# Kissing Game (2020)

> In a isolated Brazilian ranching town, a mysterious kissing disease strikes teenagers and sets families into panic.

Canonical page: https://ember.film/tv/87951

## Facts

- Seasons: 1
- Episodes: 6
- Episode runtime: 40 min
- Status: Ended
- Genres: drama, mystery
- Created by: Esmir Filho
- Network: Netflix
- Cast: Caio Horowicz, Iza Moreira, Michel Joelsas, Denise Fraga, Thomás Aquino, Luana Nastas, Esther Tinman, Kevin Vechiatto
- TMDB rating: 6.1/10
- IMDb: https://www.imdb.com/title/tt11131962/

## Ember's analysis

- Pacing: measured
- Intensity: strong
- Complexity: layered
- Violence: mild
- Tone: tense, melancholic, intimate, claustrophobic, provocative

## What critics say

Audience reception is negative, with viewers finding the mystery-disease premise compelling in its rural Brazilian setting but the execution and payoff uneven.

## Synopsis

Kissing Game (2020) is a Brazilian scripted drama mystery series created by Esmir Filho for Netflix. Set in a rural, isolated ranching community, it follows a high school where teenagers begin to contract a mysterious illness that spreads through kissing. The engine of the show is the fear that moves through town: families panic, parents and neighbors search for someone to blame, and the young characters, including Alex Nero (Caio Horowicz) and Franciele 'Fran' Viga (Iza Moreira), must navigate their own desires while the adults around them turn against them. Chico Malta (Michel Joelsas) and Guiomar Araújo (Denise Fraga) embody the pressure of family and reputation. Each of the six roughly forty-minute episodes tightens the grip of the outbreak, mixing teen drama with a mystery about what is spreading and who is responsible. It is a self-contained limited series rather than a long-running saga. The mood is tense, intimate and melancholic, with a claustrophobic small town atmosphere and a sharp undercurrent of prejudice. Fans of Skins, Stranger Things and Heartstopper will find resonance in its blend of adolescent intimacy, social dread and community paranoia.

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