Double portion of 'thriller' and traumatized sisters: 'The good daughter' and 'Infamia' arrive on HBO Max

BarcelonaAt a time when platforms find it very difficult to bet on original ideas, crime fiction has become one of the objects of desire for streaming services. This week HBO Max reinforces this theory by premiering almost at the same time two series that are adaptations of literary thrillers: The good daughter and Infamia. The first one is available this Thursday, while the second one arrives on Friday.

The good daughter brings to the screen a book by Karin Slaughter, who also serves as screenwriter and executive producer of the series. The plot centers on two sisters, Sam and Charlie, traumatized by an episode of violence they suffered when they were teenagers: hooded men entered their home and ended up killing their mother as revenge against their father, a man controversial in the town for being a defense attorney for alleged criminals. Many years later, the sisters reunite due to a shooting that takes place at the town's high school in Georgia. Both are lawyers, but they work in different areas of the law. Sam lives in New York and specializes in patents, while Charlie has followed in her father's footsteps, with whom she shares an office and business. The relationship between them is full of cracks, but they will have to work together to discover what really happened at the school and whether the teenager who has been arrested was the one who fired the shots.

One of the production's biggest draws is the participation of Rose Byrne, who is enjoying a particularly sweet moment after being nominated for an Oscar for the first time last year thanks to the film The Lost Daughter. She plays Sam, who still suffers in her own body the consequences of the attack from when she was a teenager. The actress in charge of playing Charlie, the slightly more rebellious sister, is Meghann Fahy, who was one of the revelations of the second season of The White Lotus. The cast is completed by Brendan Gleeson, who gives life to the protagonists' father, a man with an overwhelming personality.

Mysteries in the Basque Country

Complicated family relationships and mysteries also carry significant weight in Infamia, based on a novel by Ledicia Costas. Susana Abaitua (Patria) is Emma Cruz, a lawyer who returns to her hometown, Ura, in the Basque Country, in the midst of an existential crisis. There, she begins to become obsessed with the disappearance of two girls twenty years ago. Aside from having a professional interest in it, Emma also has a personal connection because, in a way, the case reconnects her with the death of her sister, who died when she was a child.

The environment in which Emma moves is full of mystery, silence, and accumulated anger. This context serves to explore violence against women and what factors contribute to perpetuating it. “I believe there are things that are not even debatable. Denying gender-based violence is absolutely ridiculous. It makes no sense, and that it has reached this point is scary,” Abaitua asserted in an interview with Europa Press. The actress recalled that, even today, the focus is still placed on the victim, and there is little talk about how society looks the other way.

Infamia, directed by Agustina Macri and Beatriz Sanchís, will consist of six episodes that will arrive weekly on the platform. Besides Abaitua, the cast includes Ane Gabarain, who plays Emma’s elusive mother and who was also in the series Patria. The cast is completed by Jorge Bosch and Jon Olivares.