THE BARRIER is a new Netflix sci-fi-series. It's from Spain (original title La valla) and the story certainly hits near home. It starts in the year 2020 but leaps rapidly to 2045, which does not bode well. Anyway, to most of us!
Before we start you shouldn't know too much about this series. Only let the story unfold and you'll be rewarded very quickly with an exciting tale.
With the events taking place in The Firewall, the creation of this series in a pre-Pandemic universe seems almost unlikely (or incredibly eerie). There is an infection that includes coughing and practically everything has been shut down.
Then a World War 3 hits and governments take over brutally and immediately followed by a 25-year time-jump.
We see Madrid as a functioning city in the year 2045, but it looks more like one wide back alley. There is also a wide wall (the barrier) in the center and life continues as normal on the other side. The virus still exists (probably the initial mutations), and fear of becoming sick is still prevalent, just as the hunt for a vaccine is.
Just as it’s the case with The Handmaid’s Tale, the various elements of the story in The Barrier are taken from the real world. From people spying on their neighbors to the symbols used by the military and the lies and propaganda on the one news channel allowed.
Plus, of course, the very current Pandemic issues we’re all-too-familiar with right now. Including cleanliness, curfews, and other limitations. It’s just incredibly creepy.
In many ways, The Barrier series on Netflix manages to do everything I desperately hoped (and even expected) from the Snowpiercer series. I was very disappointed with that one since it was overly dramatic and also lost touch with the gritty realism that made the movie work.
In The Barrier, this gritty realism is at the forefront and everything feels dangerously familiar and close in strange and uncanny ways.
Also, it doesn’t hurt that the characters feel so real and work incredibly well. The fact that mother and daughter are portrayed by real-life mother and daughter, Ángela Molina and Olivia Molina respectively, is a huge added bonus.
Ángela Molina has been in several Pedro Almodóvar movies and more recently in the Netflix movie Ánimas. Olivia Molina has been in a lot of TV series so there’s a good chance you’ll recognize her if you’ve watched other Spanish series. And also due to the fact that mother and daughter do look very similar.
Other key characters are portrayed by Daniel Ibáñez (Terminator: Dark Fate) and Unax Ugalde (Dario Argento’s Dracula 3D).
The Barrier was created by Daniel Écija who also co-created the extremely popular Spanish prison series Vis a vis. Various directors and writers have worked on The Barrier. In general, they all have quite impressive resumes of working on huge TV series, so it’s certainly a strong team.
Unlike most other Netflix series, The Barrier (also known as The Fence on IMDb) will release one episode each week. Season 1 has 13 episodes, so you’ll be along for the ride for some time, but after watching just one episode, you should be hooked.
Also, watching all of this in one sitting just might be a tad too depressing. Especially when considering what the real world looks like right now. It’s just downright scary and watching the events in The Barrier unfold just hits too close to home.
If you tend to enjoy these sci-fi takes on a near-future that shows how bad things could get, then The Barrier is definitely worth watching. Strong characters will get you hooked and the strangely familiar world should keep you watching.
Season 1 of The Barrier (La valla) premieres on Netflix on September 11, 2020.
