At the heart of all fantasy shows is the battle between good and evil. Think Buffy against the vampires or the Charmed Ones against the Source. The new Netflix Original Diablero hopes to give that age-old fantasy narrative a Catholic spin. Based on the book El diablo me obligó by F. G. Haghenbeck, this Mexico-set series is the brainchild of J.M. Cravioto, the director behind the horror thriller Bound to Vengeance and the singing criminal action flick El más buscado. It’s clear he’s brought the sensibility that fuels his films to bear on this modern fable about needing to ward off the devils around us.
The Spanish-language drama follows father Ramiro Ventura (Christopher von Uckermann), who ends up recruiting the work of a legendary diablero (devil-hunter) called Elvis Infante (Horacio García Rojas). Alongside Nancy, a young girl with supernatural powers (Gisselle Kuri) and Keta, a nurse with a painful past (Fátima Molina), they’ll set out to restore the balance between good and evil in a world that feels more and more consumed by the latter and wary of the former.
With hints of Grimm and those other aforementioned classic fantasy shows with a good bit of The Exorcist and Amores perros thrown in for good measure, Diablero looks to be a Catholic-inspired Supernatural for the 21st century. The trailer for the show gives us a look not only at the sermons father Ventura delivers in his mostly empty church, but at the spells and fights this unlikely group of do-gooders will partake in during the show’s freaky and gritty first season. Come for the playful banter between its attractive leads, but stay for the caged fighting scene featuring a giant scaly, flabby gross-looking demon.
Diablero is currently streaming on Netflix.