multiple scenes The longest night, the new Netflix series, is deeply claustrophobic. In fact, much of the series plays with the concept of suffocating spaces to tell a fast-paced and uncomfortable story. After all, the story tells about what happened in one night. And he does this out of a feeling that every decision, action and even inaction is a direct path to danger. When not to violence and death. It’s a big narrative risk that puts the series in a strange state of sustained tension throughout its chapters.
As if that wasn’t enough, it also delves into the idea of evil, goodness, and ethics while its characters struggle to make an unthinkable decision. Or at least doubtful differently.. The longest night the usual question is asked of how to respond to an impossible premise that overwhelms all origin characters. And this, in fact, can be understood as a broad and uncomfortable idea of the perception of the inevitable.
How do we react to an opportunity that tests our decision to give up or fight? When a group of mercenaries attempt to take over the mental prison of Monte Baruca by force, the plan they implement seems to have no weaknesses. In the end, it’s about isolating the building – and they succeed – as well as using all the resources at their disposal to ensure that the assault achieves its goal. Everything, and New Year’s Eve passes and the whole prison is in the midst of inevitable isolation.
The longest night: battle for survival against the clock
And what is the purpose of such a brutal operation? Simon Lago (Luis Callejo), a vicious and violent serial killer who is imprisoned. The fact that some kind of brutal mission is driving the storming of the prison gives the whole plot a new meaning. What can you expect from a group trying to catch a ruthless criminal? The longest night explores the idea of confrontation between two main evils. After all, in addition, the operation against the criminal carries a simple warning. If Hugo (Alberto Ammann), the director of the prison, doesn’t obey a hidden ultimatum, the violence will be even worse.
That is exactly what is happening. In fact, confrontation is inevitable, and both outside and inside the prison there is an immediate sense of extreme danger. The scenario, however, does not cause consequences, and what is obvious does not happen. And this is exactly what makes The longest night unpredictable. The director and the rest of the prisoners are ready to resist the siege as long as they can. The attackers will force to the last consequences to create an incapacitated situation.
Between two things the series will show to what extent (and from what place) the characters will have to make difficult decisions. Some are irrational, others are inevitable. And all this in the midst of hectic action and a constant feeling that conflict is about to happen and will eventually devastate both those who resist and those who attack. The formula that allows The longest night think of the tension, anguish, and overwhelming sense of urgency that drives her to perform her best scenes.
Gear in motion against the terrifying sense of urgency
One of the most interesting moments The longest night, it is his ability to analyze his characters in nuances. The script may not show heroes and villains from a simple point of view. But the argument takes the trouble to outline a number of nuances that complicate the situation it posits.
The prison warden refuses to obey not out of principle and not out of uncompromising honesty. In fact, behind the seeming respectability of Ammann’s character lies a lot of selfishness and wounded vanity. A duality of great interest that gives the character his best moments.
On the other hand, Simon Lagos is a disturbing character and the center of all the plot tension. And it’s this manipulative and brutal serial killer’s ability to take horror to a personal level that gives The longest night unique identity. A play of power that will make horror manifest itself in unexpected and ultimately surprising ways. The high point of an insane premise that manages to keep the pulse going until the last scene.
