A Beautiful Docudrama Fitting for Spain’s Tragic and Unique Superstar

What:

Born Cristina Ortiz Rodríguez, La Veneno was a singer, actress, sex worker, and media personality. She rose to fame in 1996 after being discovered in a park where she worked as a sex worker by Faela Sainz and over time became a beloved, complicated LGBT icon in Spain.

In the show, La Veneno and her right-hand woman Paca “La Piraña” take a young outcast named Valeria Vegas under their wing, giving Valeria the support needed to realize her own gender identity — a painful but beautiful process of self-acceptance. A talented writer, Valeria begins writing a biography with La Veneno about the latter’s life, giving us the narrative lens of the show.

Why:

I have nothing but effusive praise for this masterpiece. Three actresses all brilliantly play La Veneno at distinct stages of her life, capturing her essence in every scene. The writing and direction from Javier Ambrossi and Javier Calvo is top notch as we seamlessly move through timelines.

Without giving away spoilers, Valeria and Cristina’s bond is a relationship defined by their common identity though each is molded differently by the world in which they inhabit. Their differences demonstrate Spain’s changing culture over the last 50 years and provide hope that these stories, which echo each other in every generation, can break a common thread of trauma across time through love, acceptance, and belonging. And at the core, these features underline our common humanity regardless of identity.

Even more, while their different experiences indeed provide hope for the future, they also honestly demonstrate how painful the past continues to be for those who experienced it.

This show is a can’t-miss for an advanced learner, and I highly recommend it as your next watch.

How:

Veneno has one season with 8 episodes (around 55 minutes each) and is currently available on Max.