If you’ve seen other Álex Pina and Esther Martínez Lobato creations, like Money Heist or White Lines, you likely know what you’re in for with their newest series: glamorous grit, a Spanish setting, and total thrill.
This eight part series begins at the Tenerife club, Las Novias. There a pimp named Romeo is on a megalomaniacal mission, controlling the sex workers employed at the club to be what he thinks is the epitome of male fantasy. We meet three of these women: Wendy the wild one, that men desire to tame, Coral, the chic and sophisticated woman that men who watch French movies want, and Gina, the virginal, innocent embodiment of youth. Yep, this guy is a full-on psychopath.
Thankfully Coral, Wendy and Gina find a way to flee from this rotten Romeo, embarking on a chaotic and frenzied mission to be free of him and his henchmen. But that’s going to take more than a border crossing and a box of hair dye. The women battle to shake off these weird personalities that Romeo projected onto them, questioning their real identities and attempting to unpick the knots that their captor has tied.
With this fairly grim premise it would be easy for creators Pina and Martinez Lobato to drill through the tragic circumstances under which women are sexually exploited, but that would be far too obvious for such brilliant creators. Instead they’ve created a sexy, gritty and gorgeous tale of perseverance, strength and female friendship. And compared to their other offerings, this is gloriously uncomplicated, and digestible in its 30 minute servings, begging to be binged.
Have you seen Money Heist yet? Read our review
And it sounds like The Guardian’s Ellen E Jones will be doing just that. Like us, she loves the fact it’s “less about the grim reality of sexual exploitation, and more about the gaudy thrills of exploitation cinema,” saying the show “revels in its own trashy glamour.” In The New York Times Elisabeth Vincentelli calls Sky Rojo “sheer excess…simultaneously minimal and over the top.” Is that a good thing? We reckon so.
First shown March 2021. You can watch the trailer by pressing play on the show image, or by clicking here.
