Sky Rojo review: Money Heist creator delivers another exciting and darkly comedic crime drama

The three leads are instrumental in establishing this anarchic tone, displaying an energetic chemistry with one another and some sharp comic timing. Sánchez is particularly strong in this regard and has no shortage of opportunities to demonstrate it, as Coral has perhaps the most fragile grip on her sanity of all the runaway group. The perspective shifts in each episode as Pina gradually reveals the heartbreaking stories that led each woman to their desperate plight, with the core trio benefitting from some strong character work in the four episodes released early to critics.

While the henchmen also show promise, they don't feel quite as well-realised just yet – partly because their big-brother-little-brother dynamic has been seen countless times before and Pina fails to find a particularly fresh angle on it. Additionally, Silvestre's Moisés is gifted with more screen time and stronger material than Auquer's Christian, so hopefully an effort is made to correct this imbalance in the latter half. But what they lack in depth they make up for in menace as their mere presence is often enough to inject a scene with gripping intensity.

Sky Rojo doesn't hold anything back with its tongue-in-cheek attitude towards violence similar to that of a Tarantino film, resulting in some of the more brutal moments being played for laughs. However, the series is also unflinching in its depiction of coerced sex work and this is where it makes for more disturbing viewing. These scenes occasionally feel gratuitous, but an argument could be made for them serving a narrative purpose – offering a visceral insight into the horror that Coral, Gina, Wendy and their fellow captives have been forced to endure. You'll have to make your own mind up on that debate, but viewers should be aware of these moments as they may prove upsetting to some people.

It should come as no surprise that the writer of White Lines and Money Heist knows how to set up a high-stakes, slightly eccentric crime story. Sky Rojo should go down well with fans of Pina's recent work and might be his most unruly series to date as a lean runtime of just 25 minutes per episode forces him to move at a breakneck pace. There's a discussion to be had over whether the series should have exercised more restraint in certain scenes, but the story has packed enough emotional punch so far to instil faith in its approach.

Sky Rojo is streaming on Netflix from Friday 19th March. Take a look at the rest of our Drama coverage, or check out what else is on with our TV guide.