Argentinian Claudia Piñeiro has been writing thrillers and crime fiction for more than two decades. In fact, she’s the third most translated novelist in her country, surpassed only by Jorge Luis Borges and Julio Cortázar. She’s also one of the most influential Latin American voices on Netflix, thanks to several adaptations of her literary works and original screenplays, including Elena Sabe, Las Viudas de los Jueves, Las Maldiciones, and El Reino. Now, Piñeiro and Netflix are out with the tense thriller with hints of black comedy El Tiempo de las Moscas (Time Flies).

The six-episode series intertwines the plots of Piñeiro’s renowned novels: Tuya (All Yours) from 2005, and its sequel, El Tiempo de las Moscas from 2022. It’s a slow-burning story about the importance of sorority in life after prison. Or as producer Vanessa Ragone (El Secreto de sus Ojos) explained to El Litoral, “Resilience, second chances, and the value of affection are at the heart of the series.” For lifelong Claudia Piñeiro fans like me, and for the uninitiated, it can’t be missed.

What Is El Tiempo de las Moscas About?

El Tiempo de las Moscas tells the story of two women who forge an unlikely but unbreakable friendship in prison and who, after their release, must navigate the uncertainty of a future marked by the stigma of being ex-convicts.

Inés Pereira (Carla Peterson from El Eternauta) was once a wealthy housewife in Buenos Aires until she murdered her husband’s mistress. She spends fifteen years in prison, developing a strange fascination for flies, before regaining her freedom. At the beginning of the thriller, Inés points out with certain irony that “flies know how to survive, what they don’t know is how to stay away from danger,” hinting at all to come.

Once out, Inés tries to rebuild her life alongside Mariana “La Manca” (Nancy Dupláa), who was released first and offers her a home. Both earn a living running a modest pest control business and strive to redefine their identity beyond the label of “ex-convicts.” Their fragile stability is shaken when one of their regular customers Susana Bonar (Valeria Lois) demands a deadly pesticide (undoubtedly for nefarious purposes) in exchange for a considerable sum of money. Inés sincerely resists but she is compelled to accept the proposal because La Manca’s needs expensive breast cancer treatment. Things get even more complicated when an unexpected and delicate connection arises between Susana Bonar and Inés’ adult, estranged daughter Laura (Julia Dorto).

Beyond the suspense and criminal intrigue, El Tiempo de las Moscas delves into the inner worlds of Inés and La Manca as they take back control of their lives and seek to rebuild themselves in a society that neither forgets nor forgives easily. Like the original books, the Netflix adaptation explores memory and the past, the weight of guilt, social reintegration into an often hostile world, and, above all, female friendship as a refuge and source of survival and empowerment.

For Piñeiro, the story also serves as an in-depth exploration of social stigmas, questioning whether reintegration is truly possible in a world marked by prejudice. “[El Tiempo de las Moscas] deals extensively with the marks and labels that are placed on us… It’s all about shaking off certain biological, cultural, or whatever labels,” the author explained to Confabulario.

The season, consisting of six episodes of just over half an hour each, was co-directed alternately by Ana Katz (Terapia Alternativa) y Benjamín Naishtat (El Jardín de Bronce), filmmakers renowned for their ability to examine the human condition and its fragility. Halfway through the series, Naishtat directs the outstanding episode “Tu Vida no Termina Aquí” (“Your Life Doesn’t End Here”), which focuses entirely on Inés’s past, revealing her family circumstances, social pressures, and obsessions that led her to become “la asesina al volante” (the killer behind the wheel). At the end of this short, stand-alone episode, it is abundantly clear that El Tiempo de las Moscas is not escapist entertainment, but rather compelling social commentary.

Like any good thriller, El Tiempo de las Moscas moves along effectively, with well-paced suspense and the magnetic performances of its two female leads. Its greatest strength lies in its fidelity to Claudia Piñeiro’s literature and its ability to introduce new audiences to a scathing literary universe of female resistance.

So, Should I Watch It?

El Tiempo de las Moscas is not a flawless adaptation, but it is well-made work that delivers all the elements we expect from modern crime thrillers – A mystery that unfolds slowly and with strategic precision. A risky and uncertain police plot. Moral dilemmas that resonate deeply with the audience. Actresses with electric and genuine chemistry. It all combines to make El Tiempo de las Moscas without a doubt, an essential series to watch.