''30 Coins'' () is a Spanish

mystery Mystery, The Mystery, Mysteries or The Mysteries may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Fictional characters *Mystery, a cat character in ''Emily the Strange'' *Mystery, a seahorse that SpongeBob SquarePants adopts in the episode " My Pre ...

horror Horror may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Genres *Horror fiction, a genre of fiction **Psychological horror, a subgenre of horror fiction **Christmas horror, a subgenre of horror fiction **Analog horror, a subgenre of horror fiction * ...

television series created by Álex de la Iglesia for

HBO Europe HBO Europe is a premium television group of channels by HBO. It is available as a group of film channels and streaming television services in Bosnia and Herzegovina, Bulgaria, Croatia, the Czech Republic, Hungary, Moldova, Montenegro, North Mace ...

. Directed and written by De la Iglesia and co-written by

Jorge Guerricaechevarría Jorge Guerricaechevarría (born 10 July, 1965), also known as "Guerrica", is a Spanish screenwriter. A regular co-screenwriter for Álex de la Iglesia's films, he has also been a recurring collaborator of Daniel Monzón. He won a Goya Award for ...

, the series follows Father Vergara, an

exorcist In some religions, an exorcist (from the Greek „ἐξορκιστής“) is a person who is believed to be able to cast out the devil or performs the ridding of demons or other supernatural beings who are alleged to have possessed a person ...

who the church exiles to Pedraza, a remote village in Spain, where he hopes his enemies forget him. The first season premiered on November 29, 2020, on HBO Europe; the second season, whose filming reportedly began in February 2022, premiered on

Max Max or MAX may refer to: Animals * Max (American dog) (1983–2013), at one time purported to be the world's oldest living dog * Max (British dog), the first pet dog to win the PDSA Order of Merit (animal equivalent of the OBE) * Max (gorilla) ...

on October 23, 2023. In May 2024, Álex de la Iglesia stated that Max had not renewed the series, but the episodes of what would have been the third and final season were already written, and he intended to find a way to get them produced.

Synopsis

Father Vergara is an exorcist and ex-convict residing in the small Spanish town of Pedraza, attempting to move on from a troubled past. As paranormal phenomena start taking place in the village, he finds help in local mayor Paco and town veterinarian Elena, in figuring out the mystery seemingly related to a coin he owns. This coin might be one of the

thirty pieces of silver Thirty pieces of silver was the price for which Judas Iscariot betrayed Jesus, according to an account in the Gospel of Matthew 26:15 in the New Testament. Before the Last Supper, Judas is said to have gone to the chief priests and agreed to hand ...

paid to

Judas Iscariot Judas Iscariot (; ; died AD) was, according to Christianity's four canonical gospels, one of the original Twelve Apostles of Jesus Christ. Judas betrayed Jesus to the Sanhedrin in the Garden of Gethsemane, in exchange for thirty pieces of sil ...

for betraying

Jesus Jesus (AD 30 or 33), also referred to as Jesus Christ, Jesus of Nazareth, and many Names and titles of Jesus in the New Testament, other names and titles, was a 1st-century Jewish preacher and religious leader. He is the Jesus in Chris ...

and handing him over to the Romans. The three will find themselves caught in a conspiracy involving the

Holy See The Holy See (, ; ), also called the See of Rome, the Petrine See or the Apostolic See, is the central governing body of the Catholic Church and Vatican City. It encompasses the office of the pope as the Bishops in the Catholic Church, bishop ...

itself, threatening the world as they know it.

Cast

;Introduced in season 1 ;Introduced in season 2

Production

The series was produced by Pokeepsie Films for

, with the participation of

HBO Latin America HBO Latin America was a company that owned and distributed several television channels in the region of Latin America. It was originally founded as a joint venture between Time Warner and Ole Communications in 1991 with the launch of HBO in the r ...

. Álex de la Iglesia and

Carolina Bang Carolina Herrera Bang (born 21 September 1985) is a Spanish actress and film producer. She was nominated for the Goya Award for Best New Actress in 2010. Career Carolina Bang was born in Santa Cruz de Tenerife on 21 September 1985, into a fam ...

(on behalf of Pokeepsie Films) and Miguel Salvat, Steve Matthews and Antony Root (on behalf of HBO Europe) were the series' executive producers. The musical score was composed by

Roque Baños Roque Baños López is a Spanish music composer. Baños graduated from Boston's Berklee College of Music in 1995 and has since scored both Spanish and English-language films. He has received numerous awards for his compositional work, including ...

