Muted Review: Muted (El silencio) is a crime-mystery-drama series created by Aitor Gabilondo, who also serves as the screenwriter and one of the directors, along with Gabe Ibáñez and Esteban Crespo. The cast includes Arón Piper, Manu Ríos, Almudena Amor, Aitor Luna, Ramiro Blas, Cristina Kovani, Aria Bedmar and Mikel Losada, alongside others. The Limited Series has 6 episodes, each with a runtime of around
– Muted Review Does Not Contain Spoilers –
Sergio Ciscar, after murdering his parents and getting incarcerated for 6 years, comes out of prison without having talked to anyone. Although a free man now, the authorities refuse to let go of their reign on them and assign a psychiatrist to watch him day and night secretly to determine his danger to society.
Muted starts off with a double murder and proceeds to his psychiatrist Ana being hellishly condescending and dumping a tonne of exposition like it’s no big deal. You’d expect people working on a “high profile” case like this would already be intimated with every small detail of the case. Still, Ana apparently deems it necessary to tell them (and, by extension, us) the fact that Sergio murdered his parents 6 years ago.
Funnily enough, the series, called Muted, follows Sergio, who hasn’t apparently talked to anyone in 6 years. But within the first 15 minutes, we are told that Sergio does talk, just not to the authorities. Which… I guess that’s fair. It’s not like he’s suffering from mutism or something. He just doesn’t want to talk to his annoying psychiatrist. It’s not some big secret that eventually explains a lot about his character in some episode. He’s just not mute, he doesn’t want to talk to you, sis.
Basically, the creators probably thought that the selective mutism thing would become too much to handle later on and got rid of it the moment the series started.
Anyway, the central question of Muted is why Sergio murdered his parents. But the series starts to introduce a ton of different things to pad the runtime and doesn’t do a very good job with them either. As you watch the series, you slowly start to realise that half of the things happening don’t have anything to do with the central plot and don’t take you anywhere near the answer that you are craving. At the core, the series is simple, and there’s not much to go on.
Also Read: Ile Owo Review: If it is a Fantasy Film, Where is the Lore?
It thus expertly jumps from one small thing to another and creates tension where there isn’t any. I must say, it is very easy to get sucked into the series, and it does get quite thrilling even when you’re not watching anything of much value. But even then, you can’t stop. Thus, if you’re in the mood for a binge that doesn’t really need too much of your attention, Muted can be a pretty interesting watch.
Either way, Ana is the interesting character here – don’t let them fool you that Sergio is the main man. It’s clear from the first minute of the series that she has some vested interest in this, and for some reason, the moment Sergio’s name is taken, no one picks up on it. Like, she practically always acts emotionally the moment Sergio’s name is taken, so I don’t know why no one does anything about it. Either way, you can figure out who she is quite early on, and her actions just make it so uncomfortable to watch as a viewer.
I am also left to ask why the police or the authorities are going to this extent to figure out Sergio. It just seems fantastical to think that buckets of money were thrown at this “experiment” when it would’ve been easier and more cost-effective just to keep him in jail as long as they couldn’t determine Sergio’s mental state and whether he is prone to violence or not. I mean, anything would’ve been better than this – this just seems like a human rights violation lawsuit waiting to happen. It’s just a plot for the sake of a plot, it feels like.
The abuse that we see is quite uncomfortable in nature as we move towards the end. But the series still feels like it’s trying to push these horrible things towards us for the shock factor and that there is no real depth. It’s just all quite fantastical, and it pushes the scope of believability to a point where you are forced to feel some sort of way.
Anyway, coming to the characters – honestly, everyone will simply push you over the edge with their horrible decision-making and, frankly, childish behaviour. The only person you will feel some sort of sympathy for is Sergio, and you will root for him to find his sister once and for all. But, other than that, everyone is just plain stupid or infuriating. No one is worth spending time getting to know, although the series tries to give them ample backstories for us to feel something for them. At the end of the day, people are either backstabbing each other or ruining stuff for themselves and others.
Coming to Ana once more, she is the only complex character that I really wanted to know more about – what are her motivations and reasons for her obsession? Who is she to him? Is she in love? Or is she just another person in love with a criminal? Or is there something more there that we don’t get to know? The teases us with the question throughout and gives us an answer in the last episode.
In the end, the series just goes wild, and it’s honestly quite entertaining. It’s fantastical and all, but it’s really entertaining nonetheless. The truth spins things on its head like you’d expect it to, and honestly, it’s fun. I don’t hate it, but the way the series showcases the other 5 episodes takes away from the last one.
Muted Review: Final Thoughts
Muted is a story about abuse and a brother’s desperate plea to reunite with his sister. It’s the only story in this very packed series that matters and the one that made me the least uncomfortable and most interested. Everything else is just unnecessary and problematic filler, to say the least. However, it is enjoyable in parts and sometimes doesn’t completely test your patience!
Muted is streaming on Netflix.
Also Read: Citadel Episode 5 Review: It Just Keeps Getting Worse!