The Usurper

A humble young woman allows herself be manipulated by her twin sister to replace her so she can leave with another man.

The Usurper (2019) is a Mexican telenovela created by Inés Rodena for Univision and Las Estrellas. Sandra Echeverría plays both the humble young woman Paulina Doria and her glamorous twin sister Paola Miranda de Bernal, a pairing at the heart of a plot in which the sister manipulates Paulina into taking her place so she can leave with another man. Andrés Palacios plays Carlos Bernal, the husband caught in the middle of the swap, while Daniela Schmidt, Arap Bethke and Germán Bracco fill out the romantic and family circle around them. The engine of the series is deception: each episode tightens the web of lies as Paulina must keep up a borrowed life among wealthy in-laws and suitors, while the sister's schemes keep threatening to unravel. Told across a single season of twenty-five episodes, it is a self-contained melodramatic story rather than an open-ended saga. Set in contemporary Mexico, it plays with sumptuous domestic interiors, family rivalry and romantic reversals. Its tone is heightened and emotional, foregrounding jealousy, longing and sisterly betrayal. Fans of Cuna de lobos, Rubí and La Madrastra will find the same pull of soap opera intrigue and identity-swap melodrama.

Audiences rate the telenovela positively, with praise for its twin-swap melodrama and lead performance.

• Cuna de lobosshared telenovela melodrama, twin identity swap, romantic deception
• Veronica Marsshared identity-swap plot, twin doubling, soap melodrama tones
• Rubíshared soap opera melodrama, romance and betrayal, Latin American telenovela tradition
• La Madrastrashared twin-swap premise and romantic deception in a Latin American telenovela

Created by

Inés Rodena

Release Date

2019-09-02

Episode runtime

50 min

Rating

7.5 / 10 (322)

What is The Usurper about?

A humble young woman is manipulated by her twin sister into taking her place so the sister can escape with another man.

What is The Usurper like to watch?

Ember's analysis rates the pacing of The Usurper as brisk, its intensity as moderate and its storytelling as easy to follow.

Is The Usurper violent?

Only mildly. Ember rates the violence in The Usurper as mild.

What did critics think of The Usurper?

Audiences rate the telenovela positively, with praise for its twin-swap melodrama and lead performance.

Which shows are like The Usurper?

Shows with a similar feel include Cuna de lobos, Veronica Mars, Rubí, and La Madrastra.

How long is The Usurper?

The Usurper: 1 season, 25 episodes.

Is The Usurper still running?

No, The Usurper has ended.