Elite is a Spanish television series produced by Netflix. It was created in 2018 by Dario Madrona and Carlos Montero.
This first season of Elite tells the story of young high school students from a prestigious institution, Las Encinas. Three students from the working class are admitted to this school. These three students will completely disrupt the course of the rather quiet existence of the high school students of Las Encinas.
Elite has 8 episodes of about 50 minutes each. The rhythm makes the plot gripping. There is very little downtime and we do not remain hungry when the series ends.
The two creators of the series Dario Madrona and Carlos Montero are quite young (about 40 years old). We feel the freshness in the writing of the series, even if the main ingredients are quite classic. Indeed, dealing with love or friendship between different social classes is not very original. That said, Elite generally manages not to turn situations into nonsense.
The series deals with very diverse and current topics. We discover characters discovering their homosexuality, others being Muslims or living with HIV. We can see the paw of Carlos Montero, accustomed to series for teenagers like Physics or Chemistry. Elite , certainly aimed at a fairly young audience, is cautious about the themes it addresses.
However, the scenario has some shortcomings. Some stories are quite classic and poorly handled. It is difficult to understand some characters like Marina who plays on several boards. The identification with this young high school student is difficult despite the fact that she has an important role in the series (in the proper sense and figuratively).
Elite features actors who have starred in the hit Spanish series La Casa del Papel. Elite could have been a copy and paste but the series emancipates very quickly from the characters of the series of robbers.
The actors play well overall. Their acting is taking enough to make viewers want to know more about the plot. We can easily get attached to the characters especially Samuel and Nadia who try to do things well while following rules.
However, there are a lot of similarities with other series. The prestigious high school is reminiscent of Gossip Girl. The non-linear narrative that allows us to discover the murder of a character in the pilot episode is reminiscent of the writing of How To Get Away With Murder.
The slick aesthetic of the series is also reminiscent of Riverdale. The bluish light of the discovery of the corpse in the last episode resembles certain passages of the American series.
In terms of cinematography, there is not much originality. The fields/counter-fields are de rigueur and there is little extravagance on that side. We still notice that drone shots make it possible to discover the places where the actions take place.
The sets are very beautiful and very believable. The houses of the wealthy heroes are very chic and the bridge near the cliff is very pretty too.
Netflix has put a lot of budget for this series and it shows. The series works, whether in terms of filming or promotion. We've heard a lot about it and Netflix has communicated a lot about the actors who play in it. We also note that as for Riverdale, influencers were invited to participate in sequences for the promotion of Elite. Is this a way to seek the approval of young people?
Netflix has trusted Dario Madrona and Carlos Montero to combine the positive points of some popular series. Can a second season be of the same level?
