User reviews

Griselda is even better than I expected. I love this genre and Griselda Blanco is narco legend. It may start a little slow for some but stick with it because it picks up in a hurry. It's based off a true story and from what I read they do a pretty good job sticking to it. Obviously, with any Hollywood adaptation they change a few of the facts around and add a few things that might not have happened but that's just to make the show more watchable and exciting. My biggest worry was buying Sofia Vergara as a head of the cartel. Well, don't worry...she was great. After a while you forget it's Sofia. I wouldn't be surprised to see her get some award nominations for her job on this. While this isn't quite as good as Narcos or Queen of the South, the show never gets boring and is an easy binge at only 6 episodes.

I just finished watching Griselda with my brother and I can say it definitely lived up to my expectations. Anyone familiar with the Miami drug wars in the 70's and 80's has heard of the name Griselda Blanco. Her nickname is the Godmother. She is one of the most ruthless drug lords that's ever lived with over 250 murders accredited to her. I thought I was going to be distracted by Sofia Vergara's prosthetics but after a few minutes you don't even notice it. The entire cast does an excellent job but I couldn't believe how good Sofia was as Griselda. She stole every scene she was in and was terrifying as Griselda. Yes, this show plays loosely with the facts of the real story but that's ok. They did that to make the show more entertaining and watchable. There's a documentary called Cocaine Cowboys 1 & 2 that tells the exact story and it's worth a watch if you have the time.

This was decent. Pretty good acting and filmed on a decent budget but they absolutely butchered the real story of this woman. They tried so hard to find some kind of humanity in this completely unredeemable woman that it took away from the story of how psychopathic and sociopathic the real Griselda Blanco actually was.

This is a really nice drama to watch but not much more. It's like diet Narcos that's been kept at room temperature. Sofia Vergara does a fairly good job with that she is given but the character is written as an animal backed into a corner, rather than the ruthless sociopath that was the real Griselda.

It was better than ok... But only just.

Griselda Blanco was one of the most brutal persons the world has ever seen. She killed so many people and was full of hate and cruelty.

Unfortunately, this TV show doesn't come close to showing what a beast she really was. It's just a normal "drug war setting" we already know from Narcos or Queen of the South.

The actress plays a person who is way too nice and empathetic. I just see a strong business woman in her, but I don't see the real Griselda Blanco which didn't hesistate to kill innocent children and people just because she loved it.

I hope there will be another TV Show which shows us the real Griselda one day!

Overall I believe this was a good miniseries. While the character of Griselda Blanco was a bit too sympathetic compared to what she was like in real life, Vergara did an outstanding job in a lead dramatic role, and if she was typecast as Gloria Pritchett she broke from it in a strong way.

Supporting cast was very good, I felt there was good chemistry between Vergara and many of the others. Writing seemed very good, well-paced story.

I also very much liked the subtitles. This was a nice touch, and is rarely used on such a large scale. The Spanish language was needed to convey the mood and energy of the show, and it worked like a charm. Nicely done.

Only had a couple of problems with the series:

1) it painted Blanco in way too sympathetic of a light. Anyone who watched the groundbreaking 2006 documentary on the Miami Cocaine Wars called "Cocaine Cowboys" would know the real Blanco was far more vicious and cold than Vergara's portrayal. Also, I don't recall the real Blanco being a demagogue of sorts, with stirring, rebellious speeches to rouse her people to take on the rich whites who exploit them. Nice message but I don't think Blanco was like that.

2) The series was way too short. Only six episodes? There was so much to Blanco's life that you could have done four full seasons, easily. With flashbacks to her horrific childhood, particularly her upbringing by her vicious, abusive mother, Ana Restrepo. Season 1 could have been her NY days, season 2 Miami, season 3 in California (both as a dealer and her imprisonment, including her relationship with Charles Cosby), season 4 back in Colombia ending with her assassination. This was a very good, well-made series and I wanted to see more.

I give this 8/10 largely due to Vergara's chops in a dramatic, serious role, great writing for what this was (a miniseries), and great supporting cast.

We quite enjoyed this once we got past thinking of the real life character. We have seen documentaries, this woman was a complete monster. Humanizing her and almost trying to gain sympathy for her plight was jarring. It's just goes too easy on her and almost has you thinking well who could blame her? I thought Sofia was really good, much better than i expected. Just as something to watch it's good, but if you're looking to get a genuine picture of just how awful the real woman was, don't bother! It glossed over or didn't include at all so many major things which is a shame, I feel like it was a wasted opportunity.

