The new Netflix show from Chile is called CHROMOSOME 21. (org. title: Cromosoma 21). In other words, it's a crime thriller made in the Spanish language. The first thing that happens in the show is that the police are called to a scene where someone has been killed.
They meet a young man who has Down syndrome there. He is the only one there, and there is blood on him, so they arrest him and bring him in. The name comes from the fact that people with Down syndrome have an extra Chromosome 21.
Keep reading our review of the Chromosome 21 series below. The series has eight 45-minute episodes and will be on Netflix starting February 8, 2023 (in some countries, including the US).
A very different reason to look into a murder.
When the show starts, Tomás, a young man with Down syndrome played by Sebastián Solorza, is found with blood on him at the scene of a crime. When the police come up to him and tell him to put his hands up, he also grabs a metal rod. Don't worry, once they find out he has Down syndrome, the arrest itself will be very calm. Also, he agrees with everything.
It's harder to get him to talk, though. Not because he can't talk about what happened, but because PTSD or something else is stopping him. This is the first of many questions that need to be answered.
The judge looks uneasy and wants to talk to the suspect, Tomás (or Tommy, as he goes by). Early on, the main homicide detective, Mariana Enrquez (Valentina Muhr), goes to a theatre group called "Down UP," where all of the actors have Down syndrome.
Sofa's (Claudia Di Girólamo's) teacher, Sofa, is quick to tell her that people with Down syndrome have their own personalities. Just like anyone else.
Once she starts talking to the other actors in the group, she hears both good and bad things about Tommy. As you might expect when you ask someone about themselves. But nothing that screams "murderer" or points to any kind of guilt.
Can a person with Down syndrome kill another person?
The main plot of Chromosome 21 is that a person with Down syndrome is a murder suspect in Chile for the first time. This brings up important questions right away, like can a person with Down syndrome kill? And how can he even go to trial if all the evidence points to him being guilty?
As the theatre teacher has already said, everyone is a unique person with their own ideas and passions, whether they have Down syndrome or not. Tomás could kill, but first there needs to be evidence that points in that direction.
His brother, who goes by the name "Beckham," is also there. He has been taking care of Tomás (or Tommy) for a long time, since their parents died a long time ago. However, he isn't always the best person for a young boy who is easy to influence.
You can see Chromosome 21 right now on Netflix.
Matas Venables is in charge of all 8 episodes of the show. He also helped write the show with Emilia Noguera, Vladirmir Rivera, and Pablo Toro.
I thought Chromosome 21 was an interesting murder mystery with a plot that made me think about a lot of things. Especially how we treat and respond to people who are not like us.
Are there too many episodes for this kind of story? I think so, actually. I think a lot of people will think it goes on too long and has too many side stories that don't matter. And it does. But that doesn't change the fact that there was a murder. Even though you'll probably figure out most of the "twists" before they're revealed.
Maybe even during episode 1. And that's not good for a crime or thriller show with this many episodes.
If they had cut out some of the side stories and focused more on the main story, they could have made it into a tight four-part miniseries. I think that more people would watch it, which would be good.
From February 8, 2023, all eight episodes of Chromosome 21 will be available on Netflix.
Details Cast:
Mario Horton, Valentina Mühr, Sebastián Solorza, Gastón Salgado, Claudia Di Girólamo, Pía Urrutia, Daniel Muñoz, Alejandro Trejo, Amparo Noguera, Sergio Hernández
Summary
When the police find a man with Down syndrome hiding at a crime scene, they start an investigation to find out if he is a witness or a suspect.
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