The Most Beautiful Flower (La Flor Más Bella) is the latest Mexican teen comedy series, released on Netflix. It is created by Michelle Rodríguez and Fernanda Eguiarte Hernández. The show is directed by Salvador Espinosa and Rodriguez and is executive produced by Jaime Daìvila, Diana Mejiîa-Jones, and Wendy Cortez.
The cast of the series includes Esmeralda Soto as Mich, Isabel Yudice as Yadi, Alicia Vélez as Tania, Michelle Olveraas as Brenda, Luis Fernando Peña as Fer, Germán Bracco as Dani, Tadeo Tovar as Mati, Ishbel Bautista as Majo, Luisa Huerta as Grandma and Angélica Rogel like Dr Hilda, Gael García and Ivanna García.
There are 10 episodes in total with a runtime of about 30-39 minutes and is said to be is inspired by comedian and co-creator of the show, Michelle Rodríguez’s experiences during her teenage years. The creators want to convey a message about the importance of taking down labels, believing in yourself, and learning how to shine in your unique way to achieve your dreams.
Netflix’s description of the series reads:
Curvy, curly, confident Mich knows she’s fabulous. Now she just has to convince everyone else at her Xochimilco high school to believe it too.
-The Most Beautiful Flower Review Does Not Contain Any Spoilers-
Mich is a fabulous and hopelessly unique teenager who tries to survive high school through love entanglements, social expectations and family traditions while continuing her mission to be popular. She is always filled with a lot of motivation and self-confidence and only needs other people to see her in the same light as well.
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The series starts off with our lead dreaming about her perfect life, where she is the centre of attention and admiration in everyone’s eyes. Even after waking up, she seems delusional, as she keeps on talking to people even when they are not even looking at her or know about her existence.
For the most part, the story is the same, where one girl who feels outcasted and out of the social loop, wants to climb the ladder and hang out with the popular peeps. All in all, she wants some genuine attention and to feel validated about being a unique personality. The difference here is that the most popular queen of the school is actually her cousin and the guy of her dreams is already hiding in her closet.
In a sense, she has got most of the things that an actual outcast would aspire for, but the real problem is that she doesn’t see it in herself. And like many teen series, the protagonist loses her focus on the people and things that are truly important and gets herself mixed up in all kinds of messy situations, where her estranged friends will be the final resort for help.
Also, the show wouldn’t be complete if they didn’t show the ‘n’ number of suitors, who are now in love with the newly popular girl. During the initial episodes, I was hopeful that this selfish and obnoxious girl will get some sense by the end of the series. But I was so wrong! In terms of character development, I believe there is none.
We have seen the show creators making the best friends of the main lead, more like background characters or needed for some punchline, in between. But Mich is different, in her life her friends are already the background characters that help her shine in the crowd. If anything they have got it right – is the teen angst and rebellious phase, where they will do everything opposite of what their families say, even when they know that the family is right.
Summing Up: The Most Beautiful Flower
La Flor Más Bella is actually a beauty pageant which celebrates indigenous beauty and features and I expected the series to go in that direction – to reject popular notions and to accept and love oneself, as they are. But with an obscure ending like the series had, if they don’t have a second season after this, then it will just be a story of a vain girl, who wants everything but can’t decide what she really wants, ever.
In terms of cinematography, the series is visually appealing with the right mix of catchy music but the flow of the story and characters might be a letdown. Overall, if you enjoy the same old teen drama then you might like it but not so sure about how it ended with no resolution.
The Most Beautiful Flower is currently streaming on Netflix.
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