Somos. review: Netflix drama contrasts characters' hopes with the real-life horror to come
The six-part drama is inspired by the real-life Allende massacre by one of Mexico’s most dangerous cartels.
In Spanish, ‘somos’ means ‘we are’. It’s also the title of upcoming Netflix drama “Somos.”, styled with the full-stop so that it feels like an assertion. In this case, the ‘we’ represents the ensemble of fictional characters in the series, whose stories are inspired by hundreds of real-life testimonies.
“Somos.” is the untold story of Allende, Coahuila, a Mexican town close to the Texas border. In March 2011, the town suffered a massacre by one of Mexico’s most dangerous cartels, in response to an infiltration by the DEA (Drug Enforcement Administration). The series draws inspiration from the ProPublica investigation (read more about the Somos. true story).
Allende is a ranching town. At the end of episode one, set three months before the March massacre, DEA agents look at Google Maps images of the town's quiet, deserted roads. They can’t get their heads around the idea of a cartel setting up base somewhere so sleepy and small-town as Allende.
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“What the hell is in Allende?” one agent asks his colleague. “By the looks of it, nothing,” she responds.
At the start of the episode, we see the beginning of the devastation and killings, before jumping back in time three months. As in the case of most small towns, the ensemble of characters we meet (played by a mixture of professional and non-professional actors) are all somehow connected. A tough street-vendor is mother-in-law to a jobless young father, Paquito (whom we see among cartel members in the flash-forward at the start of the episode). The street-vendor’s daughter works for a local vet, Erika. And Erika’s brother-in-law is a firefighter, Chema, three years sober and part-time soccer coach to Nancy, a whip-smart teen and the only young woman on the school soccer team.
Almost everyone we meet is clinging on to some kind of hope. Sex worker Flor Maria hides money from clients in the hopes of escaping. Her client and minder Benjamin (who seemingly works with the cartel) hopes to find love. Paquito hopes to earn a little money and prepare for the birth of his second child; while Nancy, a feminist, hopes to prove herself on the playing field.
But there is a mysterious darkness always on the periphery; an unspoken truth or edge to almost every interaction.
Anselmo, a rancher, is beset by an unnamed group who want his land; but he won't sell. He seems unsurprised when his vet, Erika, cannot explain why his cattle are suddenly ailing (the “lazy herd” that gives the episode its title, “La manada floja”).
When Erika sends off a sample to a lab, she gets a phone call revealing that the cattle have been fed a synthetic poison - but the full report won’t be sent to her, and no explanation is given by the caller. When she arrives at the ranch, a teary-eyed Anselmo is standing in his field, shotgun in hand. His cattle are all dead, their carcasses set on fire. It’s a grisly foreshadowing of what is to come.
The town massacre does not take place until episode six, the series finale. But even in episode one, we get a sense of the culture of silence and fear already established; of the cartel’s growing influence; and of the hundreds of lives and hopes that will be extinguished by the season’s end.
Somos. is released on Wednesday 30th June 2021 on Netflix. Looking for something else to watch? Check out our guide to the best series on Netflix and best movies on Netflix, visit our TV Guide, or take a look at the rest of our Drama coverage.
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