Cinemascope: Narcos (Season 1)

Cinemascope is a regular blog post where I will share with you movies and TV shows I think are worth watching.



Released in 2015.

Plot line: Netflix takes on the infamous Medellín drug cartel in "Narcos," which follows the rise and fall of Colombian kingpin Pablo Escobar and the Drug Enforcement Agency agents hunting him. The story is told largely from the points of view of Escobar, played by Brazilian actor Wagner Moura, and U.S. DEA Agent Steve Murphy (Boyd Holbrook), on opposite sides of what would become an all-out war. The gritty drama begins with the early days of the drug battle, when the biggest offenders were "hippies in flip-flops" caught with up to a kilo of marijuana, continuing to the violent, bloody battles between members of the cartel peddling tons of kilos of cocaine and drug agents from Colombia, Mexico, and the U.S. -- a struggle estimated to have cost at least 4,000 lives over two decades.

I've said it before and I'll say it again, this might well be the renaissance era of fantastic original content production. I doubt that the networks would have taken the risk on something like this, and they can keep their reality TV shows, I'm looking elsewhere for my entertainment.

This show is fantastic, and does not shy away from some hard truths we would all do well to look clear in the face. I love the writing, the acting, and the themes explored. Seeing so many people of color on the screen was also a plus, and that most of the show is in Spanish with English subtitles? Daringly brilliant. Cannot wait for the next season.

You can see the trailer here. If you have yet to see it, this is a movie worth watching.