Bank Under Siege, on Netflix, is a clumsily titled yet compelling series from Spain that is based on true events, in which a gang of masked attackers take over 200 hostages in the Central Bank of Barcelona.
Netflix will premiere Bank Under Siege, a thrilling Spanish criminal thriller drama, in November 2024. With its riveting narrative, dramatic acting, and fascinating criminal underground investigation, the series aims to captivate spectators.
Bank Under Siege could be the next big crime drama to captivate domestic and international audiences as Netflix expands internationally, especially in Spain, where Money Heist (La Casa de Papel) has become a global hit.
Bank Under Siege follows a daring bank heist that goes awry, resulting in a tense hostage scenario days later. A crew of professional crooks plan an apparently perfect theft. However, an unexpected police presence leads them to take drastic measures, including taking bank personnel and customers hostage.
Tensions inside and outside the bank rise as the hours pass. The crooks and cops bargain hard, but opposing interests, personal vendettas, and mounting desperation convert the theft into a psychological struggle. The series shows how greed, fear, and survival instincts ruin each individual.
The viewers’ entrance to the story is through a fictional rookie reporter named Maider (María Pedraza), who just moved to Barcelona. Her father, a veteran journalist, was assassinated a few years earlier, likely due to his coverage of the Basque conflict. She is paired with world-weary photographer Berni (Hovik Keuchkerian), who is a valuable asset to her. When the police get wind of a bank robbery in progress, they send Paco López (Isak Férriz), head of the robbery division, whose detective work pays off in the end. But the main character of Bank Under Siege is Numero Uno. He is a charming, ballsy, professional bank robber, who has been in and out of prison for said crimes. While he could be seen as simply an irreformable thief, he has an interesting back story that ties to some of the current political upheaval.
The government, worried that this is another coup attempt, immediately question whether the Civil Guards are involved, especially when Numero Uno demands that Tejero (Xavi Lite) be released from prison. As for how to handle the crisis, Prime Minister Calvo-Sotelo (Óscar Rabadán), demands that their response doesn’t risk losing any hostages, but General X (Tito Valverde) fears the government will look weak if they don’t storm the bank. Midway through the crisis, Lt. General Manglano (Roberto Álamo), newly appointed head of the CESID (CIA), arrives to counsel the Prime Minister. There’s something scary-calm about him, and he plays a greater role in the goings-on than they know.
Bank Under Siege is structured in way that reveals pertinent information as the series goes along, so we don’t really know the motivation for the heist until the last episode. This version of the story is Numero Uno’s, and if he is telling the truth, it’s pretty cynical. Understanding the general politics of post-Franco Spain is crucial, because the show assumes you know it. And that aspect really elevates it above your average hostage thriller. As with most series based on true events, there is a mixture of actual people and fictional characters who are used to move the plot forward or add drama. In this case, I didn’t think we needed Maider at all. If they would have consolidated her character into the Paco character, it would have given the show more of a cat and mouse feel. One beef I have is that the creators added a coda about how drug overdoses skyrocketed under democracy, which felt tacked on, like a different story altogether. But if you like a tense, complex thriller, Bank Under Siege is for you.
Beyond the Cinema's 