I never thought Sophia Vegara could play a serious role as she does in Griselda. She is a revelation. Absolutely terrific. You can't take your eyes off of her as she lifts the whole narrative around her. Just awesome. She should win awards for her portrayal.

A lot of people reviewing are grousing about the accuracy of the story and they are not wrong. Griselda is portrayed in a very sympathetic light and we know the real woman was not a sexy stunner like Sophia. Even with the heavy makeup, Sophia is drop dead gorgeous. Butttt, suspend your need for 100 percent accuracy and there is still a ton to like about this miniseries.

The series is enjoyable and could have scored higher. However, I found the main character to be casted very poorly. I know SV casted herself in the main role, but she simply isn't credible. She keeps coming across as a nice, but mostly weak lady, in a gangster world. When she shouts, her voice gets screechy. She is too well put together. Her motivational speech of war made me chuckle a bit. I understand this is a hard role, but you have to see a little bit psycho, a little bit coldness to believe it.

I was also extremely bothered with the lady cop. She figured everything out with one clue and was portrayed to be ignored because she was a woman. However, in reality, the evidence for what she claimed was paper thin and there is no way she could've known everything already.

This series was far better than what I was expecting. The acting is done extremely well so everything feels real not like how some of these shows are so far fetched with bad lines and scenes where nothing is believable. They've done a good job with the actors outfits and the set because everything looks exactly like it did in the 70s and 80s. Honestly the only gripe I have is that everything isn't exactly accurate to Griseldas story and how things happened in real life. I suppose alot of people probably won't really know her story and it's not enough of a big deal to sway you from watching or not watching it. Since the show goes into great detail i just would have preferred them to keep true to how things actually happened instead of some of the things the show has changed. For instance, how Rivi is introduced in the show. In real life they met by chance because Rivi messed a hit up, and Rivi is super essential to Griselda so I don't really understand the way they wrote him and her husband Dario becuase in real life it was Rivi doing alot of the things the show has Dario doing. Overall I'd definitely recommend watching, it's not as good as Narcos but will definitely keep you entertained through every episode.

Even with distracting prosthetics and false teeth, Vergara looks nothing like Griselda Blanco. Still, even if the attempt at a makeover is an unfortunate distraction, everything goes in a "Scarface" mode/formula and delivers a robust and over-the-top performance in this blood-soaked series from the creators of "Narcos" that plays like an extended B-movie. Very violent also because it's based on real-life tough events and adhering to a number of major events in Blanco's life, "Griselda". The story is highly stylized and fictionalized, as is the case with virtually all of these based-on-a-true-story gangster movies and series but it works..

Sofia goes in as Griselda with 100% effort and I applaud her. The issue is the lazy production, director and script writing. It's incoherent to have 1 actress go all in yet you film in Cali vs Miami. You then mix up the names and character duties incorrectly. Yes I understand this is a more fictional story of Griselda but then again why have Sofia go all in? Bahamas was Carlos Ledger and Miami was owned by Rafa Cardona. Rivi should have been Dario , just could have been fictionally better with a little proper characterization and location shooting. Could have been award winning with some simple tweaks, pure laziness.

I had high hopes for this miniseries. Coming from the producers and directors of 'Narcos', I figured this would be just as committed to accuracy and unflinching in its handling of the violence. It seems the producers felt, since this was a woman narco, they had to pull punches. The result is a series that could play on the Lifetime Channel with very little editing.

The REAL Griselda Blanco was an unrepentant mass murder. She was directly investigated for 40 murders and believed to be responsible for 250, total. This miniseries glazes over that. There is only a tiny fraction of The Black Widow's hits shown and a lot of the murders take place off camera.

Also, the first two episodes seem to be devoted to cementing Griselda Blanco as some sort of feminist icon. I mean why not? She's a 'woman' murdering drug dealer but she's being being picked on by all the 'male' murdering drug dealers. I consider myself a feminist and almost always support the connected causes. Griselda wasn't a 'feminist' any more than Pablo Escobar was a 'humanitarian'.

She was a total psychopath who murdered both husbands and an incredible number of people some of whom only had tenuous connections to the drug business. Her assassins didn't care what the collateral damage was and neither did she. Among these were woman and children. Her lifestyle led to death of three of her children. She was a monster and a black hole of a person who swallowed up people whole. She should have been portrayed that way. She is not.

