Netflix’s new Spanish series Who Killed Sara? is a dark and twisted story about love, family, and betrayal in the same vein as Big Little Lies. It tells the story of Alex, played by Manolo Cardona, who is hell-bent on getting revenge for the death of his sister Sara, played Ximena Lamadrid. Eighteen years ago he was sentenced to prison by a court system that favored the up-and-coming Lazcano family and empire instead of the middle-class siblings.
Alex was young, naive, and thought that his mother would be taken care of by the Lazcano family if he took the fall for what had happened to his sister. The golden child of the Lazcano empire, and the young man who was dating Sara, couldn’t take the fall because of his weak constitution. And they used that to pressure Alex into accepting his fate. This ended up changing Alex’s life forever and gave him the tools to get revenge on the Lazcano’s when it finally came time for him to be released over a decade later.
The story, and Alex’s mission, throws everyone down a dark and twisted path full of secrets ala Big Little Lies in Who Killed Sara? And like the HBO series, this show keeps peeling back layer after layer of what happened to Sara until you’re stuck, in shock, and wondering how we even got to this place. Because what happened to Sara is a tragedy that could’ve been avoided if these siblings weren’t surrounded by so many deplorable people who are more concerned with themselves than anything else.
Each and every single one of the Lazcano family are twisted individuals in Who Killed Sara? Even the ones you trust, the ones who look like they couldn’t hurt a fly, have a secret that they’re keeping close to their chest that they don’t want anyone to discover. And oddly enough it makes all of them relatable in a twisted way. We all have bits of ourselves that we don’t want others to see. But it turns unforgivable if you’d hurt someone to hide the secret you have. Which these people do.
This sets up the show for an unpredictable experience that keeps pushing at what you believe. In turn, this keeps your attention throughout the show and leaves you wanting more from the amazing cast of characters, from Ginés García Millán character César Lazcano to Carolina Miranda as Elisa Lazcano. Each and every single one of them knew what they were doing and I couldn’t help but be wowed by their acting.
I will say one thing about Who Killed Sara? that rubbed me the wrong way, in the same manner it did on Big Little Lies. I know these are (mostly) horrible people doing horrible things and that makes for entertaining TV. And I knew I was signing up for a wild ride from the trailer alone. But the violence and some of the sex scenes were a bit hard to watch.
Besides that, Who Killed Sara? seems to be gearing up for more mystery and more twists and turns because the story doesn’t end when we discover who actually killed this young woman. Even Sara has secrets that she was hiding and the exploration of who she was as a young woman is only the tip of the iceberg for Alex, the Lazcano family, and Who Killed Sara? as a whole.
(image: Netflix)
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