Antidisturbios: Rodrigo Sorogoyen’s shocking series is available on Disney Plus

A masterful dive into the world of the Madrid riot police.

Updated October 26, 2023: Originally broadcast on Polar+, the excellent series Antidisturbios has since been available on MyCanal. She has just left the service to land on Disney Plus (in the +16 years old profile). The opportunity to discover, if you have not already done so, this gem of television writing and directing by Rodrigo Sorogoyen.

Article from May 13, 2021: After three masterful feature films (May God lose us, El Reino And Mother), the Spanish filmmaker Rodrigo Sorogoyen returns to the television box, where he cut his teeth, with Antidisturbios, a six-part series. Behind the camera, and always accompanied by Isabel Peña in writing, the director and screenwriter delivers a stifling new work which plunges us into a terribly current case of police violence, in Spain as in France.

Antidisturbios follows a riot squad made up of six police officers (including the imposing Hovik Keuchkerian, seen in The Night Manager And The House of PaperRaul Arévalo, Roberto Alamo and Raul Prieto, two actors of May God lose us) who find themselves responsible for leading the eviction of an apartment in a working-class neighborhood of Madrid. Overwhelmed by housing rights activists, they lose control of the situation and the intervention turns into a tragedy. Internal affairs takes up the case, notably a young experienced investigator (Laia, played by the promising Vicky Luengo) determined to uncover the truth. Truth which will turn out to be more complex than it seems.

Rodrigo Sorogoyen and Isabel Peña developed this mini-series based on an element abandoned during the writing of May God lose us. The character of Javier Alfaro (Roberto Alamo) was originally a riot police officer, before becoming an inspector in the final version of the script. But the idea continued to germinate in the duo’s heads. “Where is the limit in the necessary use of force?“, asked Sorogoyen last year in the Spanish press. “How do you deal with a job that requires you to deal with violence on a daily basis? How do these police officers live and sleep? To provide a response to these concerns which interest me as a director, spectator and citizen, we created this series“.

In fact, fans of Sorogoyen’s cinema, and of May God lose us in particular, will not be disoriented by the atmosphere of Antidisturbioswhich is also eyeing towards El Reino in addressing the theme of corruption, dear to the author. Thanks to its lively staging, supported by the music of Olivier Arson (El Reino), we are suffocated by this finely written show where each episode bears the name of one of the protagonists. A little gem of television, with a breathtaking finale, which once again confirms the talent of Sorogoyen and his no less brilliant writing partner.