The Netflix original Spanish movie Centauro follows Rafa, a budding racer taking the fast lane to life. When the mother of his child falls into jeopardy, Rafa must venture into the underbelly of organized crime in the city of Aragon to save her.
Warning: This article contains heavy spoilers
Plot summary
Rafa is walking determinedly through the pits at the Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya, past the berths of well-funded superbike teams to his lone, self-maintained Kawasaki Ninja when we first encounter him.
His hunger on the track is determined by his independence. Rafa is ready to put it up to poor luck and move on until his bike blows a leak with two laps to go. Regina, the team’s owner, recognises his perseverance and gives him a tryout.
This could be the break Rafa needs to quit his work as a container loader at the Port of Barcelona and finally show his ex Natalia that he’s worthy of a relationship with her and their little son Mateo.
Even if his kitchen and bedroom share space with his superbike and a jumble of tools and solvent barrels in his home. Regina, on the other hand, is promising him a solid future on the track.
When Natalia is pushed on by a group of cartel-affiliated dealers working in Barcelona, trouble strikes, putting a wrench in Rafa’s plans. The drugs she was keeping for them were stolen, and if she doesn’t pay up it was going to be bad. Rafa vows to meet Carlos and Boro and work out a deal, even if his friend Cortes, a low-level drug dealer, cautions him off.
Rafa isn’t deterred, and he’s in the back of Boro’s van on his way to Marseille, where he’ll pick up a package of merchandise and race back to Barcelona with the drug interdiction highway officers close after.
He’s working both ends and the middle of the candle, running courier routes at night, working at the port during the day, and swallowing medication to stay cold enough to avoid crashing and burning during one of Regina’s tryout runs.
Rafa is still pursuing a spot on her superbike team. And he still wants to be with Natalia and Mateo full-time. Rafa’s wager in all of this becomes his very life the more he chances with the cartel members and the encircling law.
Rafa meets Boro at their previous meeting location at the end of his two-month term. Boro is occupied with the task of counting money. Boro refuses to grant Rafa’s request for leave.
Boro threatens Rafa with continuing the gang’s trips if he doesn’t maintain his part of the bargain. Rafa may lose Natalia if he fails to do so, according to Boro. The thug threatens Rafa with selling Natalia to the Arabs, which Rafa refuses to accept.
Rafa feigns leaving out of the garage, only to return to Boro with the helmet. He repeatedly slams the helmet into Boro’s head, and the blood on the floor indicates that Boro is dead.
Following the event, rival gangster Diego arrives on the scene to assist Rafa in cleaning up the debris. They’re first sympathetic to Rafa, who appears to be in shock. As he recovers from his astonishment, he indicates to the other gang that they may have both the money and Boro’s phone contacts.
If you have any doubts about the ending, here is a complete breakdown.
Centauro ending explained in detail:
A second chance
Rafa is engulfed in a whirlwind of personal turmoil, and he rarely has time to concentrate on the race.
He takes two blue pills Boro provided him earlier shortly before the race. Fentanyl, an opioid that blocks nerve receptors to relieve pain, appears to be the substance based on its hue.
Rafa slips off the course and falls behind as the medicine takes its toll. Rafa finally gets a call from Regina and meets her in person. Regina has persuaded the financier to hire Rafa for another haul.
The twist
Rafa is summoned by the authorities.
The photos left by an anonymous person indicate Rafa to be at the scene of Boro’s death but he tries to deny the allegations. The authorities pay no heed since the lead seems solid enough.
We’re curious as to who sent the tip. Diego may be attempting to avoid Carlos. On the contrary, it’s possible that a police officer followed Rafa to his hiding.
A new beginning
The officer, however, does not put Rafa in jail, much to his surprise. He wants to hire Rafa as a rider for the Central Narcotics Squad, on the contrary. Rafa dons the ‘Centauro-1’ jacket in the last scene, assisting the cops in apprehending drug smugglers.
Natalia learns about Rafa’s small side hustle near the end of the film, and the emotional levee breaches and they restart their relationship. Even so, as the film draws to a close, we see the silver lining.
Rafa eventually recognizes the importance of family in his life. He comes across as a family man as he speaks to Regina in the final minutes. Rafa has stated that he is ready to return to the team as a family, and we hope that he is also ready for a traditional family with Natalia and Mateo.
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