://cdn.c21media.net/wp-content/uploads/2021/06/fullagenda.pdf)\n\n---\n*Topic: Encyclopedia › Arts and culture › Screen and stage › Film and television › Series and fictional screen worlds › Scripted television and comedy series › Drama and prestige series (individual series) › Historical and period drama*\n\n*Initially written Oct 3, 2026 · Reviewed: Oct 25, 2026 · Edited: Oct 15, 2026; Oct 25, 2026; Nov 1, 2026 · Last review: Oct 25, 2026*\n\n*Copyright 2026 EdgeChat AI, a subsidiary of Biostate AI.*\n\nLicense: Edgepedia Community License 1.0, https://www.edgepedia.org/edgepedia/license\n", "same_as": [], "url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/dark-hearts", "markdown_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/dark-hearts.md", "license": { "name": "Edgepedia Community License 1.0", "url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/edgepedia/license", "summary": "Free with credit, commercial use included. AI training is open to everyone. For other uses, organizations over USD 100M in revenue or 100M monthly users license separately.", "spdx": "LicenseRef-Edgepedia-Community-1.0" }, "credit": "\"Dark Hearts\", Edgepedia (EdgeChat), https://www.edgepedia.org/dark-hearts. Edgepedia Community License 1.0.", "credit_md": "\"[Dark Hearts](https://www.edgepedia.org/dark-hearts)\", Edgepedia (EdgeChat), [https://www.edgepedia.org/dark-hearts](https://www.edgepedia.org/dark-hearts). [Edgepedia Community License 1.0](https://www.edgepedia.org/edgepedia/license).", "credit_html": "\"Dark Hearts\", Edgepedia (EdgeChat), https://www.edgepedia.org/dark-hearts. Edgepedia Community License 1.0.", "speakable": "Dark Hearts is a French action-war series created by Duong Dang-Thaï and Corinne Garfin about a special forces commando in 2016 Iraq; two seasons on Prime Video and France 2, distinct from other works of the same name." }