While all gangster movies play with the likability of the leading mobster they also show the sides of them that make them horrible. Every good film about the Mob shows its destructiveness.

By the time Season 2 of 'Narcos' was over it was quite clear what a monster Pablo Escobar was. By the end of the final episode I think everybody watching feels, 'He got what he deserved'.

The 'Griselda' series soft handling of the bad side of Griselda Blanco makes this portrayal feel very dishonest. I found the final scene especially egregious.

I really didn't think I was going to write this long of a review. It's just the more I think about this series the less I like it and the message it seems to want to send.

I liked it overall. Lots of subtitles which some people didn't like but it gave an authenticity to the series so I did like that. Griselda was made into a sympathetic character screwed by men for the majority of the shows, but she was an evil person. I could deal with the dramatization of other aspects, but that kept the rating a little lower for me. Also, the ending was a little odd. I think that could have been changed. There was some violence shown, but it wasn't overdone like an action movie. I also liked that aspect of the film. Some of the violence actually caught you off guard in some parts. Overall, good, especially by Netflix standards but some changes for accuracy would have been nice.

Finally Sofía Vergara in something else than Modern Family. Quite a different character for her to play and in my eyes she did an outstanding job. Griselda is only six episodes long, which in my opinion was a pity. To me they could easily have made it longer for once. It's the kind of show you just binge watch. Griselda, the only person that scared Pablo Escobar, that says enough about the woman that took over the cocaine business in Miami. As expected in series about drug lords, a lot of violence, murders and snorting. A lot of macho behaviour, for once from a woman as well. Interesting story for people that like shows like Narcos or movies like The Godfather. This time it's about The Godmother.

Man, we were truly blessed when Narcos came out in 2015: not many shows nor movies can captivatingly portray a fascinating part of history so effortlessly combining humour, drama, and action. As a victim of its own success, perhaps some of that magic of the first season disappeared with subsequent seasons and the spin-off series Narcos: Mexico, but that's not saying much given the high standards set by that same season. Along comes Griselda: another spin-off series, but this time without the word 'Narcos' in its title (simply Griselda) and thus also more loosely linked to what now can be called a proper franchise. Made by the same people behind Narcos (and Narcos: Mexico), don't let its unique presentation fool you though: this is again a story about one individual's rise and fall through the drug-trafficking business and everything that comes with it. However, that didn't really matter in damping the excitement beforehand as the creators behind Narcos have proven they have mastered this formula. Besides, the drug trafficking business from a female perspective is something I never knew I needed until now. Even if in the end it only lasted for a mere 6 episodes.

And it's precisely that fact where the problem lies with this show: it feels rushed. Although 6 episodes is a popular format that's used for either an individual season of a large show or a mini-series, this structure simply doesn't fit the story that is portrayed here. In tradition of the previous Narcos shows that we've had until now, Griselda needed at least two seasons to tell its story properly. Sure, Narcos and Narcos: Mexico also skipped a lot of the facts but that didn't come at the expense of the quality of the experience. That's unfortunately not the case here. Every episode from episode 3 onwards basically skips at least three episodes of good material, which is at odds with how carefully but adequately the show started. How is this rush noticeable? Well, in many ways: character shifts, lack of character development, sudden shifts in tone, a lack of intended impact with unexpected moments, ... and the list goes on and on. In other words, what is lacking is a straight line running through all the 6 episodes. And what you get as a result are episodes that feel detached from each other.

But what is even more worrisome is that it's the story that drives the characters and not the other way around as it should be. A good example are the children of Griselda: they have, besides a few moments here and there, very little moments of their own, getting dragged around all of the different locations with little to no protest. The problem overall is that with only 6 episodes, the creators of the show basically obliged themselves to force the story through at the expense of character autonomy. This not only leads to a lack of character development but also, as mentioned before, to sudden shifts in character and tone: the show suddenly becomes really violent halfway through, even though no convincing chain of events were set in place to make that change believable. Another example of this problem is Griselda's character: her change to a ruthless, obsessed godmother may serve the purpose of the story, but the previous episodes do not warrant it nor back it up. Simply explaining what has changed from one episode to the next through narration or one of the characters in dialogue isn't convincing enough for the audience to believe the changes.

