Untamed Royals ends with a sinister shot. After committing a heinous crime, which resulted in the death of young boy Vincente, the three accomplices, Xavi, Gerardo, and Mariane, sit together, casually on a couch, relaxed, without a care in the world. They are terrifyingly comfortable with each other despite the pain they have caused to those vulnerable around them.
Audiences will be infuriated that justice did not arrive, as Paty, the assumed housemaid and nanny, was wrongfully accused of kidnapping and killing Vincente, Reneta’s brother, thus highlighting the gap between the wealthy and vulnerable in criminal and social case studies.
The Kids Play While The Adults Take Advantage
The real twist in Untamed Royals is that the adults helped facilitate the crimes of the privileged teenagers. The movie plays out a “boys versus men” scenario, with police investigators Rodrigo and Sergio taking advantage of the situation unfolding in the neighborhood.
My theory is that the investigators felt that they may as well make a profit from the wealthy degenerate teenagers playing crimes on their own people. Rodrigo killing Leopoldo was shocking but a tactical, corrupt move, especially as he was a key suspect in the home invasion at the start of the movie.
However, removing a key suspect (who was not participating in the crimes) allowed the police to accuse Paty of killing Vincente and take advantage of the crimes Xavier and Gerardo were carrying out.
The police investigation was a misdirection to the audience.
But the key question is, how did Rodrigo know that Xavi and Gerardo were profiting from the crimes against their own wealthy neighborhood? While the movie never confirms it, it’s loosely implied that Pilar is the wife of police investigator Sergio, and every time Gerardo made money from the crimes, he gave a portion of the funds to Pilar in return for sex. Gerardo was flagrantly falling in love with the woman, who was clearly taking advantage of him.
At the end of Untamed Royals, Rodrigo meets Gerardo in the middle of nowhere, and the young man gives the police investigator a bag of money. Rodrigo tells Gerardo that he works for him moving forward, implying he will continue diverting attention from him when these intricate crimes occur.
But the biggest giveaway is when Sergio hands Gerardo a stuffed toy with money. Earlier in the movie, Gerardo hides in Pilar’s son’s room and hides money in a toy as the husband returns home, thus implying that Sergio is the husband and knows what is happening.
Juan Pablo Fuentes as Xavi in ‘Untamed Royals’ (Credit – Netflix)
Untamed Royals’ Ending Confirms The Movie Is All About The Desperation For Purpose
As I signaled in my review, the crime drama works on the precipice that those born into generational wealth and/or privilege suffer from the need to find purpose, resulting in depression.
This means that Xavi and Mariane, in particular, require something profound in their lives to escape their depression and feel something.
Xavi may have deep sexual fantasies, which he exposes to Gerardo, Reneta, and even his own sister Mariane because he needs an escape from such a mundane lifestyle birthed from privilege.
Gerardo is an outlier in all this; his circumstances are not clear. And while he appears to be the most confident out of the three, my theory is that he is being used by the privileged counterparts in his life.
And so the ending, where Renata, Xavi, Gerardo, and Mariane decide to kidnap Renata’s brother Vincente for extortion money, is merely that lust for purpose piquing. Beforehand, Mariane tells Renata that Xavi and Gerardo played a false extortion scheme on her mother. The value of the extortion is purely based on the value of the person.
The topic of value is prominent in Untamed Royals because what value do these characters have when everything they’ve achieved has been handed to them?
I felt slightly sorry for Renata because the movie decisively shows her horse riding — she has found a passion and an outlet in life and is popular on social media, too.
The plan was never for Vincente to die, and nor did these teenagers expect the police to orchestrate a cover-up for their own gains.
But as you see Mariane, Xavi, and Gerardo sitting comfortably on the couch at the end, you realize how terrifying this predicament is. With no accountability for their actions and the police covering up the terror they are causing in the neighborhood, they will feel enabled to continue to scheme and plot more heinous crimes.
There’s a case to be made that the police feel aggrieved by how the wealthy operate. At the start of the film, Rodrigo raises the question of how he knew Xavi’s father, who apparently did a lot of good work for the police alongside the attorney general.
Whether or not he meant that or was being ironic is up for questioning.
Either way, these characters are likely to cause further pain, with horrific consequences and an impact on the vulnerable.
