EXCLUSIVE: Criminal Code is a breakout hit for Netflix. The Brazilian action drama, based on real events, has landed well at home and internationally. Season 2 drops soon and Deadline got some time with series director and showrunner Heitor Dhalia. We can also exclusively share the first pictures from the upcoming season.
Criminal Code scaled Netflix’s top 10 in 70 countries, including the U.S. and Canada. On home turf, it was the most-watched Brazilian series in the second half of 2023 when it launched, and also one of the most-watched shows through 2024.
Set in the crime world in and around the Triple Frontier, a three-border area where Argentina, Brazil, and Paraguay meet, the drama was inspired by a robbery that took place in 2017 and ensuing real-life events. The new season involves a prison break and follows a criminal group, the Phantom Gang, undertaking more daring heists while being pursued by the cops.
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“We learned a lot in Season 1 and expanded the scope of the series in this second season,” Dhalia said. “The success of the first season motivated us to take more risks in exploring the depth of the crime universe in the Triple Frontier.”
Dhalia and the Criminal Code team are breaking new ground with a Brazilian action drama inspired by true crime. The team went to lengths to make sure their series, although fictionalized, felt authentic.
“Crime series must respect the codes of the universe we portray; this is one of the secrets that captures the audience’s attention,” he said. “We researched and deeply understood the crime universe, working with real consultants, police from all forces, and former criminals, ex-bank robbers, and ex-international traffickers.”
Criminal Code stars Maeve Jinkings, Rômulo Braga, Thomás Aquino and Alex Nader. The story is told from different viewpoints and Dhalia added: “The strength and clash of perspectives make the series what it is and give it the truth it holds. We have many former inmates in the cast, which brings a unique truth to the show.”
Dhalia is a Partner at the production company Paranoid. His background is moviemaking, having directed films including Drained, which played at Sundance, Adrift, which was in the Un Certain Regard section at Cannes, and Amanda Seyfried-starrer Gone.
As well as Criminal Code, he is finishing up another Netflix project, Os Donos do Jogo (which roughly translates as The Owners of the Game, but it does not yet have an official English-language title). That will follow the Rio de Janeiro gambling mafia. He says it has similar core principles as Criminal Code.
Brazil has a storied filmmaking history. In TV, meanwhile, it is known internationally for long-running melodramas. With action series such as Criminal Code and soon Os Donos do Jogo hitting international screens, viewers around the world are seeing a different flavor of Brazilian TV drama.
Dhalia says: “I hope this marks a new chapter for Brazilian productions to shine on the world stage. As one of the characters in this new show says: ‘Only those who play win.’”
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