In The Queen of Flow, or La Reina del Flow, now streaming on Netflix, a woman seeks revenge for the life and family that was stolen from her by people from her childhood who never paid the price for their crimes. This Colombian musical telenovela boasts 2 seasons and nearly 200 episodes on the platform, so it could be the perfect bingeing material to get you through the end of this year. We’re here to let you know if it’s worth embarking on the extremely long journey.
Opening Shot: Establishing shots of Medellín, Colombia.
The Gist: Charly Flo (Carlos Torres) has made it big. The singer greets his screaming fans and enjoys his ever-growing fame on a massive stage, though he quietly acknowledges that all this is thanks to Yeimy. Who’s Yeimy? Well, she’s currently serving a prison term in New York City for a crime she didn’t commit. Yeimy Montoya (Carolina Ramírez) has spent the last 17 years in prison plotting her revenge against Charly and his family, and with her release finally approaching, her thirst for vengeance has only grown stronger. Her fellow inmates throw her a surprise going away party, but when she finds herself the victim of an assassination attempt, she realizes that her quest for revenge is going to look extremely different than she imagined.
17 years prior, a teen Yeimy writes songs in a private notebook about the love she feels for Charly, though she keeps her feelings to herself. Charly, meanwhile, plays music with his friend Juancho and does errands (usually involving playing lookout for various crimes) for his nefarious uncle Manín (Lucho Velasco), who is displeased when he learns that Yeimy’s parents, humble bakers in town, have refused to pay him their “protection fee”. Yeimy, meanwhile, is approached by Juancho, who heard some of her lyrics and believes her songwriting could be the key to their success. While Yeimy contemplates her future and continues to harbor feelings for Charly, her parents pay the price for standing up to Manín. What happens in their bakery that day changes Yeimy’s life forever.
What Shows Will It Remind You Of? The Queen of Flow definitely sticks to the soapier traditions of telenovelas, and might remind you a bit of Rosario Tijeras, The House of Flowers, and La Reina del Sur.
Our Take: The Queen of Flow sneaks up on you. This heavy-handed Colombian telenovela is armed with on-the-nose reggaeton songs describing the experiences of certain characters, dramatic music cues, and corny editing, but it’s undeniably addicting, full of the kind of drama you dream of when embarking on a soapy binge like this. The choice to tell the story in flashbacks serves multiple purposes; showing us why Yeimy is so desperate for revenge, and getting us acquainted with the young performers who will appear again in the present timeline as other characters. I personally have not watched many telenovelas with the exception of Jane the Virgin, which is admittedly quite different than a classic iteration of the genre, but it didn’t really matter; The Queen of Flow is just soapy and serious enough to hook even the most casual of viewers.
I can’t really speak to the trajectory or success of the rest of the hundreds of installmennts, but the pilot is incredibly engaging. We want Yeimy to exact her revenge, even when we aren’t quite sure what’s happened yet, because Charly’s grating, pompous personality immediately turns him into a charming villain who obviously has more than a few things to hide. It only takes a beat for it to become obvious why this series has been such a hit in Colombia and elsewhere, because it really does have some kind of irresistible quality, even when it goes down paths that veer towards the ridiculous. The Queen of Flow, even with its hour-long episodes, is totally addicting and undeniably binge-able, occasionally surprising with its plot twists and showcasing some genuinely moving performances.
Sex and Skin: A half-clothed teen make out sesh.
Parting Shot: Young Yeimy smiles as she agrees to make music with Charly and Juancho.
Sleeper Star: Guillermo Blanco is utterly endearing as Juancho, Charly’s good-natured best friend who wants a way out of this life of crime but stays to provide for his little brother and sister. It can be difficult to pull off the good guy in a bad situation role, but Blanco does it beautifully, bringing some genuine empathy to Juancho whether he’s putting on a tough face for Charly and the rest of the gang or cutting up his sister’s shoes to make sure her toes aren’t pinched all day. The young performers who play our leads in the flashbacks are all incredibly talented, and Blanco helps to lay a strong, memorable foundation for the Juancho we come to know in the present storyline.
Most Pilot-y Line: It is a telenovela, so we can’t really fault it – there are lines like “where there was no justice, there will be revenge!” about every two minutes. But that’s the fun of it all, isn’t it?!
Our Call: STREAM IT. The Queen of Flow is a deliciously soapy series, full of entertaining characters and twists and turns that might surprise even the most seasoned telenovela fan.
Jade Budowski is a freelance writer with a knack for ruining punchlines, hogging the mic at karaoke, and thirst-tweeting. Follow her on Twitter: @jadebudowski.
Stream The Queen of Flow on Netflix
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December 28, 2021 at 11:00PM
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Stream It Or Skip It: 'The Queen of Flow' On Netflix, A Colombian Musical Telenovela Where A Woman Seeks Revenge After Being Wrongfully Imprisoned - Decider
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