The first series from Max, HBO's streaming platform, premiered on January 27, after many delays and uncertainties. The recording of the 40 episodes lasted around seven months and even after the work was finished, there was no set date for its release. It was announced for 2024, but the producer decided to postpone it to 2025. On Friday (03/21), the last episode was shown, after the 5 weekly episodes made available every Monday --- a strategy almost identical to that of Globoplay.
Created and written by Raphael Montes and general direction by Maria de Médicis, the production marks Warner Bros. Discovery's bet on the genre, being the platform's first original national soap opera in Latin America. "Beleza Fatal" brings in its plot a classic story of the search for justice that takes place in the hectic world of beauty and aesthetic treatments.
"Beleza Fatal" was a 40-episode series. After the success achieved through many published books and the series "Bom Dia, Verônica", the author proved that he also knows how to make soap operas. It is important to note that the production was supervised by Silvio de Abreu, which made all the difference considering his experience as a soap opera writer in over 40 years at Globo. The direction by Maria de Médicis (another experienced professional who worked for many years at the leading network) was another success for the plot, which was also supervised by Mariano Cesar, Monica Albuquerque and Anouk Aaron on behalf of Warner Bros. Discovery.
My full assessment of this TV series:
- Giovana Antonelli and Julia Stockler are the standout performers, delivering their all in challenging roles. The highlight is Gio, who had a caricatured role in her hands and who at the beginning of the plot was completely sidelined, Sophia's shadow, but who shone and filled the screen in every scene.
- Among some ok and bad performances, Enzo Romaní is without a doubt the biggest negative highlight. Starting with the construction of his character, which was horrible! If he had died in the first phase, it wouldn't have made any difference. Enzo's performance was not at all convincing and every scene with him was torturous
- It is to be expected that in 40 chapters it would be extremely difficult to develop all the subplots, but even so the balance is positive here. The script managed to deliver everything it needed to start, develop and close the story it wanted to tell! And it left the impression that if there were more chapters, it wouldn't have been enough, because all the main characters were great and having more of them would have been great!
8/10, and with the hope that Raphel Montes writes more soap operas, for streaming, and that he consolidates himself as one of the biggest names in Brazilian television drama.
