Zonz - Season 1

First day at Dante Prison for Alice, a model student, daughter of Chinese immigrants, convinced that she has no place there and that she will be quickly released to join her mother undergoing chemotherapy and take the entrance exam for Sciences Po. But as soon as she arrives, she makes a series of missteps, attracts enemies and finds herself trapped with hashish on her by Audrey, a guard who gives her the choice: become a snitch or stay in jail. So, when she hears Killian, Gabin and Hacine talking about escaping, Alice decides to join the plan to better denounce them and earn her release. A total control freak, she launches into a race against time and a dangerous double game in the prison environment.

The would-be fugitives are ready for the first step of their escape plan: figuring out how to cut the power and open the cell doors. Killian, Gabin, and Hacine compete to achieve this, each proposing a different strategy. This is the perfect opportunity for Alice to score points with Audrey, the guard. But as she prepares to denounce them, her fellow inmates scramble to allow her to call her mother via video chat just before a risky surgery. Hesitant to rat them out, she decides at the last minute to cover for them. In retaliation, Audrey installs Reem, Dante's most violent inmate, in her cell. And that's just the beginning. Because if Alice doesn't come forward with information soon, Audrey will make her life hell.

While Alice decides to keep a low profile around an ultra-creepy Reem, she orders her to make a hashish delivery. Otherwise? Otherwise, no more teeth. A new mission while Alice must already help her new group of friends succeed in the second stage of the escape: recover a map of the prison... in the director's office! A robbery is organized. With Alice at the heart of the plan, and closely watched by Audrey. Caught in a dilemma (save her teeth or help the group), Alice abandons her friends. Finally, she redeems herself by organizing the mapping of the corridors using a drone she stole from the search room. Good news, the team discovers a tunnel that would allow them to escape! Bad news, the abandoned wing that leads there is riddled with cameras. In addition, Reem, who has understood Alice's double game, corners her: she includes her in the group of fugitives or she will tell her new friends about her pookie talents.

In Dante, a talent show organized by Oussama, a passionate educator, offers the young fugitives an unexpected opportunity for their mission: to memorize a complex route to escape surveillance. But coordination isn't their strong suit. Reem, imposing but talented, becomes their feared choreographer. Under pressure, the group cracks as the show approaches. However, faced with an attack on Reem during the performance, the teens pull together. But danger still looms: the director suspects irregularities and demands names. If Alice doesn't speak out, she risks losing everything.

During the quarterly match between inmates and guards, the teens plan to take advantage of the commotion to make a duplicate of the keys to the punishment block, essential to their escape plan. Hacine, the captain, leads the operation while Reem steals the key from the referee. But Killian, tasked with making the duplicate, struggles in the kitchen, forcing the group to prolong the match by any means necessary, even if it means provoking fights and injuries. At the end of the match, won by the inmates, tempers flare. Dimitri, a somewhat simple-minded inmate, is beaten up by Audrey in his cell. And Sanjay, the prison boss, humiliated by Hacine on the pitch, intercepts a package essential to the escape. The group will have to do him a favor if they want it back: collect a package for him during the next visiting session.

As her mother's condition deteriorates, Alice and the group must obey Sanjay: smuggle a package during a visiting room. The plan seems simple: discreetly circulate the package to Rose, an impeccable inmate. But the family reunion upsets everyone. Rose leaves the visiting room in a hurry, distraught, leaving Sanjay's package exposed for all to see. The would-be fugitives try to complete the operation, passing the package from box to box, none wanting to risk being searched. Hacine devotes himself, but Alice, refusing to let him sacrifice himself, reveals his betrayal to the administration. Disgusted, the young man leaves her with the package. Inside? A firearm made with a 3D printer. Who is the bullet intended for? Does Sanjay want revenge on Hacine? Then the prison becomes agitated: Dimitri, pushed to the limit by Audrey, has just committed suicide in his cell. Anger erupts.

Chaos erupts in the prison. Moved and outraged by Dimitri's death, the inmates manage to drive the guards out of the main building and vent their rage. Amid the violence, the group is shattered, each finding themselves plunged into a dramatic situation. Hacine leads the revolt and ends up face to face with Audrey, the guard who has been provoking him for months. Hacine sets fire to a mattress, ready to kill her and die with her. Killian is hunted by the inmate his family has tasked him with planting to avenge one of their own—and who turns out to be... Sanjay. Gabin, who knows that after the riot, their inevitable transfer will make any escape impossible and that he will never see his little sister again, sets out in search of medication to end his life. But that's without counting on Rose, who declares her love for him. The two make love in the midst of the apocalypse. Alice, meanwhile, wanders the corridors, stunned, and says a symbolic goodbye to her mother.

As planned, Alice cuts the power from the cell but is condemned to remain locked up while the others escape. However, Hacine, in love, comes to save her. He thus deviates from the initial plan and jeopardizes the group's escape, which is also subject to numerous unforeseen events. As they reach the exit, Killian sacrifices himself by distracting the police. Once outside, and with only a lake left to cross, Rose collapses, hit by a bullet fired from a watchtower. Alice, refusing to abandon her, says goodbye to Hacine: she has decided to face her responsibilities. While Alice and Rose are found by the director and the police, the silhouettes of the three other fugitives (Reem, Gabin, and Hacine) disappear into the darkness. Free.