Netflix offers an inside look into the illegal drug business. This time, it’s at the stories of some of the most infamous and dangerous drug lords in the narcotic pantheon. Netflix has already delved into the details of the drug game with the critically acclaimed series Narcos.
Now, they’re bringing the facts. It’s a compelling documentary series that explains how these drug lords came to be and what became of them.
The series’ first compilation of criminals includes Pablo Escobar and The Cali Cartel. (Both of them play a role in Narcos.) Frank Lucas and The Pettingill Clan are also featured.
Following the success of Narcos, Mike Welsh, executive producer, pitched the documentary series. It was intended as a support piece detailing the lives of drug lords, some of whom were featured as characters in the show. The only trouble was, how could they tell a story that audiences hadn’t already heard? One about scandalous criminals famed for their notoriety?
Drug Lords delivers a series that covers the facts and takes them straight from the horse’s mouth.
With a nod to the Rashomon effect, this documentary series compiles accounts from all sides of the coin. Often, there’s an intriguing and conflicting recollection of events.
The series boasts talks from the authorities who worked on the cases. But also from the henchmen and, in some cases, the reformed drug lords themselves. This supplies the audience with a collection of versions. They often conflict, but that encourages discussion and leaves you impartial to the people you see, all seemingly with some skewed and deranged moral explanation for their actions.
All the drug lords included in the series have been extensively covered. Other documentaries and many big-screen adaptations have covered this round. Without excluding Escobar and the Cali Cartel in Narcos, Frank Lucas is also included as the inspiration for the film American Gangster. The Pettingill Clan is not amiss as the inspiration for the film Animal Kingdom.
With this in mind, I still think it is safe to say that Drug Lords reveal and expose the truths we’ve always wanted to know. Such as the path that Pablo Escobar took to escape the police from his private prison through the foggy mountains of Columbia, confidently mapped out by the hitman who followed in his footsteps. Or Kath Pettingill, the matriarch of the Pettingill Clan, as she explains her side of the story of how a woman became a force to be reckoned with in a world dominated by men.
It’s safe to say this personal approach to the facts lends itself to a fascinating watch. This tactic certainly ensures that Drug Lords stands out in a crowd of already-established drug lord documentaries.
Drug Lords mostly use the same standard techniques that we expect from crime documentaries. With a strong and typically confident American voiceover and a combination of news footage and slightly cheesy re-enactments, some may accuse the series of nothing new and certainly not experimental.
Although I did wish for a different format, I found that the familiar approach to documentaries, juxtaposed with the subjects being compiled of the actual criminals and their assistants, gave for an unsettling experience, providing the audience with all too casual explanations of the abhorrent crimes from seemingly approachable people.
In turn, Drug Lords offers a tantalizing array of stories of unlawful and vicious crimes from those who were there on the day. I highly recommend Drug Lords to crime fanatics and casual documentary viewers. With the shocking tellings from the subjects and the satisfactory balance of facts, the audience is expected to make up their minds. I have made up mine, and I implore you to watch and do the same.
