Blackout ★★★★
Address: Rodrigo Sorogoyen, Raúl Arévalo, Isa Campo, Alberto Rodriguez and Isaki Lacuesta
Distribution: Luis Callejo, Maria Vazquez, Zoe Arnao, Patricia Lopez Arnaiz
Country: Spain
Duration: About 45 minutes (5 episodes)
Year: 2022
Gender: Drama
Premiere: September 29, 2022 (Movistar Plus +)
What would a society look like if a planet wide upheaval forced a rapid shift in everyday life? A crisis where energy, food, and basic services become scarce is a scenario that invites comparisons to a modern-day collapse. Yet Blackout sidesteps neat references and earns its own identity as a Spanish-language anthology that threads five standalone visions into a single, cohesive mosaic. Each episode bears the fingerprints of a renowned Spanish director and typically collaborates with a trusted screenwriter, producing a shared, raw realism while exploring distinct textures, tones, and even genres.
From the outset the series leans into plausible authenticity. Rather than presenting an unexplained disaster, it situates the audience in a world where the consequences of a solar storm ripple through communications networks and energy grids. The opening episode, Negación, directed by Rodrigo Sorogoyen and written with Isabel Peña, signals the scale of the threat by examining a solar event that could disable key infrastructure globally. Ernesto, a deputy director at Madrid’s Civil Protection and Emergency Unit, urges his superiors to adopt swift measures, only to face resistance from officials swayed by political calculations. Sorogoyen’s camera follows the unfolding tension with a kinetic, virtuosic pulse as private interests collide with public duty.
duel for civilization
The narrative arc frames Denial as the first stage of a larger clash for civilization as it is known. Emergencia, directed by Raúl Arévalo and co-written with Fran Araújo and Alberto Marini, pushes the story into the hospital corridors and power voids created by the outage. The episode examines how hospitals adapt when medications run dry, generators falter, and staff are overwhelmed. The ethical dilemmas resemble the hardest moments many remember from the most trying public health crises, inviting viewers to witness the strain on triage decisions and the surge of anxiety that accompanies life-and-death choices. The handheld camera captures both sparks of tension and brief, luminous instances of human resilience in a high-stakes environment.
Confrontación, directed by Isa Campo and co-written with Fran Araújo, shifts the focus to urban life disrupted by confinement and a shifting sense of safety. The cast follows a cast of young characters as they navigate a new normal that blends protectiveness with a restless energy. Zoé Arnao delivers a grounded performance that leans into the unsettling mood of a world on edge, while the episode hints at the eerie undertones that can accompany rapid social change. The story threads a careful balance between innocence and the pressures of a community under strain, hinting at the darker edges of a society trying to reboot itself.
Alberto Rodríguez, known for his atmospheric tension, returns with Survival, co-written with Rafael Cobos. This installment leans into suspense and frontier aesthetics as a veteran shepherd encounters a group of urban dwellers seeking a dispersed flock amid a landscape shaped by scarcity. The visual language emphasizes a rugged, sun-bleached setting where danger is both literal and metaphorical. The ensemble cast moves through the terrain with a sense of lived-in grit, underscoring how tradition collides with a modern world unprepared for long-term disruption. The natural scenery itself functions as a central character, shaping choices and fates on a harsh stage.
The fifth segment shifts toward a quieter, more contemplative mood. Equilibrio, a title that echoes acceptance without surrender, introduces Isaki Lacuesta and the writing team of Isa Campo and Fran Araújo. Alicia, portrayed by María Vázquez, returns to her family’s rural farm after a prolonged absence. She encounters a crew of seasonal workers stranded by the blackout, and the silence that follows a catastrophic event becomes a canvas for reflection rather than loud action. This final chapter offers a sense of delicate restoration, suggesting that after a storm there can be a measure of peace, a chance to reset and reconsider how life is lived in the aftermath of upheaval.
Across its five installments, Blackout weaves a tapestry of human responses to crisis. It explores leadership under pressure, the moral cost of rapid decision-making, and the small acts of solidarity that emerge when systems falter. The anthology format allows each director to probe a different facet of survival, from policy and emergency response to intimate, family-centered reckonings. The result is a multi-voiced meditation on resilience and the quiet hope that, even amid a breakdown, communities can find an equilibrium that preserves dignity and humanity. Each episode reinforces the idea that the fight is not merely about keeping the lights on, but about maintaining the social fabric that makes life worth living.
In the broader conversation about modern crises, Blackout stands as a robust addition to contemporary drama that refuses to pretend events happen in isolation. It grounds its drama in credible professional perspectives and places ordinary people at the center of extraordinary circumstances. The work invites viewers to consider how preparation, adaptability, and empathy can shape outcomes when a society is pressed to its limits. Overall, the series presents a provocative, humane portrait of a culture grappling with the possibility of a long, dark night and the stubborn light that persists within people when confronted with the unknown.