09/01/2020 - Raúl Arévalo, Alex García, Patrick Criado and Vicky Luengo star in this crime series, which the director of Madre and The Realm has just finished shooting in squares, patios and avenues around Madrid

Raúl Arévalo and Rodrigo Sorogoyen during the shoot for Riot Police (© Enrique Baró/Movistar Plus+)

Actor-director Raúl Arévalo (The Fury of a Patient Man [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Raúl Arévalo
film profile]) and filmmaker Rodrigo Sorogoyen (who was nominated for an Oscar for his short Madre) worked together, on both sides of the camera, back in 2008, during the shoot for 8 Dates, the latter’s feature debut, which he co-directed with Peris Romano. Since then, they have remained firm friends and have been eager to work together again. An occasion to do just that has now presented itself in the form of the series Riot Police [+see also:
series review
interview: Rodrigo Sorogoyen
series profile], which the man behind The Realm [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Rodrigo Sorogoyen
interview: Rodrigo Sorogoyen, Isabel P…
film profile] has been shooting since early September 2019 in the streets of the Spanish capital.

Accompanying Arévalo in the cast are a host of other well-known faces, such as Álex García, Roberto Álamo (who acted in May God Save Us [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Rodrigo Sorogoyen
film profile], Sorogoyen’s third feature, the story and style of which inspired this series), Patrick Criado, Raúl Prieto (who had a brief but striking role in Madre [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Rodrigo Sorogoyen
film profile], the feature), Hovik Keuchkerian and Vicky Luengo (The Laws of Thermodynamics [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Mateo Gil
film profile]), the only woman in this predominantly male universe. She plays Laia, an internal affairs investigator who is looking into the actions of the titular police squad. The cast is rounded off by David Llorente, Tomás del Estal, Marta Poveda and Mónica López.

The series’ screenplay was penned by Sorogoyen, his regular writing partner Isabel Peña and Eduardo Villanueva (La pecera de Eva, which Sorogoyen directed various episodes of between 2010 and 2011), and the shoot wrapped at the end of December. The show will depict – in action-packed and tense fashion – the cases being worked on by the protagonists, intertwined with their personal relationships and their private and family lives, while also raising the question of where the line should be drawn in terms of the necessary use of force and violence. The initial spark for conflict will come during an eviction, behind which lurks a mysterious and complex conspiracy.

Riot Police, which is being directed by Rodrigo Sorogoyen (who is also acting as creative director on all episodes, despite the fact that he is only directing four) and Borja Soler (who will helm the remaining instalments), is a series consisting of six 50-minute episodes. It is being made for Movistar Plus+ (which will air it during 2020) and is being produced by The Lab and Caballo Films.

(Translated from Spanish)