Should we start watching 1992, the Netflix thriller by Álex de la Iglesia? (critical)

A burning affair of revenge, set against the backdrop of the Seville Universal Exhibition, which assumes its little telenovela side mixed with the darkness of the Iberian filmmaker.

It’s one of the curiosities of the moment on Netflix. The filmmaker Alex de la Iglesiarevealed by The Day of the Beast in 1995 and who has since signed films like The Witches of Zugarramurdi (2013) directed 1992, a sordid thriller, around a serial killer with a masked face. We quickly understand that he murders one by one the men who, 30 years earlier, worked on the organization of the Universal Exhibition in Seville. 1992. His victims are all killed by fire (and we quickly guess that there is a reason for that). An ex-cop converted to private security will lead the investigation, for the benefit of his boss’s widow, a collateral victim of the massacres…

1992 is typically the kind of mysterious noir thriller that risks being a hit on the platform, in the vein of these Spanish crime series (Permit to live in 2020, The Little Girl in the Snow in 2023, Devoured by flames in 2023 etc.) which manage to appeal to fans of the genre. We just hoped that this one would stand out a little from the crowd. This is not the case.

The paw ofAlex de la Iglesia is very difficult to discern throughout this dark investigation, which alternates between ultra-violent sequences (some murders are truly brutal) and a slightly disconcerting telenovela atmosphere, including Alex de la Iglesia strangely repeats the codes. It’s a little difficult to know on which foot the Iberian director wants to dance, who seems to be content, in the end, with a very wise little thriller.

What remains is the actor’s hypnotizing performance Fernando Valdivielso. The 40-year-old actor, revealed in Cross the Line four years ago, really has something, a face, an animal strength, which infuses a strange raw emotion into each scene in which he appears.

1992, in 8 episodes, to watch on Netflix on December 13, 2024.