# An Unknown Enemy (2018)

> A ruthless Mexican secret police chief manipulates, betrays and kills on his climb toward the presidency, sacrificing even his own family.

Canonical page: https://ember.film/tv/70332

## Facts

- Seasons: 2
- Episodes: 14
- Episode runtime: 50 min
- Status: Returning Series
- Genres: drama, crime, history
- Created by: Gabriel Ripstein
- Network: Prime Video
- Cast: Daniel Giménez Cacho, Fernando Becerril, Antonio de la Vega, Hernán del Riego, Karina Gidi, Kristyan Ferrer, Arturo Echeverría, Enrique Arrizon
- TMDB rating: 8.0/10
- IMDb: https://www.imdb.com/title/tt8946436/

## Ember's analysis

- Pacing: brisk
- Intensity: strong
- Complexity: dense
- Violence: brutal
- Tone: cold, tense, paranoid, morally corrosive, sober

## What critics say

Audiences rate the series positively, praising its portrayal of political ambition and its dark, morally corrupt protagonist.

## Synopsis

An Unknown Enemy (2018-2022) is a Mexican political drama series created by Gabriel Ripstein and produced by Televisa for Prime Video. Daniel Giménez Cacho plays Fernando Barrientos, head of the National Security Directorate, Mexico's secret police, who is determined to reach the highest office in the country. Fernando Becerril, Antonio de la Vega and Karina Gidi appear among the principal cast, with Gidi playing Esperanza Barrientos, a figure whose life is pulled into the chaos of his ambition. The engine of the series is Barrientos's relentless climb, in which every step requires manipulation, betrayal and killing, and every obstacle threatens the people closest to him. Across two seasons totaling fourteen episodes, the story unfolds as one continuing arc rather than standalone cases, with each installment tightening the grip of paranoia around the household and the state. Set in the Mexico of the 1960s and 1970s, the series gives its politics the texture of a historical period piece, with shadowy offices, backroom deals and the constant threat of exposure. Its tone is cold, tense and morally corrosive, a sober study of power that offers no comfort. Fans of House of Cards, Narcos and Succession will find resonance in its portrait of a calculating operator who sacrifices everything for control.

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