Heilige Familie

This is another wonderful spanish psychological drama, mystery, action with novela like qualities from the director of House of Flowers/Casa de flores. He weaves beautiful cinematography and visual symbols, and weaves past with present plot twists to tell the story. He always has a wonderful queerness that just is, in his stories which as a queer person is wonderful to watch. The leads Najwa & Alba were also in Money Heist - another great series in this genre and are AMAZING-love them. You have to be OK with the fact that this is a NOVELA - meaning over the top themes. Watch it in Spanish with subtitles to really feel the actors if you don't understand Spanish.

First, the show is really good, I finished it in 2 days, its so addictive you can't stop watching.

I liked the central topic and how it showed us the moral dilemma that mothers face. The main idea is to examine the link a mother forms with her child.

The main character here can be seen a villain, caring mother, criminal etc. But I sorta understand her pain, losing a child is always hard and accepting it can be even harder. But the question is how can a mother that lost her child do the same to another mother?

Wouldn't it be the same suffering?

Also, the actors are great in their portrayals, the atmosphere is also pleasant, I liked how it is set in the 90s.

So, a good show that asks important questions and lets you find your own way of answering them.

I find that this movie has an unconventional narrative structure, marked by abrupt or blunt transitions between present and past actions that seem a bit awkward. What truly stands out is the acting, especially Najwa's who is incredible. Even if the characters have an exaggerated, overly-dramatic role, in my view it only adds-up to the story construction.

I consider the scenography was quite interesting too, with meticulously crafted sets, attention to details, well-thought camera angles and the music chosen complemented nicely the scenes, enhancing the dramatism or emotional impact.

I fear it will be difficult though for the second season to rise to the same level, but I look forward to it.

(with a few shortcomings, but which one is exempt of any of those?)

Najwa Nimri was amazing in it, as usually.

I don't mind the scattered story-telling, I love it when shows are done like this, happening on multiple timelines. I think the only thing which could have been done much better regarding this aspect is the way they handled the essential informations. They gave away too much at the very beginning. They should have left us guessing about what is actually going on, and to reveal the facts (like who really is the birthmother of the child) just at the end of the season, it would have been more intriguing that way imo.

What was annoying was that the twins, especially Aitana continuously did stupid things... They'd probably already be in Canada if they would have been able to not blindly follow their libido for one more week, lol...

The early 00's feeling they wanted to bring back, has visually left a stain on the show (make-up/costumes), but oh well, I can live with that.

So plot/visual-wise this would be a 8/10 for me.

But thanks to Najwa who made it interesting to watch and considering the fact that I liked the show enough that I'd like it to get a second season, made me give it a 9. Maybe in the next one they'll get right what they missed here. Fingers crossed!

Okay, so the acting was superb. The makeup looks bc it's based in the 90s. Hence the hair, makeup, & wardrobe reflect that. Loved that their was some diversity in the cast from LGBT charters to having more people of color than usual for Spanish film work. The twins romance lives are very spicy, and they are traumatized/manipulated by their disturbed mother. Definitely a thriller that's not in chronological order, so you have to pay attention. Elite is similar in terms of its timeline. A couple of the characters are a bit dull, but in contrast to the majority of the characters having interesting backstories, it works. The suspense makes it binge worthy, and the spicy scenes will make you hot & bothered.