Vis A Vis or Locked Up (2015-2019), a 4 season long Spanish prison drama by Globomedia, is a crime-thriller show on Netflix based on the life of a woman called Macarena Ferreiro (Macarena or simply Maca). Macarena’s life takes a sharp turn for the worse, following a betrayal by her married boss/lover. Macarena is a kind and trusting young woman whose only fault, in her opinion, was that she was deeply in love with a man who was using her as a front to embezzle money.
Based on a preliminary trial, Macarena finds herself at the receiving end of the justice system, sentenced to seven years imprisonment in Cruz Del Sur. The bail amount set is exorbitant. As Macarena starts serving her sentence, her family (the Ferreiros) i.e. her parents and her brother, have their share of exposure to criminals as they spare no effort trying to collect the bail amount. Needless to say, Macarena’s life and that of the Ferreiros is set to change forever.
Cruz Del Sur, where most of the action in the series takes place, is a modern privately run women’s prison with high security. Life inside Cruz Del Sur is essentially an example of a dog-eat-dog society. The top dog in Cruz Del Sur is an inmate called Zulema Zahir, played by the talented Nazwa Nimri, popularly known for her role of a heartless police inspector Alicia Sierra, in Money Heist (La casa de Papel).
Zulema, aka ‘elf from f*cking hell’, a psychopath and an epitome of villainy, is one of the strongest characters of Vis A Vis/Locked Up. Her initial interactions with our damsel Macarena bring out the stark contrast between their characters. Stuck in a prison ruled by Zulema and her accomplices, Macarena clearly seems out of place, like a sheep among wolves.
Vis A Vis offers everything you can imagine taking place in a private prison with little or no outside intervention. All crimes (including alleged terrorism) have taken place at least once in Cruz Del Sur, and every object has been used as a weapon.
What differentiates Vis A Vis from other prison-based dramas is that this show is very clear that Cruz Del Sur is the worst place on earth. As a viewer, I felt that the writers have not held back in showing us the most gut-wrenching and disgusting portrayal of human behaviour when survival instincts kick in.
Most fight scenes in Vis A Vis end in the worst possible way you can imagine. On its comparison with Orange is the new Black, if OITNB is Gladiator, then Vis A Vis is like 300. I will not pretend to know which of these is closer to reality, but Vis A Vis does a lot better as a visual treat and in terms of background music.
Here’s the main theme song of Vis A Vis that I can’t stop listening to – Agnus Dei, which literally means ‘Lamb Of God‘.
The highlight of Vis A Vis is Macerena’s gradual transition from a sheep to a wolf. To borrow from Thomas Hobbes, life in Cruz Del Sur is nasty, brutish, and short. So Macarena is constantly struggling to adapt to this new reality while trying to retain her core values.
The most notable is her confrontations with cellmate Kabila and Kabila’s ex-lover Saray (played by Alba Flores or Nairobi from Money Heist). By the end of the second season, you have seen a series of events that lead to Macarena becoming a hardened and feared inmate herself.
However, Vis A Vis is not entirely a constant struggle of ‘to kill or be killed’ and has its share of positive camaraderie between the inmates in Cruz Del Sur. Each inmate’s story is interestingly narrated, and all the loops are closed in the season finale.
Conclusion
It is important to note that Vis A Vis is not suitable for those sensitive to graphic images, racial slurs, violence, nudity and a barrage of expletives. Most conflicts in Cruz Del Sur are resolved on a no holds barred basis, something that may not be suitable for many people. However, none of this disturbing imagery seems forced, which is a credit to the makers of this series.
The strongest argument in favour of Vis A Vis is its slow but intense character development. The stories of all the essential characters often intersect, but each is left fighting her own battles accentuating their solitude and piquing self-interest.
A combination of solid performances, engaging story and intense action make Vis A Vis make it a must-watch and is now my favourite prison drama.
Mihir Narvilkar 