The hit novels They have been one of the main sources of inspiration for both cinema and television for many years. After all, the producers prefer to have some certainty that the thing can succeed and little will give you more than knowing that this story has already connected with the public.
Then there will be times when they screw up to unimaginable extremes -let’s remember for example the unfortunate film ‘The Dark Tower’-, but it is more common for the opposite to happen. And everything makes me think that the adaptation of ‘The Snow Girl’ in serial form by Netflix It will be part of the successes. Why It may not be memorable, but it does engage and entertain throughout its six episodes.
The story captivates, its protagonist not so much
With the duo formed by Jesus Mesas Silva and Javier Andres Roig, who had previously collaborated on such esteemed series as ‘Vis a Vis’ or ‘I’m alive’, ‘The Snow Girl’ is a thriller in which the first thing that surprises you is the incredible missed opportunity on the part of Netflix. Because if the starting point is that a girl is kidnapped during the Three Kings ParadeWhy did you decide to delay its premiere until January 27?
They want to lose impact when they had it very easy on that side, because I am clear that if the novel of javier castillo, it was clear that ‘The Snow Doll’ would have been released during Thanksgiving week in the United States. And it is that the story originally took place there but for the occasion it has been decided to place it in Spain.
This point is something that is not too noticeable beyond the theme of the Three Kings Parade and the names of the characters, since one of the elements that the series expresses is that its thriller component has a clear universal component. There it is possible that some frictions have arisen in relation to the development of the investigation, but it is noticeable that here it is not so important to highlight the place of the events as the way to clarify the mystery surrounding Amaya’s disappearance.
For this reason, the strength of ‘The Snow Girl’ lies more in the development of the story than in the depth that it can give its protagonist. There they are all pieces that the writers are handling as best they can within the board and even the personal trauma of the character of a somewhat off Milena Smith it feels more like a way to create a side mystery than something to make Miren a compelling character.
All this can lead to the erroneous conclusion that I didn’t like ‘The Snow Girl’, but something curious happens here, and that is that many of the satellite characters are more interesting, like the suffering parents played by Loreto Mauleon (‘Homeland’) and Raul Prieto (‘Riot gear’). Of course, the series is more engaging when it focuses on the b-side of the story, since that is when the emotional factor is more satisfying because it strays a bit from the usual.
Complies but does not shine
And therein lies one of the keys, since there are moments in which ‘The snow girl’ feels a bit rigid in the narrative -there, for example, I think that what the character of Jose Coronado never stops working and the Aixa Villagran it’s too conventional-, I don’t know if because of the need to introduce certain elements or because it simply could have been done better.
Luckily, it’s not something that spreads like a cancer and ends up killing everything else, but it does limit its range. To put it clearly, ‘The Snow Girl’ is always entertaining enough for you to keep watching episodes almost without realizing it, especially since what it tells is engaging and several of the detours that arise are well planned and executed so that they are not mere mechanisms. narratives. there for example the forcefulness of how the second episode is settled is surprising.
This forcefulness is also applied in future chapters and Help ‘The Snow Girl’ not end up becoming another thriller to use. That is the main danger he faces in those less inspired situations but which in the long run work as a complement, perhaps not essential but effective so as not to get the idea that this story might have worked better as a movie.
For the rest, the good level that they exhibit Tristan Ulloa, Julian Villagran or, above all, Cecilia Freire in its characters helps to further raise the level of a series that meets its primary objective. What it lacks is that extra dose of inspiration to be more than a good suspense pastime, but at least it does have a lot more substance than ‘The Innocent’, which would be a bit like the Spanish equivalent of last year’s Netflix.
In short
‘The snow girl’ is not one of those series that is going to stay burned into your head, but there are specific scenes that you remember later, the mystery it poses hooks you and I never got bored. Of course I wish it had given me more, but what is there is enough to recommend it.
In Espinof: