# Criminal: Spain (2019)

> A tense three-episode Spanish miniseries where detectives and suspects wage psychological games inside a single interrogation room.

Canonical page: https://ember.film/tv/79400

## Facts

- Seasons: 1
- Episodes: 3
- Episode runtime: 40 min
- Status: Ended
- Genres: crime, drama
- Created by: Jim Field Smith, George Kay
- Network: Netflix
- Cast: Emma Suárez, Jorge Bosch, Álvaro Cervantes, Inma Cuesta, María Morales, José Ángel Egido, Carmen Machi, Eduard Fernández
- TMDB rating: 6.9/10
- IMDb: https://www.imdb.com/title/tt10986050/

## Ember's analysis

- Pacing: brisk
- Intensity: strong
- Complexity: layered
- Violence: mild
- Tone: tense, claustrophobic, morally uneasy, intense

## What critics say

Critics and audiences found the interrogation-room format tense and well acted, though the mixed reception reflects uneven plotting and a modest audience rating.

## Synopsis

Criminal: Spain (2019) is a Spanish crime drama limited series created by Jim Field Smith and George Kay for Netflix. Its story unfolds almost entirely in a single interrogation room, where police detectives and suspects engage in a tense battle of wills. Emma Suárez plays detective María de los Ángeles Toranzo Puig, with Jorge Bosch as Carlos Cerdeño Varona and Álvaro Cervantes as Rai Messeguer Ortiz, and Carmen Machi and Eduard Fernández also appear in principal roles. The engine of the series is the investigators' need for answers, pressing suspects with psychological pressure while the search for the truth gradually exacts a moral price on everyone involved. Each of its three episodes of roughly forty minutes is built around a different case, with the room itself serving as the stage for every confrontation. The show is a compact, self-contained miniseries rather than a sprawling run, presented as a contained procedural piece. Its tone is claustrophobic, intense and morally uneasy, with a restrained visual register that keeps attention fixed on faces and words. Fans of Criminal (UK), The Killing and The Interrogation will find resonance in its procedural tension and dense, character-driven interrogations.

## Shows like Criminal: Spain

- [Bank Under Siege (2024)](https://ember.film/tv/153520)
- [The Snow Girl (2023)](https://ember.film/tv/135919)
- [Rapa (2022)](https://ember.film/tv/122114)
- [Ángela (2024)](https://ember.film/tv/149183)
- [Burning Body (2023)](https://ember.film/tv/147937)
- [Criminal: France (2019)](https://ember.film/tv/79407)
- [Riot Police (2020)](https://ember.film/tv/81038)
- [The Mess You Leave Behind (2020)](https://ember.film/tv/79783)
- [The Zone (2017)](https://ember.film/tv/64898)
- [You Would Do It Too (2023)](https://ember.film/tv/129567)

---

Site overview: https://ember.film/llms.txt