''Simple'' () is a 2022 Spanish comedy television series created by Anna R. Costa for

Movistar Plus+ Movistar Plus+ (formerly Movistar+) is the trade name of the subscription platform for digital television owned by , which operates in Spain. The service is distributed via optical fiber and ADSL as well as with satellites such as Astra. The pl ...

based on the book ' by

Cristina Morales Cristina Morales Martin (born 21 July 1992) is a Spanish kickboxer. She is the reigning ISKA Atomweight K1 World Champion, and the former Enfusion 52 kg World Champion. Kickboxing career In March 2019, Morales was scheduled to fight Fan ...

. It stars Natalia de Molina,

Anna Castillo Anna Castillo Ferré (born 9 October 1993) is a Spanish actress. Her film breakthrough came with the role of Alma in the drama ''The Olive Tree (2016 film), The Olive Tree'' (2016) for which she won a Goya Award for Best New Actress. Biography ...

, Anna Marchessi, and Coria Castillo as four women with functional diversity trying to live in an apartment in

La Barceloneta La Barceloneta () is a neighborhood in the Ciutat Vella district of Barcelona, Catalonia, Spain. The neighborhood was built in the 18th century for the residents of the Ribera neighborhood who had been displaced by the construction of the Ciut ...

Plot

The plot concerns about the mishaps of four women with functional diversity (Nati, Marga, Patri, and Àngels) trying to live in a supervised apartment in

Cast

Production

''Simple'' is based on the book ''Lectura fácil'' by

. Consisting of 5 episodes featuring an average running time of 30 minutes, it is a

original series, produced in collaboration with Destrucción y Salvación. Sandra Hermida is credited as producer. The series was shot in late 2021 in

Barcelona Barcelona ( ; ; ) is a city on the northeastern coast of Spain. It is the capital and largest city of the autonomous community of Catalonia, as well as the second-most populous municipality of Spain. With a population of 1.6 million within c ...

, including locations such as ,

Rambla de Catalunya Rambla de Catalunya (; ) is a major street in the ''Eixample'' district of central Barcelona, Spain. It is one of the city's trendiest streets, with many international fashion shops, and is lined with lime trees. The street stretches from Pla ...

el Raval El Raval () is a neighborhood in the ''Ciutat Vella'' district of Barcelona, the capital city of Catalonia. The neighborhood, especially the part closest to the Port Vell, old port, was formerly (informally) known as ''Barri Xinès'' or ''Barrio ...

or the

Montjuïc Cable Car The Montjuïc Cable Car (officially ''Telefèric de Montjuïc'', in Catalan) is a gondola lift in Barcelona, Catalonia, Spain. The cable car runs from a lower terminus adjacent to the Montjuïc Park upper station of the Montjuïc funicular, ...

Release

The series was presented at the

70th San Sebastián International Film Festival The 70th San Sebastián International Film Festival took place from 16 to 24 September 2022 in San Sebastián, Gipuzkoa, Spain. The awards were announced on 24 September 2022, with '' The Kings of the World'' winning the Golden Shell. Backgroun ...

on 20 September 2022. It will debut on

on 1 December 2022. Beta Film nabbed the international distribution rights.

Reception

Enric Albero of ''

El Cultural ''El Cultural'' is a Spanish weekly magazine dedicated to arts and culture. It is based in Madrid. It was a weekly supplement of '' La Razón''. It later was one of the weekly supplements of '' El Mundo'', as a part of Unidad Editorial S.A. In ...

'' pointed out that the series ("a luminous comedy that reduces the ideological feverishness of the original") comes nowhere near the incendiary nature of the source material, even if it incorporates some political (anti-establishment) charge via the characters of Marga and, particularly, Nati, with the series otherwise managing to balance points of view and display an "agile" pace.

Reaction by Morales and answer by Costa

The author of the original work, Cristina Morales (using the pen name 'Crispina Modales') denounced the whitewashing of the institutional violence exercised by social services (represented in the series by the character portrayed by Bruna Cusí) in the series so the latter could "reach the great democratic public, that great public that endows social services with messianic powers of integration in the shitty capitalism in which we live and that deliberately conceals the true nature of social workers" and derisively renamed the series as 'Nazi'. Costa explained that instead of the case of Morales' original work of all the characters working in such institution being "evil", she was interested in something "radically opposite" since the inception of the series. In Costa's vision, "institutions are one thing and the people working in them are another ifferent one, thereby justifying the deviation from the original work by Morales. Upon the harsh criticism of the series by Morales, Costa also said that she "sincerely believed" that Morales' stance was "purely aesthetic", and claimed that Morales had previously told her that she had enjoyed the series and laughed a lot with Marga even if she did not agree neither with the portrayal of Nati nor with the absence of institutional violence. Costa also told that Morales "can shove the Nazi thing own/up/inwherever it fits her".

Accolades

, - , rowspan = "2" , , , rowspan = "2" , 28th Forqué Awards , , rowspan = "2" , Best Television Actress , , Anna Castillo , , , , rowspan = "2" , , - , Natalia de Molina , , , - , rowspan = "3" , , , rowspan = "3" , 10th Feroz Awards , , colspan = "2" , Best Comedy Series , , , , rowspan = "3" , , - , Best Supporting Actress in a TV Series , , Coria Castillo , , , - , Best Screenplay in a TV Series , , Anna R. Costa, Cristina Pons , , , - , , , 25th Iris Awards , , Best Actress , , Anna Castillo , , , ,

References

{{authority control Television shows about disability Movistar+ original programming 2020s Spanish comedy television series Spanish-language television shows Television shows based on Spanish novels Television shows set in Barcelona 2022 Spanish television series debuts