Just a few months back we got our first taste of Netflix’s upcoming Mexican political thriller Ingobernable, starring Kate del Castillo. Coming on the heels of more than a year of brewing expectation, Netflix threw us a bone with a fictional “Christmas message” from the president. While short on plot details, we did get a sense of the dysfunctional marital dynamics between our “ungovernable” protagonist and her pretty-boy politico of a husband; but it wasn’t until the official trailer dropped today that we got a sense of exactly how far this would take her.
The trailer kicks off with some of the context behind the couple’s marital difficulties: he promised her they would fight together for a better country, and apparently he lost some perspective along the way. Sounds like a pretty common relationship crisis, especially given the responsibilities on their collective shoulders, but then Mr. President’s body falls from a second-floor balcony and smashes through the top of a car, sending the First Lady on the run from a nationwide manhunt.
Yeah, that came out of left field, but now we can understand some of Netflix’s reticence in the build up to this momentous drop. With its driving, drum-heavy score and shots of high-tech intel command centers, the second half of the trailer definitely feels more NCIS than House of Cards, with a touch of one-woman-against-the-world vigilantism that would make Liam Neeson proud. Did she do it? Is it all an elaborate conspiracy? These questions should be more enough to keep us binging through the weekend.
And of course, sticking close to the Netflix brand, the production value is impressively cinematic, with plenty of helicopters, sweeping crane shots, and convincingly presidential set design. Actor Erik Hayser’s take on president Diego Nava still seems a bit stiff, but with IRL president Enrique Peña Nieto’s cardboard expressions, we’re open to taking this as an artistic choice. Worst case scenario, he seems to be out of the picture pretty early anyway.
Ingobernable premieres March 24, 2017 on Netflix worldwide at 12am CST.