What secrets do the most terrible families hide? How are they reflected in the streaming series? The unknowns – and their possible answers – were renewed thanks to the success, on Netflix, of The Asunta caseabout the brutal murder of a 12-year-old girl that shook Spain in 2013: it was carried out by her parents. What perverse reasons nest in the dark families of the series?
The Asunta case It premiered on April 26 and It immediately ranked in the top 10 of the most viewed series on Netflix. No one wonders anymore who killed Asunta, the adopted daughter of the Basterra couple. What were her parents’ motives? What leads families to contemplate the worst crimes, silences, deceptions and revenge?
Here, an exhaustive review of six must-see series about dysfunctional families on the platforms: The Asunta case, The night of the summer solstice, Holy family, A normal family, An atypical family and The long shadows.
The Asunta case
Six episodes on Netflix
This celebrated fiction reconstructs with a scalpel the events surrounding the murder of the girl Asunta Basterra at the hands of her parents, in Galicia. She had disappeared on September 21, 2013; The body was found in a forest and his parents, Rosario Porto and Alfonso Basterra – played by the famous Candela Peña and Tristán Ulloa– they contradicted themselves during the interrogation: They became the main suspects.
Candela Peña does an extraordinary job of composing the real Rosario.
The teachers noticed that Asunta fell asleep in class: she said that His parents gave him “some white powder”. Then it was learned that there was traces of lorazepam in his blood: They tied her with a rope and suffocated her to death.
The Basterras were tried in 2015 and found guilty: They were sentenced to 18 years in prison. This is not a spoiler: these are real events brought to the screen.
Rosario Porto committed suicide in 2020, in prison; Alfonso Basterra is still in the Teixeiro prison. The motive for the murder is what drives The Asunta case to the end.
The night of the summer solstice
Five episodes on Netflix
In Norway, Carina gathers her family to celebrate the traditional night of the summer solstice: the longest day of the year. But The reunion will be overshadowed when several secrets that have been kept quiet for years come to light.. Just the day Carina and Johannes celebrate thirty years of marriage They will make a confession with uncontrollable tensions.
“Midsummer Night” set in Norway. Secrets and confessions. And confusion.
The matriarch discovered a pregnancy test and believed it belonged to Hanne, the eldest son’s wife. But in reality it belonged to Sara, the youngest. “That test was mine,” she confesses in response to her mother’s indiscretion: I had found the pregnancy test in the bathroom trash.
“Mom, you can’t go through other people’s trash.”the eldest son challenges her, and Carina justifies herself: “I didn’t check anything. I looked down in the bathroom and the pregnancy test was clearly visible in the open bin.”. This dramatic core will be tinged with absurdity and crossed gazes in this powerful Netflix series.
Sacred Family
Two seasons of eight episodes, available on Netflix
Here the axis is in two stars of La Casa de Papel. The action picks up when Gloria (Najwa Nimri) is installed in the Fuente del Berro district of Madrid. What arduous past was she trying to escape? Gloria befriends two mothers in the park, including Blanca (Macarena Gomez) and Caterina (Alba Flores). His presence will unleash suspicions, suspense and betrayals in the neighborhood.
Najwa Nimri and Alba Flores, from “Vis a Vis” to this “family group.”
This thriller and family drama by Manolo Caro (the same one from The flower house) he redoubles his cards in the second season: Gloria will do whatever it takes to build a better future for her family while new mysteries emerge in Fuente del Berro. There will be a person hiding in the basement and Miguel Ángel Solá will play the role of Fernando Alberche: a villain in tune with the shocking twists of melodrama.
At the same time, a local tragedy will attract the attention of an astute detective. Lorenzo, Blanca’s son, was found dead in a pond. Who traces the threads of evil in Sagrada Familia?
a normal family
Six episodes on Netflix
On November 24, 2023 – four days before Sacred Family– this had been released Swedish miniseries about 19-year-old Stella Sandell, who is accused of a murder and suffers great trauma. Her parents are devastated: perhaps they don’t really know her. It was her? If not, who perpetrated that death and why?
Captivating Swedish miniseries with family pacts that keep the viewer in suspense.
Adam is a parish priest; Ulrika is a lawyer and they live with Stella, in a residential area on the outskirts of the city of Lund. The fiction plays with the points of view of the three characters. Everyone will tell their truth in court: Stella, from preventive detention; her mother, since the day she saw her again in front of the jury.
The central theme of a normal family (like the Mattias Edvardsson novel on which it is based) is how a terrible event can open up realities that others would rather not see about loved ones. Besides, covers themes inherent to Sweden such as media condemnation, gender violence and the cold as an omnipresent character.
An atypical family
Twelve episodes available on Netflix
In this korean drama darkness comes with superpowers. “My family wasn’t always like this. We are not very well”says the girl In-ah. What caused the members of the Bok family to lose their superhuman abilities? What happens when she looks outside instead of whitewashing the problems inside the house?
A twelve-episode Korean drama, filled with shadows. And mysteries.
Mrs. Man-heum suffers insomnia due to his ability to predict the future. The daughter, Dong-hee, could fly: She worked as a model, but she gained weight and is now on a diet. Her younger brother, Gwi-joo, He can no longer travel in time due to depression. And the youngest, In-ah, is addicted to mobile phones and He has not yet revealed his power.
A mysterious woman, Do Da-hae, will arrive and almost everyone will believe that she is the key to everything returning to super normal. “She is the savior who can restore our powers.”, believes Man-heum. Everyone will long for happier times, when they felt important with their incredible talents. Perhaps the key is to regain communication.
The long shadows
Six episodes available on Star+ from May 10
Brotherly betrayals are triggered, here, with a family tragedy. Inspector Paula Ríos (Belen Cuesta) travels to Mallorca when the remains of his older sister, Mati (Laura Wedel), appear: she had disappeared twenty-five years ago, during her end-of-year trip.
“The Long Shadows” has a dream team as the leading cast.
From this, his old companions will reunite and the attractive Rita (Elena Anaya) will reappear from London. Nobody forgot the disappearance: Mati had fallen into a cave and the inspector thinks it was not an accident. “This pact is forever, like our friendship.”the young women had said in the middle of the trip.
Who has something worse to hide? Who was happy that Mati disappeared? Will her own sister have something to do with it? With an all-star cast, The Long Shadows aspires to be the best Spanish series on Star+. It is directed by Clara Roquet, 35, who won the Best New Director award at the 2021 Goya Awards for the film Freedom. Another production about the tense comfort of family life.
