DNA do Crime (Netflix series, 2023)

Criminal Code (or: DNA do Crime) is a new action thriller series from Brazil, that is basically guaranteed to give action junkies their much needed adrenaline rush.

The series is based on a true story, which took place in South America between 2013 and 2020.

It begins with a well staged robbery in the city of Ciudad del Este in Paraguay, at the headquarters of a private equity firm, where over fifty heavily armed robbers used explosives to gain entrance and make their getaway with forty-four million dollars.

The Paraguayan authorities launch an investigation, but as there seems to be a connection with Brazil, federal agents from the Brazilian town of Foz do Iguaçu start their own search. 

The series focuses on a couple of brave agents, Benicio (Romulo Braga) and Suellen (Maeve Jinkings), supported by their boss Rossi (Thomas Aquino), while the leader of the bankrobbers, the ferocious Sem Elma, is played by Miguel Nader.

DNA do Crime takes place at that particular moment in time when Brazilian police were only just beginning to use DNA samples to find criminals and those thugs weren’t used to wiping out their traces.

So when the police find a trace that connects the robbery to other recent crimes, this in turn leads to unveiling an even grander scheme that involves criminal parties from both Paraguay and Brazil. 

The series is directed with great verve by Pedro Morelli and Heitor Dhalia, with the latter one also being listed as on of the creators, together with Bernardo Barcellos, Leonardo Levis, Aly Muritiba and screenwriter Bruno Passeri (The Expendables).

To be honest, DNA do Crime doesn’t really break any new ground when it comes to telling crime related stories like this. 

But on the other hand it does deliver the goods if you like ‘shoot ‘em up and bring down the bad guys, either dead or alive’ stories.

Visually, the creators seem to be inspired by Denis Villeneuve’s masterful Sicario, with a lot of breathtaking action scenes.

There is also a shared obsession with border towns and the special atmosphere that surrounds the illegal operations that take place there.

The credo of DNA do Crime is neatly summarized by the line ‘we do what we have to do to catch the ones we have to catch’. 

Based on the first couple of episodes, my own take would be: What you see is what you get, but sometimes what you get is a lot more than you would expect!