Griselda is one of those biopic stories that follows the rise and fall of a single individual.
Griselda Star Rating: 3/5
The cast includes Sofia Vergara, Alberto Guerra, Juliana Aiden Martinez, Martin Rodriguez, and Vanessa Ferlito.
Creators: Carlo Bernard and Ingrid Escajeda
Director: Andres Baiz.
Streaming on Netflix.
Language: English, Spanish (with subtitles)
Runtime: 6 episodes, each lasting approximately one hour.
Griselda Review: What is it about?
Narcos was one of the most impressive early Netflix hits, and its success enabled the creators to produce several seasons of the show as well as a number of spin-offs. Netflix’s new miniseries, Griselda, tells the story of Griselda Blanco and stars Sofía Vergara in a challenging role. Griselda is a gripping and entertaining miniseries from the streaming giant.
Griselda Review and Script Analysis:
Griselda is one of those biopic stories that follows the rise and fall of a single individual. However, this is not the story of Pablo Escobar or Walter White, but of Griselda Blanco, a mother and businesswoman who saw drug trafficking as a way out of poverty and into something she could call her own. However, Sofía Vergara adds interest to the story.
The story is divided into six episodes of about one hour each, demonstrating that the creators understand that this is a lean and mean story; there isn’t much else to tell than what’s on the screen, a classic story of flying too close to the sun. Nonetheless, the writers attempt to strike a balance in their portrayal of Griselda; she is a criminal as well as a mother; she is both a victim and a perpetrator at the same time, and it is this that makes her compelling because you know she is doing everything wrong, but it is difficult to dislike her.
The series attempts to balance the scenes dealing with crime with those in which Griselda is more of an average person, a lovely mother, and a woman doing her best to provide her family with the best life possible.
Griselda Reviews: Star Performance
Sofía Vergara is fully committed to her role as Griselda. The actress has been primarily associated with comedy for the past decade, but here she demonstrates that she has so much more to offer by relying heavily on her dramatic abilities and pulling it off throughout all six episodes. You could say she’s stepping outside of her comfort zone and delivering something that feels more difficult, but she makes it look easy.
Vergara has a charisma that is difficult to tone down, but this only adds to her performance because it is noticeable even under makeup, and then everything makes sense.
Griselda Review: Direction and Music
Andres Baiz takes the director’s seat and brings his experience. The director has worked on Narcos, of course, but also on The Sandman, both from Netflix, and he can make a good television season. His style isn’t too out there, which makes the episodes appear a little generic in terms of the cinematic language used here, but he chose to make the characters the main driving force of the episodes on a thematic and visual level.
Music is also essential to the show, and Carlos Rafael Rivera fills the role admirably. River has become a staple of Netflix productions in recent years, and his work does exactly what it needs to do: elevate the emotions conveyed in each scene.
Griselda Review: Final Words:
Griselda does not quite reach the heights of Narcos’ first two seasons, but it is still an enjoyable piece of entertainment. Sofía Vergara’s performance is a standout, demonstrating her versatility beyond comedy. The entire team should be proud of the outcome, even if the formula appears stale due to the abundance of similar stories. Maybe we just need to take a break from this story structure and return to it years later.
