In Prison Cell 211, a human rights lawyer finds himself stuck behind the walls when a deadly riot erupts in the Ciudad Juárez prison where he was visiting a client. Not great! The six-episode series from director Jaime Reynosa is based on Cell 211, the 2009 Spanish-French film starring Luis Tosar, and both draw from the original novel by Francisco Pérez Gandul; Prison Cell 211 was also inspired by a cartel-affiliated riot and prison break in Juarez in 2023. Can Juan Olvera (Diego Calva) adapt and survive as the riot thrives? Or will Calancho (Noé Hernandez), the boss of the riot, use the lawyer as a bargaining chip?
Opening Shot: Scenes of life inside Juarez’s Cereso No. 38 Prison. The sound of cell doors slamming, and a prison official on the loudspeaker: “Attention, inmates: visits will start soon.”
The Gist: Visits will indeed start soon, with separate windows of time for the facility’s warring inmate factions – the North Division Cartel on one side and The Mostros on the other – while at his home in Ojinaga, Chihuahua, Juan Olvera (Calva) prepares for his first meeting with an incarcerated client. “Are you stressing about your visit to the prison?” asks Helena (Ana Sofía Gatica), his very pregnant wife. And Juan definitely is. The prison is dangerous on a regular day. But he believes it’s important for a lawyer to look into the eyes of those he’s defending.
Inside, it is decidedly not a regular day. As the line of visitors slowly snakes through checkpoints, and Olvera is finally able to clear his client visit with the dismissive guards, an older prisoner named Calancho (Hernandez) and his accomplice Carajo (Roberto Duarte) gather their men, pistols, and a host of improvised weaponry as they prepare to attack. Their target? An imprisoned cartel accountant known as Baldor (Alejandro Puente), whose “cell” features internet access, TVs, booze, and even a woman taking a shower. Clearly not the same conditions as Calancho, Carajo, and the other North Division inmates, who live in squalor. That Calancho also had a non-aggression pact with Gándara (Gerardo Taracena), the prison’s warden, seems to have been forgotten.
“First time inside?” a guard asks Olvera. “Just stay calm and cooperate.” But while the lawyer meets with Flavio (Javier Escobar), his client and a flamboyant sort also known as “La Bomba,” Calancho and Carajo’s riot explodes in a sudden gout of violence. Guards are overpowered, rival inmates are shivved, and soon all of the prison’s visitors have been herded into a holding area. As Calancho kills the private security protecting Baldor, it becomes apparent that he wants to use the high-profile prisoner as leverage for his own aims. And as Olvera frantically assumes the identity of a dead inmate, it’s also apparent to the lawyer that he might not ever see his wife and unborn child again.
What Shows Will It Remind You Of? Prison Cell 211 director Jaime Reynoso is also a seasoned cinematographer – his work in that department has included the series Snowpiercer and The New Look. And you might recognize Prison Cell 211 star Diego Calva from Narcos: Mexico or even the strange, chaotic, and actually sorta wonderful 2022 film Babylon.
Our Take: It’s gotta be pretty difficult to envision safely getting out of your situation when it involves a bug-eyed inmate with a homemade flamethrower stalking you through a prison’s dank back hallways. While we already understood the stakes for human rights lawyer Juan Olvera – via early shots of his loving homelife with Helena, as they anticipate the birth of their first child – the experience of him entering the prison in Juarez is marked by a boiling tension that inevitably bubbles over. There is a pronounced sense of claustrophobia at work here, too, as Juan scrambles through tight spaces made even more unnavigable by the dead bodies of stabbed inmates. And also the long arm of corruption, which has nothing to do with him except for the fact that it contributed greatly to his current predicament. As the man with the propane flamethrower incinerates people right and left, we’re anticipating that Olvera will somehow use his wits to try and survive an ordeal where he barely knows the layout, what the various players want, or who they are willing to destroy in service to their motives.
We’re also anticipating more of Calancho. The leader of the prison riot is introduced as someone as cerebral as he is dangerous, with actions informed by both revolutionary texts and his religious beliefs. Calancho’s bound to be interested in what Olvera can offer him, even as the lawyer tries to subvert his identity in order to survive. That emerging relationship, and the prison interiors lit in garish fluorescents when they aren’t reflecting off burning flesh, are keeping us in this as Prison Cell 211 unfolds.
Sex and Skin: None.
Parting Shot: It seems like the prisoners were already running this facility, even before the riot began. Will Olvera’s ruse to blend into its general population get sniffed out by the instigators of the violence?
Sleeper Star: Noé Hernandez is an immediately compelling presence in Prison Cell 211 as Calancho, a veteran inmate who seems to be as inspiring to his followers as he is deadly to his enemies.
Most Pilot-y Line: Calancho also knows how to deliver a rousing speech. “Apparently loyalty doesn’t carry the same weight for them as for us. If you talk, they’ll kill you and your family. And if you don’t talk, oh well. They let you rot. Those cabrones: they will listen to us!”
Our Call: Stream It. Prison Cell 211 is working with violence and claustrophobia in equal measure as its lawyer with a heart of gold finds himself embroiled in a prison riot he has nothing to do with. We’re interested in how he might get out safely. But we’re even more interested in who he meets on the inside, and how his presence will affect a dangerous situation.
Johnny Loftus (@glennganges) is an independent writer and editor living at large in Chicagoland. His work has appeared in The Village Voice, All Music Guide, Pitchfork Media, and Nicki Swift.
