The red overalls and Salvador Dali masks worn by the breakaway gang members on the series have become popular at costume parties and street protests around the world Netflix
The New York Times praised the series and its twists as “a joy in every way”.
Netflix will release the last five episodes of its Spanish smash series “Money Heist” on Friday, which opened the door to other non-English language series on streaming services.
The thriller about a gang of thieves and their elaborate robberies was created by Spain’s private Antena 3 network and became the most watched non-English series after the show was released in December 2017.
The fate of the robber characters, who all have aliases from cities around the world, wowed audiences even in the United States, who were not used to synchronized shows at the time.
The New York Times praised the series and its twists as “a joy ride in every way,” while the Israeli newspaper Haaretz described it as “seriously engaging.”
The red overalls and Salvador Dali masks worn by the breakaway gang members on the series soon became popular at costume parties and street protests around the world.
“This is the first non-English language series that has become a global phenomenon,” said Elena Neira, professor of communication studies at the Open University of Catalonia.
Thanks in part to the show’s success, Netflix and its competitors “realized they didn’t have to produce everything in the United States” in order to reach global audiences, she added.
Netflix soon scored points with other non-English language series such as the French thriller “Lupine” and the South Korean dystopian drama series “Squid Game”, which became the platform’s most-watched series of all time that year.
‘High risk of addiction’
The script for “Money Heist” is “not revolutionary”, but tells “a very universal story of the struggle between good and evil … with messages about the power of women, camaraderie and the need to rebel,” said Neira.
“Lupine” shares many of the show’s characteristics, such as a focus on a thief with “a certain moral” aspect who is “very intelligent,” she added.
“Money Heist” was also lucky enough to be picked up by Netflix shortly after the steaming service went live in more than 130 countries in January 2016 and spread its coverage almost all over the world except China.
Netflix’s recommendation algorithm also favors series like “Money Heist,” which end in a cliffhanger and are “highly addicting,” said Alberto Nahum Garcia, professor of audiovisual communications at the University of Navarra.
“There was a sort of alignment of the planets at a time when the distribution was becoming even more global,” he added.
Neira said the show also benefited from the U.S. streaming giant’s willingness to invest heavily to dub shows in dozen of languages and add subtitles.
Launch pad for Spain
The worldwide success of “Money Heist” has also given Spain’s audiovisual sector a huge boost.
“It has brought Spain’s industry to a place we never dreamed it could be,” said the show’s creator, Alex Pina, at a press conference in Madrid on Tuesday to mark the second part of the fifth and final season of the Apply series.
Netflix signed a deal with Pina in 2018 to produce new series and projects exclusively for the streaming giant.
And the following year it opened its first European production center in Madrid, part of a multi-million dollar investment in Spanish-language content.
“Money Heist” showed that “Stories can be created anywhere in the world and appreciated anywhere in the world,” said Netflix’s vice president of content for Spain and Portugal, Diego Avalos, to AFP.
Several “Money Heist” stars have become regulars on other Netflix shows.
Jaime Lorente, who plays the quick-tempered robber Denver, and Miguel Herran, who plays the young hacker Rio, appear in the teen drama Elite, another Spanish hit.
Netflix CEO Reed Hastings said it was “amazing” to see Spanish series like “Money Heist” and “Elite” “win the hearts of fans not just in Spain but around the world”.
“Our goal is to be part of the Spanish creative ecosystem. We invest for the long term, ”he added at the opening of the company’s production center in Madrid.
