A mystery woman’s entrance into an upmarket Madrid neighborhood establishes bonds amongst a bunch of her neighbors, all of whom are in various phases of parenting, in Holy Family (Netflix), a tingling eight-episode drama from creator Manolo Caro (The House of Flowers). And, while it’s evident she’s hiding something, the newbie is far from the only one in these parts with secrets.
We’re in Melilla, a North African city that is an autonomous region of Spain, in 1998, and a woman is in labor. “Notify the OR,” her attending physician says. “We’re going to have a C-section.” Later, at home, the mother clutches the infant with caution. “Natalia has arrived,” a guy says. “She’s excited to see Nico.” And the entire group is captured in a photo that creates a stained glass image. They are called Sagrada Familia. Alternatively, Holy Family.
It’s a year later, and the mother-to-be is walking a stroller, her hair in a new style and blonde. The women she meets for cocktails in the park nickname her Gloria (Najwa Nimri, Money Heist), but Blanca (Macarena Gomez) and Alicia (Ella Kweku) are perplexed when their new friend is hesitant to celebrate Hugo’s first birthday.
Meanwhile, Aitana (Carla Campra) attends a university lecture about the Venus of Willendorf, a Paleolithic fertility figure. “A mother’s love is like a scorpion’s story,” the professor continues, “flexible, precise, and full of poison.”
As an au pair for Hugo, Aitana is introduced to Blanca, Alicia, and Caterina (Alba Flores). Later, when Gloria works in her home stained glass studio, it becomes evident that the young woman is her daughter.
Aitana also calls “Hugo” “Nico,” which gets her chastised. Gloria then opens Abel’s (Ivan Pellicer, Elite) basement chamber. (It’s no surprise she didn’t want to have a baby shower.) Gloria explains that the lock is for his safety; it prevents him from leaving throughout the day. “At night, it’s safer.”
Gloria informs both Aitana and Abel that all of these fabricated names and identities are critical to their survival and future together in Canada. She emphasizes the need not to draw suspicion. But Aitana can’t stop herself from playing an open piano in the conservatory, where she falls in love with Marco right away (Alvaro Rico, also of Elite). Moreover, doubts about the group have already been raised: Caterina and her husband German (Alex’s Garciaappearance )’s in the neighborhood was not by mistake.
What series will it make you think of? Manolo Caro, the creator of Holy Family, has found a home on Netflix, where he has brought the Mexican dark comedy House of Flowers and its two spinoffs, as well as the beautifully costumed Spanish historical drama Someone Has to Die. Carla Campra, who was fantastic earlier this year as Sofia in the horror-ish Netflix drama Feria: The Darkest Light, also appears in Family.
Our Opinion: Drifty, slightly horror film-like. Music, for example, accompanies the early moments of Holy Family and on occasion later, generally while Gloria is attempting to construct the fake existence of this person she’s made.
And, while she’s not going to be revealed as a slasher overnight, it doesn’t take long to realize that this lady is neither the person she’s claiming to be nor a stranger to violence in her past. The twisty plot of Family continues adding nicks to the narrative – it’s like attempting to wrap a sheaf of barbed wire by hand for the viewer – and with each amount of blood drawn, there’s more to admire about this odd and intriguing thriller.
What about the statement about a mother’s love being like a scorpion’s tale? Telling. That is revealing. From Gloria’s tumultuous relationship with her older children and being mistaken for Hugo’s grandmother, to Blanca’s detachment from her troubled young son, Alicia’s hope for an adoption notice, and Caterina, who appears to be a serene young mother while also existing as a different kind of nightmare for another and completely separate mother.
Watching all of this fall unfold throughout Holy Family‘s eight episodes feels more fulfilling than a fresh pot of homemade vegetable soup.
Parting Shot: “Gloria,” “Aitana,” and “Abel” gather around the dinner table with baby “Hugo” for pie and vegetable soup. “Yum, Mom!” A pie. “Cut me a slice, I’m hungry.” And everyone starts digging. It depicts domesticity and family life. Never mind that they had to close the electronic blinds that surrounded the eating nook for fear of being seen.
Alba Flores, who was fantastic in the Spanish prison drama Locked Up and as Nairobi, the expert counterfeiter in Money Heist, continues her fine work here as Caterina, the seemingly perfect young wife and mother and Blanca’s new neighbor who, by the end of Holy Family’s first episode, is something entirely different, with Flores deftly emphasizing different traits of what we’d already discerned about the character.
Most Pilot-y Line: It’s already evident that something uneasy is moving beyond the audience’s sight. The infant named Nico is presented as Hugo and then reverts to Nico at home. Gloria emphasizes to Aitana, “His name is Hugo.” “We keep to the agreed-upon names in and out of this house…”
STREAM IT IS OUR CALL. Even though its characters repeatedly entice one other to shatter the secrets they’ve so painstakingly established, Holy Family purposely keeps its riddles in the shadows. As a result, the film is filled with suspense, shifting loyalties, and wider themes about motherhood in all its loving and occasionally terrible expressions.
