A grandmother thirsty for revenge: the three-part miniseries that aims to conquer Netflix

BarcelonaHow do you get over the disappearance of a loved one? For the protagonist of Two graves, the new Netflix miniseries, there is only one way: revenge. The three-episode fiction focuses on Isabel (Kiti Mánver), who, two years after the disappearance of her granddaughter, the teenager Verónica, decides to investigate on her own what happened and, ultimately, take revenge on the culprit. The series is created and written by Agustín Martínez, Jorge Díaz and Antonio Mercero, the three men who use the name Carmen Mola to sign their books.

The starting point of the miniseries takes the viewer to recent episodes of Spanish crime chronicles, such as the cases of the disappearances of Rocío Wanninkhof and Marta del Castillo. In Two graves, two 16-year-old friends, Verónica and Marta, disappear during the festivities of the Andalusian town where they live, Frigiliana (Málaga), an almost idyllic setting of white houses. Marta is found dead, but nothing more is known about Verónica. The lack of resolution to the case leaves Isabel's wounds open. During the three episodes of the series, directed by Barcelona-born Kike Maíllo, the grandmother begins a search that quickly gets out of hand. Aside from Mánver, the cast also includes Hovik Keuchkerian, who plays Verónica's father, and Álvaro Morte, who plays Marta's father.

Breaking the image of the perfect grandmother

The key to Two graves is the main character, Isabel, who deconstructs the most common conception of grandmothers. "There's something in the writing and the driving idea of the series that has to do with taking advantage of a prejudice, of how far a woman of almost 80 years old will go in search of revenge," says Maíllo. In addition, the miniseries also breaks with the sexist stereotype of women as figures who care for others, since as the plot progresses it becomes clear that Isabel is far from the image of the perfect grandmother who goes out of her way to take care of the family.

One of the unique features of the new Netflix miniseries is its length, which is much shorter than usual. Maíllo assures that it is a conscious decision by the authors, who wanted to make a thriller very compact and without secondary plots to distract the viewers' attention. This concentrated format seeks binge-watching.

Another surprising element of the fiction is listening to Álvaro Morte, known for having been The Professor of The Money Heist, using a pronounced Cordoban accent, an artistic decision made jointly by the actor and Maíllo. Although Morte is Andalusian, he normally softens his accent. However, in this case, to play the role of Marta's father, a man with criminal ties, the actor resorted to the way of speaking of an area he knows well because he lived there for a time.