Dom

Another great brazilian crime thriller series. If you enjoyed this one I also recommend you:

• 1 Contra Todos (FOX/Star+)
• Irmandade (Netflix)
• Arcanjo Renegado (Globoplay)
• Impuros (FOX/Star+)

It's not easy to escape the clichés when talking about crime and drug trafficking in Rio de Janeiro. We see the sensuality and rawness of funk balls, guns, swear words, cocaine lines, sex, but Dom offers much more than that. The story revolves around the relationship between Dom and his father, who does everything to save the boy predestined to a tragic life. The two are on opposite sides: the father on the side of law and responsibility and the son with two feet rooted in marginality and vice.

A breathtaking series, with 8 electrifying chapters of a lot of drama, humor, action and reenactment of an exquisite period, the highlight, at the end, is the direction of actors. Gabriel Leone and Pedro Lima at the front. Director Breno Silveira is an ace, he knows how to extract emotion from actors like no one else.

Another quality of the series is the contextualization of the Carioca environment in the 60s and 70s, showing the beginning of drug sales in the favelas and police corruption, including in the military sphere, during the dictatorship, with a general dealing weapons for the bandits, protected by dome.

A super-production like that is not common in Brazil.

"Dom" (2021 release; 8 episodes running between 51 and 64 min. Each) is a new TV mini-series from Brazil. As Episode 1 "Kids Don't Come With Instructions" opens, it is "Rio De Janeiro 1999" and Pedro, an 18 yr. Old is at a rave party in a favela, making out with a girl while snorting coke. His dad, Victor, who is with Rio's civil police with a lifetime of fighting drugs-related crime, gets wind of it, and he goes into the favela, looking for his son... At this point we are less than 10 min. Into the opening episode.

Couple of comments: this is a gritty TV-series from Brazil that Amazon has optioned for its Prime and Instant Video platforms. I quite liked the opening episode, which goes back between the "now" (being Rio 1999) and the "then" (being Rio 1970) as we get to know Victor as a young man and how he became to be a cop. This TV series is very Brazilian and hence may not be as easy to be enjoyed here in the US as compared to, say, The Wire (just to name another drugs and crime TV show). After having seen the opening episode, I'm already looking forward to checking out the remaining episodes.

Please note: the series 3 min. Trailer that I watched before Episode 1 was shown as dubbed (meaning English voices dubbed over the Brazilian actors), much to my dislike. I absolutely detest dubbing foreign films and TV series for US viewing. I looked into it, and was able to rectify the situation, so I watched Episode 1 in its original Portuguese version with English subtitles. (Just to give you an idea: Amazon gives you 15 different audio languages to choose from, and 33 different language subtitles.)

A great way to show the world how Rio de Janeiro works.

Booooooorrrrringgggg. Wooden characters. Absolutely flop show.