What this all does is also make the message of the show confusing. Was the intention to make a historically accurate portrayal of what Griselda did during her time in Miami? Or was it rather the idea to give a unique spin to the character of Griselda to explore the unusual role of women in the drug trafficking business? The problem here's consistency in portrayal and tone: almost simultaneously with the increase in violence in the show, Griselda changes to a far more ruthless drug kingpin. This side of Griselda is more in line with what she apparently really was. However, as I have said before, this was not the case in the beginning, which makes you wonder if the creators of this show changed their idea halfway through of what kind of character Griselda should be.

Those of you who have seen Narcos: Mexico will clearly recognize the opposite relationship between the honest, good-working cop and the ruthless drug kingpin. Interestingly, the cop in this show is also a woman. However, this relationship and the entire cop-perspective of this story is not developed enough for us to care, making it seem more like an addition to make it clear that Griselda is a show made for female audiences, even if that means that not enough time was left to explore the darker sides of Griselda's character. It doesn't help that the show turned out to be so short. In the end, it feels as if there was no real commitment towards bringing a consistent version of the character of Griselda to life.

However, it isn't all bad: the acting here's on point, and nothing is to be said about the production of the show, besides perhaps the slightly weird-looking makeup of Sofia Vergara. Some of the brilliance of the Narcos series also shines through with the humour and unexpected twists and turns that shake up the story which made us fall in love with Narcos in the first place. It truly makes you wonder what this show could have been if it were allowed to develop more. Was the project cut short due to internal difficulties as has been the case with many projects recently due to the recent writer's strike in Hollywood or was this simply how the show was meant to be? I can't help but conclude the former, even more so given how so many actors of Narcos were recast here to the point that it became odd to me not even halfway through.

In the end, Griselda is a show that is much inferior in quality compared to the new gold standard of television series set forth by Narcos. Although still entertaining in the Narcos way, it feels a little inferior in quality on all aspects due to story decisions that are partly a result of this show's far too short runtime, even with long individual episodes. As a result, the overall impression is very mixed. It wouldn't be surprising should we see a new portrayal of Griselda in another show or movie in a few years' time, since there is so much wasted potential here. As it stands, it shows that not even shows like Narcos are untouchable.

I confess that I was one of the people who was a little skeptical about the great Sofia Vergara taking on a drama role, after having spent 11 years with her in 'Modern Family', but in 'Griselda' she transforms completely and shows us what a fantastic actress she is - and who could earn her an Emmy.

Although this is not a series on the level of Narcos, the makeup department and Sofia Vergara make this series worth watching.

I already knew Griselda's story slightly (thanks to the average 2017s TV movie with a fine performance of Catherine Zeta-Jones), but Netflix's 'Griselda' gives us a more complete and detailed story of how dangerous and complex Griselda was. It deserves to be seen.

It seems the main purpose of this series having been made was to highlight the fact that in the 1970s a time of extreme machismo and that is absolutely incontrovertible that it was; these two women here one basically a version of the Worst Colombian drug baron you could ever imagine Escobar-strength but this time in a skirt and her nemesis again here an Hispanic cloaked warrior working for the police (battling racism AND sexism) basically butt heads and see who can push the other one out of the ring first. It seems really that this was the primary drive behind this historical reenactment to show us that women can be as badass as any guy any time of the day any decade.

• It seems a little bit redundant and not really needed in 2024 a time in history when no we haven't yet got parity but do we need to be reminded time and time and time again about the bad old days? Griselda here really is as ruthless as the worst of Medellin ever produced. That is undeniable. We end up with dead babies with orphan-making pointless murders all commandeered by Griselda.

But the problem for me here is that it seems that it is lauded here as if we should be amazed wonderful what a great lady sort of well done you you can do this as well as your brother could and even possibly better. What she did was practically pure evil let us be clear under guises of I'm doing this for my boys she ran a murderous operation nothing here should be lauded it should be made to look pathetic and sad not look at the Rock Star. And yes later on she gets her just desserts maybe but still for the vast majority of the time we are supposed to gawp at the amazing show she puts on ....

