Sky Rojo

Sky Rojo(transl.RedLeatherette)is a Spanishblack comedyactiondramatelevision series, created byÁlex PinaandEsther Martínez Lobato[es]. The series traces threeprostituteswho flee from theirpimp. According to the creators, the series shows "the impunity, ambiguity and brutal reality of prostitution, and the psychological portraits of those on both sides of the scale."Pina and Martínez Lobato have described the series as "Latinpulp."
Produced byVancouver Mediaand distributed byNetflix, the series premiered on 19 March 2021. Two seasons of eight 25-minute episodes each were announced.The series' second season premiered on 23 July.The third and final season was released on January 13, 2023.
Coral, Wendy, and Gina, three prostitutes, go on the run in search of freedom while being chased by Romeo, theirpimpfrom Las Novias Club inTenerife,and hishenchmen, Moisés and Christian.Together, the women embark on a frantic, chaotic journey during which they must face dangers of all kinds and live every second as if it were their last, while strengthening their friendship and discovering the most important thing: that together they are stronger and have more options to recover their lives.
Filmed on location inMadridandTenerife,Sky Rojowas produced by Vancouver Media for Netflix.Álex Pinaand Esther Martínez Lobato are the creators and executive producers ofSky Rojoalongside Jesús Colmenar, with support from co-executive producers David Barrocal, Migue Amoedo andDavid Victori[es]. The original series is directed by Jesús Colmenar, Óscar Pedraza, David Victori, Albert Pintó, Javier Quintas andEduardo Chapero-Jackson. The scriptwriting team is made up of Álex Pina, Esther Martínez Lobato, David Barrocal, David Oliva, Javier Gómez Santander, Juan Salvador López and Mercedes Rodrigo. Migue Amoedo has taken the lead as cinematographer alongside David Azcano and David Acereto, while Juan López Olivar and Cristina López Ferraz are heading up production management.
Filming began inMadridon 18 November 2019,and later moved toArico,Tenerife.Filming was set to move toCastilla–La Manchain early 2020 and take place there for approximately four months.However, the project was delayed by theCOVID-19 pandemicand filming continued in October 2020 in Madrid.While set in the south of Tenerife, the shooting location of Las Novias club was an estate nearHuerta de Valdecarábanos,province of Toledo.
The series is set to last two seasons of eight 25-minutes episodes each. In a joint statement, the creators said: "We wantedSky Rojoto have the same frenetic action as always, but to use that 25-minute runtime to underline the dynamic nature of the plot: the getaway, the race for survival. The third act of a movie or an episode is where all the energy converges to produce the most vibrant explosion of all the conflicts that are being narrated. What we set out to do was to make a constant third act, to funnel our entire story through that frenzied energy".
On 19 January 2021, it was announced via ateaser trailerthat the series' first season would premiere exactly two months later, on 19 March. The series' official trailer was released on 2 March 2021.
The second season ofSky Rojowas filmed before the first season even premiered. As with the former, the second season also consisted of eight episodes of around 25-five minutes each.On 29 March 2021, it was announced that the second season would premiere on 23 July 2021.
On 12 August 2021, it was announced that the series had been renewed for a third and final season.Asier Etxeandia, who plays Romeo, confirmed that the season was scheduled to begin filming in November 2021.In February 2022,Lali Espósito, who plays Wendy, announced inEl HormiguerothatRauw Alejandrowill appear on the third and final season ofSky Rojo.
During its premiere weekend,Sky Rojowas the fourth most watched show on Netflix globally, and the most watched non-English language show in the world.It also was the most watched show in Argentina, Spain, Brazil, Colombia, Cyprus, the Dominican Republic, Greece, Israel, Jamaica, Paraguay, Switzerland, Turkey, Uruguay, and Venezuela, while reaching the top ten in sixty-one countries.
American business magazineForbesreported thatSky Rojowas the most watched show in Spain the day after its release, outperformingDisney+'sThe Falcon and the Winter Soldier(the platform's most-watched series premiere ever during its opening weekend) in that territory. According toTV Time, early performance data forSky Rojoduring its release weekend, from 9 March to 21 March, showed that the series entered the Top 5 for most-watchedsubscription video on demandoriginals across key European, Middle Eastern, African and Latin American markets. Sheena Scott ofForbeswrote that "with Argentine superstarLali Espósitostarring in the series, it is no surprise that Sky Rojo also toppedNetflix's chart as the number one TV show in Argentina during its launching weekend". In the United States and the United Kingdom, however,Sky Rojonever entered the Top 10 TV shows chart on Netflix during its release weekend, despite receiving some favorable reviews from critics.
Sky Rojowas met with a very positive response from critics. Review aggregator websiteRotten TomatoesgaveSky Rojoan approval rating of 92% based on 13 reviews, with an average rating of 7.4/10.Multiple critics compared the series' cinematography with the films ofQuentin Tarantino.Elizabeth Vincentelli ofThe New York Timesdescribed the series as "sheer excess" for its "simultaneously minimal and over the top" plot.Ellen E. Jones ofThe Guardiangave the series' first season four stars out of five and wrote: "Sky Rojo'spunchy 25-minute runtime is never long enough to truly try the patience. Those wild cliffhanger endings should have you slamming "next episode" faster than Coral slams the accelerator at a busy intersection".NME's James McMahon gave the show three stars out of five and dubbed the show "cool" and "exciting", highlighting its "great music and solid performances".Juan Sanguno fromEl Paíswrote that "Sky Rojoturns every punch, every humiliation, and every threat into a triumph."
Sky Rojooften got compared toMoney Heist, with which it shared creators. In her review, Keyla Cobb ofDeciderwrote that those who lovedMoney Heistwill loveSky Rojosince "both dramas look gorgeously slick, perfectly crumpling their on-the-run characters enough to look worn but still sexy" while also singling out both shows' convergence in their "dedication to humanity". Cobb concluded that "Sky Rojofeels like a successor toMoney Heist". The reviewer also compared the series to other TV shows likeGood Girls,Big SkyandFargosince they all revolve around "panicked people who did something wrong and are now being chased by a nefarious force far more powerful than them".
Valerie Ettenhofer ofFilm School RejectshighlightedSky Rojo's"unique blend of dark humor, serious violence, and heightened drama". However, she wrote that the show is "neither as deep nor as clever as it thinks it is, but the thriller seems more concerned with being addictive than being perfect, and on that front, it succeeds". She criticized Moisés and Christian's "obnoxious amount of screen time" since "their frequent scenes are repetitive, unfocused, and not nearly as engaging as anything involving the women they're after", and that their scenes seem like mere "attempts to humanize the villains". Ultimately, Ettenhofer said that "Sky Rojo'sgreatest strengths are its lead [actresses and actors]".David Craig ofRadio Timeshighlighted Verónica Sánchez's "strong" performance and gave the show four out of five stars. Craig wrote: "on paper,Sky Rojosounds as if it should be a rather bleak affair but, for the most part, the series avoids becoming too heavy by balancing its serious themes with a pulpy sense of humour".Lali Espósito's performance was also singled out by many critics, with Trae Delellis ofMiami New Timesdubbing it as "mesmerizing and affecting".