. Most of the production occurred in Pedraza,

province of Segovia Segovia () is a province of central/northern Spain, in the southern part of the autonomous community of Castile and León. It is bordered by the province of Burgos in the north, Soria in the northeast, Guadalajara in the east, Madrid in the south, ...

. Production also worked in Sepúlveda (also in the province of Segovia), and the Aldeadávila Dam (

province of Salamanca Salamanca () is a province of western Spain, in the western part of the autonomous community of Castile and León (Castilla y León). It is bordered by the provinces of Ávila, Cáceres, Valladolid, and Zamora, and on the west by Portugal. It ...

). Other brief shooting locations include

New York New York most commonly refers to: * New York (state), a state in the northeastern United States * New York City, the most populous city in the United States, located in the state of New York New York may also refer to: Places United Kingdom * ...

Jerusalem Jerusalem is a city in the Southern Levant, on a plateau in the Judaean Mountains between the Mediterranean Sea, Mediterranean and the Dead Sea. It is one of the List of oldest continuously inhabited cities, oldest cities in the world, and ...

Paris Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, largest city of France. With an estimated population of 2,048,472 residents in January 2025 in an area of more than , Paris is the List of ci ...

Geneva Geneva ( , ; ) ; ; . is the List of cities in Switzerland, second-most populous city in Switzerland and the most populous in French-speaking Romandy. Situated in the southwest of the country, where the Rhône exits Lake Geneva, it is the ca ...

Rome Rome (Italian language, Italian and , ) is the capital city and most populated (municipality) of Italy. It is also the administrative centre of the Lazio Regions of Italy, region and of the Metropolitan City of Rome. A special named with 2, ...

, Campo Real,

Madrid Madrid ( ; ) is the capital and List of largest cities in Spain, most populous municipality of Spain. It has almost 3.5 million inhabitants and a Madrid metropolitan area, metropolitan area population of approximately 7 million. It i ...

, and

Alcalá de Henares Alcalá de Henares () is a Spanish municipality of the Community of Madrid. Housing is primarily located on the right (north) bank of the Henares River, Henares. , it has a population of 193,751, making it the region's third-most populated Municip ...

(including outdoor shots). Some indoor scenes were shot in the Castle of Calatrava la Nueva in

Aldea del Rey Aldea del Rey is a municipality in the province of Ciudad Real, Castile-La Mancha, Spain. It has a (decreasing) population of 1,721 (1-1-20.16). Main sights *Castle of Calatrava la Nueva *Renaissance ''Palacio de Clavería'' (15th century), foun ...

and the

Palace of the Marquis of Santa Cruz The Palace of the Marquis of Santa Cruz is a 16th-century Italian-style building in Viso del Marqués, Spain. History and description The palace was built on behalf of Álvaro de Bazán, 1st Marquis of Santa Cruz. The project, that reportedly ki ...

Viso del Marqués Viso del Marqués is a municipality located in the province of Ciudad Real, Castile-La Mancha, Spain. According to the 2014 census, Instituto Nacional de Estadística (INE) The municipality has a population of 2,578 inhabitants. It is the site of ...

, both in the

province of Ciudad Real The province of Ciudad Real () is a province in the southwestern part of the autonomous community of Castile-La Mancha, Spain. It is bordered by the provinces of Cuenca, Albacete, Jaén, Córdoba, Badajoz, and Toledo. It is partly located ...

; the Castle of Guadamur (

province of Toledo Toledo () is a Province (Spain), province of central Spain, in the western part of the Autonomous communities of Spain, autonomous community of Castile–La Mancha. It is bordered by the provinces of Madrid Province, Madrid, Cuenca Province (Spai ...

), the library of the and the

University of Salamanca The University of Salamanca () is a public university, public research university in Salamanca, Spain. Founded in 1218 by Alfonso IX of León, King Alfonso IX, it is the oldest university in the Hispanic world and the fourth oldest in the ...

's . After months of rumours, social media content published by De la Iglesia regarding a new season and the self-announcement of

Najwa Nimri Najwa Nimri Urrutikoetxea (; born 14 February 1972) is a Spanish actress and singer. In 1996, Nimri formed the musical duo ''Najwajean'' along with producer Carlos Jean, launching ''No Blood'', an early instance of a trip-hop album in Spain. S ...

as a cast addition on the red carpet of the

9th Feroz Awards The 9th Feroz Awards ceremony, presented by the Asociación de Informadores Cinematográficos de España, took place at the Auditorio de Zaragoza in Zaragoza, Spain, on 29 January 2022, to recognize the best in Spanish cinema and television. The ...

