City of Shadows Review
Director: Jorge Torregrossa
Date Created: 2025-12-13 02:37
3.5
City of Shadows Review: Directed by Jorge Torregrossa and adapted from the novel El Verdugo de Gaudí by Aro Sáinz de la Maza, this Spanish series Ciudad de sombras stars Isak Férriz and Verónica Echegui, with supporting turns from Ana Wagener, María Adánez, Manolo Solo, Marc Clotet and more. Each running around 50 minutes, the six-part crime thriller sets its story in a tense, unrestful Barcelona. It starts with the shocking, high-profile murder staged against one of the city’s most iconic Gaudí structures, bringing the suspended inspector Milo Malart back into duty alongside deputy Rebeca Garrido.
City of Shadows Review
Netflix’s City of Shadows depicts a tale that revolves around the investigations of a barred inspector, Milo Malart, and Rebeca Garrido, his newly appointed assistant, as they delve into an exceedingly shocking murder that puts Barcelona in the limelight just right away. An influential individual is murdered in a disturbingly symbolic manner, which triggers a sequence of events that will compel the law enforcement officers to explore not only the social wounds, institutional secrets and traumas that have been suppressed for a long time but also deep into the entire society’s past.
Isak Férriz spends a quiet, tired and reluctant weight on Milo Malart, right from the start man who has the entire burden of the past on his shoulders and is being made to look upon the new wave of horrors coming in his direction. His portrayal is very much subdued, but at the same time very deeply emotionally layered, making it a case of the gradual rather than the immediate building of the character relationship.
On the other hand, Verónica Echegui puts in Rebeca a sharp certainty and an earthy quality that makes the series, every time it leans too hard into a darker philosophical tone, come down to earth. With her, Milo’s more pensive side is cast in a stronger light; their pairing is one of the great assets of the show.
The rapport between the two leads is not electrifying, yet it is, simply, very realistic in a captivating manner. Their emotions are the mainstay of the plot, shared frustrations, occasional clashes and growing trust being the sources of such sustenance; one can even say the value of this centre grows as the investigation leads them to the recasting of their own lives.
Netflix series City of Shadows prides itself on thematic boldness: it brings forth the issues of abuse, institutional failures, and how society, through active neglect and corruption, not only tolerates the growth of monsters but actually creates them. It does not portray a clear division of black-and-white villains, but rather moves into the realm of moral ambiguity. And just when you are beginning to piece together the underpinnings of the wrongdoing, the plot guides you to the place of uncomfortable empathy. You may not agree with the violence, but you have no other option than to explore the system that gave rise to such a tragedy.
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This ambition sometimes works against it, however. At times, Spanish series City of Shadows tries to push in too many ideas, trauma, political influence, the abuse of power, and social unrest-all at once, and not all of them feel fleshed out. The show wants to say a lot, but with only six episodes, some arcs feel compressed, while certain character beats could have benefited from a little more breathing room.
City of Shadows series boasts one of its biggest strengths in atmosphere. It doesn’t use Barcelona as simply the place in which events take place but uses its architecture, mood, and energy as part of the storytelling. Every episode uses real locations thoughtfully, particularly those by Gaudí, to make something eerily beautiful. This is the contrast between the artistic architectural elements of the city and the committed crimes that give the story its noir flavour, to keep you visually engaged when the plot slows down.
And the cinematography is to be credited for it, too. From narrow alleys bathed in shadow to wide shots of iconic buildings, this aesthetic amplifies the show’s themes: corruption hidden under grandeur, trauma carved into people and places alike.
While the pacing is consistent and purposefully slow-burning, your mileage in City of Shadows will come down to your threshold for patience. The first episode sets up an intriguing premise, but sometimes the middle chapters hang a bit too long on introspective sequences or repetitive investigative loops. Tension tightens and loosens rather than remaining consistently taut, so viewers who like thrills to be fast-paced and chase-driven might find this series more meditative than thrilling.
That doesn’t make it dull, only familiar. The show follows many stylistic and thematic patterns already seen in popular European crime dramas. Corrupt institutions, detectives pushing back against the system, psychological scars manifesting through ritualistic crimes-it is all well-executed but not exactly new. What keeps it watchable is the emotional sincerity behind the characters’ journeys and the atmospheric world-building that rarely misses.
Suffice it to say, much of the latter stage of this season deals with the emotional and psychological fallout of the investigation. The reveal, motivations, and climactic sequences all feel very psychologically heavy without quite reaching the level of shock factor one might hope for with a series based on mystery. Rather than a real brain-twister of a plot twist, the show settles in for a more tragic, human-driven conclusion. To some, it will feel refreshing; to others, it may feel slightly underwhelming.
What does stay really potent, however, is the way trauma ripples down through generations, and how systems can fail those who most need their help. The weight of its ending feels earned, even if the execution could have been a lot sharper.
Netflix City of Shadows Review: Summing Up
With its emotional intensity and striking visual identity, City of Shadows is a powerfully performed, genre-elevating thriller. It sometimes doesn’t rise above the genre conventions that it banks on, though. At times, the pace feels slow, while the storyline relies on more or less familiar patterns of crime drama every now and then. Still, the performances, thematic depth, and haunting use of Barcelona’s architecture ensure it is well worth watching.