Same with the lady copper isn't she wonderful despite all the sexist jokes in her place of work she comes out on top and then she comes out on top isn't she wonderful? Well maybe more so in her case than in the case of Griselda anyway anyway

• Enough bellyaching from this ingrate viewer here having said all this and I wanted to say all this because I think it needs to be said this is an astounding series in six episodes the acting is stellar the rhythm of every single episode is brilliant always keeping you on the edge of your seat always keeping you guessing as to what might happen next. The men here are truly secondary players as if they were all new men 20 years before this became currency in the 1990s. Secondary roles for the men here. The sense of period from the 1970s with the cars and the clothing and the TV sets all that is done brilliantly too

There is nothing wrong with the series it is excellent and would highly recommend it to anyone who wants to watch something made with quality and high production values; but still I will again say it before I sign off why make a hero out of a truly truly bad villain simply because she wears a skirt ... Seems profoundly twisted to me ... grim Griselda ace series.

Really bad acting by SV. It is difficult to take seriously. They make her look terrible and then present her as a trophy.

I wanted to like it and I do like her in other genres.

The show lacks edge with Cartel hitmen who show compassion.

The police point of view is lackluster. There is not much depth to their side of the story.

There is the usually cartel execution scenes which are OK but they get lost in the rest of the blandness of the show.

At no point did anything stand out or surprise me.

I think for people who enjoy cartel stories, this will be a disappointment compared to other shows of the same subject.

Sofia Vergara did an amazing job portraying Griselda through her different stages of life. Even though Griselda did so many things and hurt so many people, Sofia was able to give the character some heart. She loved her children and even when her actions were putting them in danger there was the feeling that it would never be enough to make everything stop, because then you also have the business and a bunch of people counting on this cartel for money.

The overall ambiance was very dark throughout the movie which gave it older 70s,80s vibes. But it was slight enough that a modern audience wouldn't find it jarring.

There are a lot of subtitles, but it's worth reading them. It was amazing to see Sofia as a serious dramatic actress. She nailed it.

Very loosely based on the real and very evil life of Griselda Blanco who was a notorious drug lord in 80s Miami. She was murderous, psychopathic, and paranoid among other verifiable facts. The series however portrays her as an affectionate and somewhat naive character navigating the misogynistic world of male-dominated cartels.

Sofia Vergara's acting skills are not up to par for a role like this given the grittiness, depth, and ugliness of Griselda. The makeup and facial prosthetics were also extremely visible and distracting. We've seen countless male actors completely transform their bodies and physical appearance for roles yet here the female lead did not even look like a distant relative of Griselda. In my opinion a miscast, but understandable for show marketing purposes.

The cinematography, pacing, and other actors were alright but you just can't shake off the feeling that the series was half-baked and rushed. We've seen many excellent true crime shows produced over the years that makes this one ultimately forgettable.

I was hoping for more with a Colombian actress and with Narcos producers. It's overall pretty decent and an interesting story. However it feels rushed and choppy. The actors who were in Narcos did a very fine job but the writing and character development not nearly as good as Narcos or Narcos Mexico. I'm reviewing this after seeing 2 of the episodes and I still look forward to seeing it to the end. It's just not "capturing" me like Narcos or NM did.

In Narcos, my understanding is that the character Judy Moncado was the "Griselda" and I found Judy to be more of a "narco trafficante". Granted both Narcos and Griselda play with some facts but I'm finding myself wanting more connection or at least more references in Griselda to her background and association with Pablo Escobar.

Go back to being a house wife! Ot-OH... Shouldnt of said that!

This is a brilliant drama series with enough coke to feed an entire army!

What starts out as a woman dealing with domestic abuse from her violent drug barren husband turns in to a Scarface rise to the top inspired conquering America, well Miami to be exact!

The plot is solid and easy to follow, a 6 part series of Grisdela's rise and fall is brilliant, a great cast, with the right amount of blood and violence thats makes it believable and knowing this is based on a true story is even better.

Sofia Vergara as the titles main character is so convincing I will not mess with her in and out of character!

So here we finally have a perfect opportunity to put a woman in a leading, bad ass role, and yet they put a doubtful, petty, pathetic, female, lead character. She doesn't make a single, smart decision, has no redeeming character whatsoever, every single time something bad happens, seems to almost break down. What a shame. Think about roles like in the sopranos, they never broke down, and Toni was even with a shrink at that point. It's just utterly unbelievable, because she doesn't actually have any good plan whatsoever, and seems weak at all, the moments that it matters. Really, the only person who is strong was making things happen is her assassin boyfriend.

The backdrop of the Miami of a few decades ago is pretty darn decent though. I also like that they actually speak a bunch of Spanish.