Habeas Corpus Review
Director: Luiz Villaça
Date Created: 2026-09-23 19:20
4
Habeas Corpus Review: Directed by Luiz Villaça, the Netflix Brazilian legal drama stars Marjorie Estiano as Inez and Any Gabrielly as Marina, alongside Marisa Orth, Natália Lage, Vladimir Brichta, Danton Mello and others. The series has eight episodes, each running roughly 60 to 70 minutes.
Habeas Corpus Review
Netflix’s Habeas Corpus revolve around Professor Inez, an eminent lawyer who has chosen a very different path in life after one tragedy that happened during the time she was working as a prosecutor in the courtroom. After many years, she decides to organise a team of students and try to review the conviction of a man named Jonathan, who claims that he is innocent of the murder for which he is serving time in prison.
Professor Inez thinks there is enough dirt in the investigation to make the habeas corpus petition in order to release Jonathan. But the case gets even more complicated as the previous law firm of Professor Inez is on the other side, and the student Marina has her own reasons to join the cause.
In the Netflix series Habeas Corpus, the characters Inez and Marina are not simply depicted as clear-cut heroes battling a clearly evil system. Inez seems like the seasoned professional with all of the right answers at first, but the further along the investigation proceeds, the more we understand how personal it is for Inez. The history of Inez makes the drive to solve this case important because it means something personal to her.
Marina, on the other hand, may be the most unpredictable character that I have ever come across. Marina is very clever, self-assured, and an expert at handling the situation to get the information that she wants. There are times when she can enter a discussion and create the impression she wants and leave with something tangible. Her hidden agenda, on the other hand, makes her hard to fully trust. This was one of the most fascinating things about her association with Inez because they both want to control the situation, albeit with different sets of information.
The two actresses mentioned previously are the main reason why this chemistry is effective. Marjorie Estiano makes Inez seem powerful and yet relatable without creating an emotional distance that she may experience during the process of investigation, where she has to recall certain aspects of her life. Any Gabrielly makes Marina edgier, and I enjoyed the way in which her confidence becomes her own downfall sometimes.
The core investigation is one more element providing Netflix Brazilian legal drama Habeas Corpus with the best material possible. The students do not just spend all their time studying the law books and expecting some evidence to be miraculously provided to them. No, they need to investigate, stalk, deceive people and cross ethical lines in order to gather evidence. This part I really enjoyed, since it makes an intriguing contrast, in my opinion. These students need to reveal an abuse of the legal system, but sometimes they need to break certain rules themselves.
However, in the Jonathan case, the situation evolves into something greater than just determining if a man killed someone. This investigation points out to issues such as problematic procedures, dubious confessions, police violence and the chance that an innocent person was convicted due to this. In addition to this, Jonathan is not portrayed as a perfect victim, and I found this to be rather interesting. Since he himself confesses that he is “no saint”, the issue of justice becomes much more complex. Being perfect is not a requirement for getting justice.
But this was also where some of my issues with the show started developing. The Habeas Corpus sometimes becomes so eager to maintain yet another secret that it fails to allow its most compelling storylines to flourish. The plot twists bring about an added dimension to the story, but at times, I was able to sense the anticipation of the authors to reveal yet another secret while the present twist hadn’t settled into place just yet.
The supporting characters also seemed to lack personal depth. This is because, while they play an important role in the film since they represent various views on Jonathan’s case, some seem to merge, while Inez and Marina maintain distinct personalities. There is much potential for developing personal motivations for these characters, but they are usually overshadowed by the main plotline.
Netflix Brazilian series Habeas Corpus also gets overly dramatic, especially when the individual’s personal secrets get in the way of the criminal investigation. In my opinion, the aspects of the courtroom and the criminal investigation were more intriguing than some of the personal drama because, really, there is inherent drama within the concept of challenging a conviction.
Nonetheless, after watching Habeas Corpus, it left me with a sense that there is more to appreciate about it than criticise. It has a solid case at the centre of the story, two great women at the helm, and enough moral dilemma involved to avoid falling into the good lawyer versus bad lawyer storyline cliché.
Netflix Habeas Corpus Review: Summing Up
Overall, however, the 2026 series Habeas Corpus is a largely positive show and, when at its most effective, a real page-turner, especially when Inez and Marina are handling the case. The one problem that I have with this show is that it sometimes plays too much on surprise while leaving certain characters behind. Nevertheless, the investigation and the difficult dynamic between the two main characters make the show interesting enough to watch. It is just unfortunate that this series never quite believed in itself and was always trying to surprise me.
