A man at war with his own mind is the central character of HBO Latino’s new original series, El Hipnotizador. The one-hour episodic is set in a fictional Latin American city where both Spanish and Portuguese are spoken on a whim, and takes place some time after the turn of the century. It has the chilling mood and feel of a dark period piece and functions at the level of a psycho-analytic thriller.
Arenas, played by Emmy-nominated Argentine actor Leonardo Sbaraglia, is a hypnotist who suffers from insomnia. He’s secluded himself in a hotel room, where his days are filled with gruesome memories of a past that torments him. His arch rival is Darek, played by Mexican-born Brazilian actor Chico Diaz, who controls Arenas’s dreams and is to blame for his lack of rest. Given his powerlessness in the face of his own issues, Arenas focuses his energies on others’ problems through the use of hypnotism. The series includes a diverse cast from Brazil, Portugal, Spain, Argentina and Uruguay, and brings a much welcomed offering to the world of scripted content.
El Hipnotizador is based on a graphic novel by accomplished Argentine journalist, novelist, and screenwriter Pablo De Santis. It will run for eight episodes. Check out the trailer above and then thank HBO for providing us screen junkies with the first episode for free via their YouTube channel (below).
El Hipnotizador premieres on HBO Latino on April 1, 2016 at 10pm and will be available on HBO GO and HBO NOW.