The Secret of the Greco Family (El Secreto de la Familia Greco) is a Mexican crime drama series released on Netflix on 4th November 2022. it is inspired by real events and based on the Argentine miniseries Historia de un clan, which tells the history of the Clan Puccio in Argentina. There are 9 episodes in total with a runtime of about 45-60 minutes.
The cast of the series includes Fernando Colunga, Lisa Owen, Manuel Masalva, Luis Machín, Rafael Ferro, Alejandro de Hoyos, Samantha Siqueiros, Roberta Damián, Antonio de la Vega, Delfina Chaves, Celina Font, Eliseo Barrionuevo, Guadalupe Docampo, Junior Pisanu, Ernesto Claudio, Juan Sorini, Iván Espeche, Camila Flamenco and Carola Reyna.
-The Secret of the Greco Family Review Does Not Contain Any Spoilers-
The story focuses on the Greco family, during the 1980s in Jalisco, Mexico, who under the facade of being a traditional family hide being a clan of criminals who kidnap, torture and murder their victims if they do not get the ransom they asked for. The head of the family is Aquiles Greco, a retired officer who is disciplined & authoritarian – the mastermind behind everything who is willing to do anything to maintain his family’s status.
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Marta Greco, his wife, is an ambitious woman who belonged to an affluent social class and was the key that allowed Aquiles access to certain circles of power and prestige. Together they have four children – Darío, Sabrina, Abril, and Andrés. The daughters with the mother are kept out of the criminal business, while both the sons have no choice but to follow what their father tells them.
Andrés is an exemplary son, who plays polo professionally in a team, which consists of some rich kids and he becomes the focal point of everything. The family is shown to be affected economically due to the bankruptcy of their business and even the Aquiles got into an accident when he was in the police force, which forced him to retire.
He was left with a limp, and the culmination of all the tragedies makes him very frustrated and twisted in the head. Although he appears to be a loving and caring person towards his spouse and children, yet there is an unusual tension among them. You feel that there is something strange but you can’t exactly put your finger on it.
The most bizarre thing is how everything happens in the open, yet no one seems to notice anything. The victims are held captive, right in their house’s bathroom and still, never get caught by their own family members. Andrés is the only one that thinks they are doing something wrong and being gentle with the captives. But there are moments where we realise, he might not be much different from his father or even more twisted than him, if he breaks out of his moral filter.
How the original Puccio family was like, is not known to me, but every character in this series is a bit strange. Is it in their blood or the surrounding influence that makes them like that, I can’t point out one member in the Greco family, who is completely ordinary and right in their head.
Summing Up: The Secret of the Greco Family
This collaborative series between Argentina and Mexico tells the story of a seemingly normal family on the outside, but if you take a closer look then you might not even want to associate with them. Fernando Colunga as the head of the Greco family is tremendous and will definitely captivate with his performance.
Manuel Masalva who plays the character of Andrés, also shines through as he portrays this character that goes through many stages and unique situations that tests him, while also shaping him. My only critique is if the hyper-sexualisation between the characters was really necessary for the story. Also, they could have explored the psyche of Aquiles a bit more, which would add more layers to the story than being a simple crime story.
Because from what I see, Aquiles has a lot going on in his head and if we tried to explore his mindset behind these heinous crimes, and forcing his family into everything, it would give a new perspective. Also, a man who put so much importance on trust and loyalty should have a better judgement of people, with whom he could work.
The Secret of the Greco Family is currently streaming on Netflix.
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