Somewhere between Gossip Girl, Pretty Little Liars and The Bling Ring, the Swedish series “Barracuda Queens” is coming to Netflix and could well become your new obsession!
What is it about ?
Freely inspired by real events, the series Barracuda Queens follows a group of young women who, in the 90s, committed burglaries out of a spirit of rebellion, but also out of a taste for adventure and to get revenge on the men who caused them wrong. The series paints a picture of a world where some criminals get away with it…and some don’t.
The Burglar Gentlewomen
Upscale suburb of Djursholm, Sweden, 1995. For several days, a gang of privileged teenage girls will commit a series of burglaries and steal jewelry, artwork, furniture and other valuable decorative items to pay off debts. The problem? Young women rob their own neighbours!
Their names are Lollo (Alva Bratt), Klara (Tindra Monsen), Frida (Sandra Zubovic) and Mia (Tea Stjärne) and they form the Barracuda Queens gang, named after the beach where they like to party and watch the boys, which gives its title to the series created by Amanda Adolfsson. After yet another binge that goes wrong, the girls find themselves crippled with debt.
Ulrika Malm/Courtesy of Netflix
Since they don’t want to ask their parents for help and confess their nonsense to them, they can think of no better idea than to rob their new neighbor Amina (Sarah Gustafsson). Things could have gone horribly wrong, but “fortunately” for them, Amina joins the four young women in a series of burglaries, which targets their execrable wealthy neighbors, whose behavior is deplorable, sexist and violent.
Because if the Swedish series in six episodes smacks of nostalgia with its atmosphere, its style and its music of the 1990s, it also reflects the shortcomings of the society of the time which objectifies and belittles women, sensitive to the detestable that in one will say, and victims of fondling and abuse.
Through these burglaries, Lollo, Klara, Frida, Mia and Amina continue their quest for freedom and independence and form a united group behind the galvanizing banner of “girl power”. But by wanting too much to seek the thrill, young women, students and model girls during the day, risk burning their wings or following the same path as their parents, who also have many secrets to hide.
Ulrika Malm/Courtesy of Netflix
Freely inspired by real events, Barracuda Queens is a small Nordic nugget that should appeal to fans of Gossip Girl, for its worldliness and its luxurious environment, and Pretty Little Liars, for its investigation, its twists and its secrets, but also to those and those who loved Sofia Coppola’s The Bling Ring, which already told the story of a group of young star house burglars.
We owe this new series for young adults to Camilla Ahlgren, already behind the Quicksand series, a huge hit on Netflix, but also to Sofie and Tove Forsman, at work behind Young Royals, and Veronica Zacco (Burn All My Letters).
This team of 100% female screenwriters offers a fun, refreshing and relevant mini-series with sassy and endearing characters who embark on a crazy and dangerous adventure that can be devoured in one evening thanks to its ideal format of 6×30 minutes.
The Barracuda Queens series is available on Netflix.