HBO Max Max (known in other countries as, and soon to be reverted globally to HBO Max) is an American subscription video on-demand over-the-top streaming service. It is a proprietary unit of Warner Bros. Discovery Streaming on behalf of Home Box Of ...

officially confirmed the return of the series for a second season on 11 February 2022, with shooting already underway. Footage for season 2 was shot in the city of

Toledo Toledo most commonly refers to: * Toledo, Spain, a city in Spain * Province of Toledo, Spain * Toledo, Ohio, a city in the United States Toledo may also refer to: Places Belize * Toledo District * Toledo Settlement Bolivia * Toledo, Or ...

Episodes

Season 1

Season 2

Release

The first episode of the eight-part first season premiered on

on 29 November 2020. The rest of the episodes were released every week. The series aired in the

United States The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...

via

HBO Home Box Office (HBO) is an American pay television service, which is the flagship property of namesake parent-subsidiary Home Box Office, Inc., itself a unit owned by Warner Bros. Discovery. The overall Home Box Office business unit is based a ...

and

in 2021 before airing on

. The first episode was screened at the

77th Venice International Film Festival The 77th annual Venice International Film Festival was held from 2 to 12 September 2020, at Venice Lido in Italy. Albeit in a "more restrained format" due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the festival held all its screenings with public presence. Aust ...

on September 11, 2020.

Reception

According to the American review aggregation website

Rotten Tomatoes Rotten Tomatoes is an American review aggregator, review-aggregation website for film and television. The company was launched in August 1998 by three undergraduate students at the University of California, Berkeley: Senh Duong, Patrick Y. Lee ...

, season 1 of ''30 Coins'' has a 91% approval rating based on 11 reviews from critics, with an average rating of 7.7/10 and a critics' consensus on the site reading: "propulsive action, effective haunts, and just the right amount of absurdity make ''30 Coins'' a twisty terror treat". Scout Tafoya of ''

RogerEbert.com ''RogerEbert.com'' is an American film review website that archives reviews written by film critic Roger Ebert for the ''Chicago Sun-Times'' and also shares other critics' reviews and essays. The website, underwritten by the ''Chicago Sun-Times ...

'' found the series entertaining, writing that de la Iglesia and Guerricaechevarría "peddle a Catholic version of the Cosmic Horrors of William Hope Hodgson and H.P. Lovecraft"; "their style a crispy plait of

Luis Buñuel Luis Buñuel Portolés (; 22 February 1900 – 29 July 1983) was a Spanish and Mexican filmmaker who worked in France, Mexico and Spain. He has been widely considered by many film critics, historians and directors to be one of the greatest and ...

and

Alex Cox Alexander B. H. Cox (born 15 December 1954) is an English film director, screenwriter, actor, non-fiction author and broadcaster. Cox experienced success early in his career with ''Repo Man (film), Repo Man'' (1984) and ''Sid and Nancy'' (1986 ...

". Rosie Knight of ''

IGN ''IGN'' is an American video gaming and entertainment media website operated by IGN Entertainment Inc., a subsidiary of Ziff Davis, Inc. The company's headquarters is located in San Francisco's SoMa district and is headed by its former e ...

'' considers that "much of the strength of 30 Coins comes from tstrio of leads" and that "easily the best thing about the show is that, aside from the horror, it also works as an Indiana Jones-style artifact quest," giving it 8 out of 10. Marissa de la Cerda, writing for ''

The A.V. Club ''The A.V. Club'' is an online newspaper and entertainment website featuring reviews, interviews, and other articles that examine films, music, television, books, games, and other elements of pop-culture media. ''The A.V. Club'' was created in ...

'', writes, "The grotesqueries that de la Iglesia is known for are on full display in the phantasmagoric visuals and viscera". She grades it a B, concluding that it "successfully lean into its drama-horror hybrid to underscore the characters' humanity." Reviewing for ''

Cinemanía ''Cinemanía'' is a monthly film magazine based in Madrid, Spain Spain, or the Kingdom of Spain, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe with territories in North Africa. Featuring the Punta de Tarifa, southernmost po ...

