El jardinero

"The Gardener", one of Netflix new series of only 6 episodes, than heavens, is about a manipulative mother who dotes on her emotionally devoid son, who through her manipulative nature, coaxes her son to become a serial killer. An accident caused Elmer to have a brain tumor which makes him emotionless. This translates to the audience who is emotionless watching this poorly dubbed, poorly acted Spanish and ridiculously plotted series of characters who we don't care about, but are at least good looking." Sincere it is only 6 episodes I decided to watch the whole thing. If it was 10 or 12 episodes, I would have bolted after episode 3. Not the worse series on Netflix, but certainly not one of their best!

It's a romcom with a serious darkness to it. A show that explores many shades of love maternal, romantical and even extramarital. The magic is the story's ability to keep the viewer uncertain on taking sides. A drama that examine the complexity and possessiveness in relationships between traumatized souls. Acting was sincere and emotional. Biggest highlight was the fresh background music. Great sound and visual effects. Though it ends in a bittersweet cliffhanger there's many major indications about a return. And for anyone who wishe to enjoy a TV show with a highly unqiue theme, Gardener wil be a perfect choise.

So here we are, sitting down to watch El Jardinero, expecting some emotional grit, mystery, maybe even a slow burn character arc. But instead, we get a narrated backstory from his mother, telling us that our main guy fell on his head and just stopped feeling things. That's it. That's the entire emotional foundation of this walking plot device.

And just as we're trying to get invested in his emotionless stare and existential gardening, bam, 28 minutes in .. redhead appears. Suddenly, Boom. Puberty hits like a freight train. And just like that, years of psychological detachment are cured with a some awkward small talk. His brain reboots, Windows XP style, and suddenly he's Mr. Charisma with feelings and opinions.

Honestly, if you're into emotional arcs that collapse faster than a house of cards in a hurricane, this is your show. Watching this was like ordering a steak and getting a soggy salad with a side of "we gave up halfway through.

3/10 - and that's me being generous because the opening music slapped.

Don't expect some deep insight into mind of a emotionally detached serial killer. This is not Dexter or You, this is something else. A serial killer who kills for money and who, due to childhood accident, can't feel emotions. And of course falls in love with a wrong woman, causing a series of events that threaten to upend everything.

This isn't a masterpiece neither in terms of script, acting, camerawork, plot..... but is fine enough to binge when you have a craving for something different than standard fare.

Some would complain that movie doesn't really have a "good" character, all principal ones are flawed in some way, some are just more willing to admit it. But in a movie about serial killer can you really have such character?

The aesthetics of the film are in another world, the gardens and setting up, truly delightful. Ending was mindblowing too. I loved the casting of the male and female lead, and the story gradually evolves into something better. One of the best part of the film is the dog ofc. It's like, the lovers try to pull apart from each other, but fate brings them closer together, in the most unexpected ways. Could the episodes have been short? Maybe. The main thing that attracts you to the story, is how the male character, slowly grows out of the shell that his mother had put him into, all because of something that happened, which she never expected. The plot twists are so good.