Daddy issues, mom issues, traumatic brain injury issues, international organized crime issues. . . Hulu’s first Spanish series, La Máquina, full of stories. Ostensibly a boxing legend with a crime thriller, the show falls under the weight of its story, making for a messy and often confusing viewing experience.
La Máquina begins with a devastating blow to Esteban “La Máquina” Osuna (Gael García Bernal), as he is knocked out in the first round of a blockbuster boxing match. His manager-slash-best friend Andy (Diego Luna, invisible under layers of makeup and prosthetics) is left to pick up the pieces of his career. After wheeling and dealing—and maybe stealing something—Andy was able to set up not only a rematch, but a world championship-level fight for Esteban.
However, Esteban is not yet in a position to reclaim the title; he’s still recovering from his previous injuries, and years of brainwashing and drug and alcohol abuse are taking their toll. It will take a lot of work to get him in the right head position and weight, but it doesn’t stop there. A shadowy, secretive, seemingly all-knowing organization that Andy worked with earlier in his career and Esteban are out to collect, and their demand for payment is for Esteban to throw a fight. If he doesn’t, Andy, Esteban and everyone they’ve ever loved will be killed. Yes!
La Máquina throws a lot of punches, but few ever really land. The plot points and story beats are extreme, whether it’s Andy’s terrible, dependent relationship with his mother (Lucía Méndez) or the decision of Esteban’s ex-wife Irasema (Eiza González, who delivers one of the best performances among the cast) to choose. his late father’s investigation into boxing match fixing. The writing becomes intense, and there is no time for any of these moments to linger and allow viewers and characters alike. The figures change so much and so often that it is difficult to take the drama seriously, and in only six episodes (which were provided to only five critics) the series tries to do too much.
It’s a shame too, considering it’s the first television collaboration of longtime creative partners Gael García Bernal and Diego Luna. The project has been in the works for more than ten years, with the actors serving as executive producers; in interviews and on social media, they expressed their love for boxing and that they wanted to do something about the sport. That love doesn’t really pay off—you won’t even find any professionally shot boxing matches here.
Instead, La Máquina he feels almost indulged in two talented actors: Luna gets to play a larger-than-life role, an actress who specializes in cosmetic surgery, and García Bernal takes on a role that is, in theory, sensitive and emotionally complex. García Bernal does well in bringing some of Esteban’s problems to life, such as the trauma-induced nightmares of an elderly boxer that provide a real window into his mind, but his character arc goes in so many different directions that it’s impossible to deal with.
La Máquina takes a real kitchen sink approach to its storytelling, extending the fascination every time. It is not enough for a criminal organization to fix the same just threaten the characters; the organization must again he has become part of an apparent international political conspiracy again in some way maybe it has something to do with Esteban’s relationship with his father. It makes very little sense the longer the series goes on, and it seems unlikely that the final episode would tie up the show’s many loose ends. It’s a really confusing watch, and will leave you scratching your head at how it got out of hand.
‘Here Máquina’ premieres on Hulu on October 9.