'', Miguel Ángel Romero considered De la Iglesia's creation as an immersion in the Lovecraftian universe and also noted an implicit reference to

Nyarlathotep Nyarlathotep is a fictional character created by H. P. Lovecraft. The character is a malign deity in the Cthulhu Mythos, a shared universe. First appearing in Lovecraft's 1920 prose poem " Nyarlathotep", he was later mentioned in other works by L ...

in the season finale. Romero praised Cosimo Fusco's chilling performance and the performances of

Eduard Fernández Eduard Fernández Serrano (born 25 August 1964) is a Spanish screen and stage actor from Catalonia. He is the recipient of numerous accolades, including four Goya Awards. Life and career Eduard Fernández was born in Barcelona on 25 August 196 ...

and

Manolo Solo Manuel Jesús Fernández Serrano (born 1964), better known as Manolo Solo, is a Spanish actor. Biography Born in Algeciras in 1964, he was raised in neighbouring Los Barrios until age 6, later moving to Seville with his family. Part of the S ...

in antagonist roles, also welcoming the referential nature of De la Iglesia's work (inspired by the likes of

Antonio Mercero Antonio Mercero Juldain (7 March 1936 – 12 May 2018) was a Spanish director of the television series '' Verano azul'' and '' Farmacia de guardia''. He is best known as the director of a 1972 surrealist short horror film titled '' La cabina'', ...

Ridley Scott Sir Ridley Scott (born 30 November 1937) is an English film director and producer. He directs films in the Science fiction film, science fiction, Crime film, crime, and historical drama, historical epic genres, with an atmospheric and highly co ...

and

John Carpenter John Howard Carpenter (born January 16, 1948) is an American filmmaker, composer, and actor. Most commonly associated with horror film, horror, action film, action, and science fiction film, science fiction films of the 1970s and 1980s, he is ...

). Among the negative aspects to be improved, Romero cited the "particularly calamitous CGI" featured in the last episodes and the disjointed plots.

Accolades

, - , rowspan = 7 align = "center" , 2021 , rowspan= 6 ,

8th Feroz Awards The 8th ceremony of the Feroz Awards was held at the Teatro Coliseum in Madrid, on 2 March 2021. The ceremony was hosted by Pilar Castro. Originally scheduled to take place on 8 February 2021 at the Teatro Ciudad de Alcobendas in Alcobendas, the ...

, Best Drama Series , ''30 Coins'' , , rowspan = 6 , , - , Best Main Actor in a Series , Eduard Fernández , , - , Best Main Actress in a Series , Megan Montaner , , - , Best Supporting Actor in a Series , Manolo Solo , , - , rowspan=2, Best Supporting Actress in a Series , Macarena Gómez , , - , Carmen Machi , , - , 71st

Fotogramas de Plata Fotogramas de Plata are a series of Spanish annual film, theatre and television awards awarded by ''Fotogramas'' film magazine since 1951. The Film Awards -foreign and national- are given by specialized critics and those awarded to the performer ...

, , Best Television Actor , , Eduard Fernández , , , , , - , align = "center" rowspan = "3" , 2022 , , rowspan = "2" , 9th , , colspan = "2" , Best Drama Series , , , , rowspan = "2" , , - , Best Direction , , Álex de la Iglesia , , , - ,

30th Actors and Actresses Union Awards The 30th Actors and Actresses Union Awards ceremony was held on 14 March 2022 at the Circo Price in Madrid. The gala was hosted by Gloria Albalate. In addition to the competitive awards, received the '' award, Ángela Molina Ángela Molina ...

, , Best TV Actor in a Minor Role , , Secun de la Rosa , , , , align = "center" , , - , , ,

29th Forqué Awards The 29th Forqué Awards, organised by , were presented on 16 December 2023 at the IFEMA Palacio Municipal in Madrid. Background Organised by EGEDA, the ceremony has the participation of Ayuntamiento de Madrid, the Madrid regional administratio ...

, , colspan = "2" , Best TV Series , , , , , - , rowspan = 1 align = "center" , 2024 , ,

11th Platino Awards The 11th Platino Awards, presented by the Entidad de Gestión de Derechos de los Productores Audiovisuales (EGEDA) and the Federación Iberoamericana de Productores Cinematográficos y Audiovisuales (FIPCA), took place at Gran Tlachco Theater in R ...

, , Best Supporting Actor in a Miniseries or TV series , , rowspan = "1" , Manolo Solo , , , , , - , rowspan = 1 align = "center" , 2024 , , 2024 Premios Aura , , Best Drama series , , rowspan = "1" , 30 Coins , , , ,

References

External links

* {{Authority control 2020 Spanish television series debuts HBO Europe original programming 2020s horror television series Spanish mystery television series Spanish thriller television series Spanish-language television shows Television shows set in Castile and León Television shows set in Rome Television shows filmed in Spain Spanish horror fiction television series Television series about witchcraft Television shows about exorcism Television series about demons Television series about religion Television shows about Catholicism 2020s Spanish drama television series Spanish fantasy television series 2020s supernatural television series