Nacho season 1 review: Martin Rivas' series is disappointing and all over the place

2/5

Story:

Nacho comes from a religious family but has a reputation for being a playboy. Eventually, he gets on the path of being an adult film star. Can he continue? Will this man, who loves partying and is proud of his jewel, survive?

Review:

"You want to make a movie but you don't have a story to tell. Best leave it alone, right?" Nacho, ironically, has this dialogue in the show but doesn’t follow it to the fullest.

Nacho is not your typical Spanish show. Here, on Lionsgate Play, it is the Spanish version dubbed in English.

The series tries to give you a comic vibe but that soon dies down with the punk music. There's a scene with a focus that is not everybody's cup of tea. You get introduced to the male lead, Nacho, through that scene. That is just the beginning of what the makers have in store for the viewers. Warning: This show is not for kids, at all!

Martin Rivas as Nacho tries to make an impression on you throughout the series but fails for the most part. There are two aspects to that. Nacho is an alpha male who literally cannot think beyond his man parts. He’s a failure, the typical guy you have seen on-screen for so many years. Apart from that, the actor has to really try hard in his role because all the attention is diverted to his body part. There’s no charm left to the actor and so, you struggle to sympathize or even relate to him from start to end.

Toni, played by Andres Velencoso, is a star who grabs your attention way more than the lead. He has a charismatic personality that works very much in his favour. This one is appealing for most of his scenes. He is just like Nacho but a much better version of him. In fact, this guy deserves his story to be told and that is clear with a few scenes in this series.

He too has a history that gets revealed slowly and you understand why he is who he is. The actor nails the scene in which the big revelation happens.

The series is as bizarre as it gets. 

Somehow, the show manages to get dramatic too. Episode two is all about that, and that is just the beginning. There’s so much drama happening in the series that you start wondering about the point of the story.

Toni vs Nacho was obviously coming for a long time but when it does come, it is interesting. Unfortunately, the topic changes from there. When it gets back though, your interest is piqued again. The scenes are interesting too but only to a limit. Nothing works till the last scene in episode three.

Mauro Cardinali as Rocco is a star from his first scene. He has a vibe to him unlike anybody you see in the series. There are moments you will hate him but that does not stop you from respecting this man.

The show has some really childish graphics. For example, when a director gets furious at Nacho, you read 'danger' in front of the director's image. That is not impressive for even a bit.

There are two sides to filmmaking and this series shows you both of them. That is one good thing about the show. It taps into the reality of what happens behind the scenes and the different kinds of people you meet in the industry.

Some scenes shot in the series simply don't work. The camera angles make it difficult for you to focus on the scene as required.

While the series is mostly gross, it has a good message at the end of it. The message is, to quote from the show itself, "Women in the profession have to be respected inside and outside of the business."

Everything from there is drama. The low moments set in and there's barely ever going back from there.

What's worse? A scenario between Toni, Sophie, and Nacho keeps repeating. Once, a co-incidence. Twice, definitely straight out of a movie, thus disrupting your viewing experience (not like you had too much to grasp on from the start anyway).

Maria de Nati, who plays Sara, is the best part of the show. She has a constant graph that is very mature and appealing. Of course, Sara too is treated like a doormat, she fell for a still-immature guy but how she handles everything is what makes her character so special.

All other women on the show – right from Maria Gattell’s Sophie to Pepa Charro’s Juani and Miriam Giovanelli’s Bellisima have a certain power to them but are limited to side characters. Nacho, a character that is done-and-dusted across the Entertainment industry, is in the lead. Even in the Spanish industry, this kind of character is nothing new. Many Spanish and Mexican shows have seen boys who have a lot of growing up to do. Here, there are a lot of explicit scenes added to it.

Verdict:

Nacho is eight hours of explicit adult content. If you feel like you can handle it and are up for the challenge, then you might enjoy the series.