On the Verge

The series title is a nod to Pedro Almodóvar's 1988 film Women on the Verge of a Nervous Breakdown.

Julie Delpy started envisioning this project as early as 2013, aiming to break clichés associated with the so-called midlife crisis by portraying women in their forties and fifties as vibrant, funny, intense, and fulfilled.

Delpy says she put a bit of herself into each character and drew inspiration from her own friends and acquaintances, while also examining a mirrored crisis of masculinity through the male characters.

In January 2020, Canal+ and Netflix teamed up for the first time to co-produce the series, marking a new type of partnership between the two platforms.

The series was filmed in Los Angeles between the first and second waves of the Covid-19 pandemic in the United States.

Directing duties were split among the creators: Julie Delpy directed five episodes, Mathieu Demy directed four, and David Petrarca directed the remaining three.

The show was cancelled on April 9, 2022, after its single season.

On Allociné, the series received an average audience rating of only 2.6 out of 5 as of October 2021, while press reviews were largely positive, with outlets like Le Monde and 20 Minutes praising its finesse and its portrayal of women approaching fifty.