Holy Family is a Spanish drama series that revolves around a single mother with a secretive past and the various people in her circle. The series is now streaming on Netflix.
Warning: This article contains heavy spoilers
Plot summary
Gloria is a single mother living with her infant son, Hugo and her au pair, Aitana in Fuente del Berro in Madrid. She has made friends with Blanca and Alicia, other women living in the area.
In truth, Gloria keeps many secrets from her friends, including her true identity. Gloria’s real name is Julia and Aitana is actually her daughter. Her son, Abel also lives with them but remains locked up in the basement.
She is in hiding because while she gave birth to Hugo, he is not her own son. She served as a surrogate for her son and daughter-in-law, Santi and Natalia. When Santi died trying to save Aitana from drowning, Natalia was supposed to move away with her father and Hugo.
Gloria couldn’t bear to live away from Hugo because he was her only remaining connection to Hugo and the fact that she gave birth to him. With her children’s help, they kidnap Hugo and fake their own deaths to start fresh.
A new family has moved into the neighbourhood and they become part of Gloria’s social group which includes Blanca and Alicia. Blanca has a son named Lorenzo who is mentally challenged and a husband who is constantly travelling for work.
Alicia and her husband cannot have children and are applying for adoption. She is also a teacher at the school with Lorenzo as her student.
The new family consists of German, his wife Caterina and their infant daughter, Ana. There appears to be something odd about German and Caterina right from the off.
They are actually independent mercenaries hired by Hugo’s grandfather, Fernando Alberche, to track down Gloria and his Hugo. The child with them belongs to a junkie that Caterina paid off.
Aitana gets close to another student named Marcos whom she meets at the university. He is awestruck by her ability to play the piano and invites her to play at a party at his house.
Abel is only allowed to explore the streets at night when it’s dark and one night, he runs into German. German wants to confirm that Abel is indeed their target but they hit off as they’re both gay.
German and Caterina gather information on Gloria and confirm that she is Julia. They are confused by the fact that Hugo is Natalia’s biological son but it was Gloria that gave birth to him.
Natalia had an infantile womb and couldn’t survive a pregnancy so Gloria offered to be the surrogate, a fact that Fernando never knew about.
Gloria is in the process of acquiring new passports for her family so that they can start new lives in Canada. However, her erratic behaviour and all the constant lying are getting on Aitana’s nerves.
Aitana and Marcos begin dating while Abel and German also have a relationship with each other in secret. Gloria will go to any lengths to ensure that her family is safe.
Natalia lives in Argentina with her father and one day, she sees Aitana’s picture in a magazine article about Marcos’ wealthy family. She’s convinced that it’s her sister-in-law and digs deeper.
German and Caterina are given the order to grab Hugo and get rid of Julia, Abel and Aitana. German has real feelings for Abel and isn’t so sure about killing him.
Marcos asks Aitana about her past and tells her that a woman named Natalia called him asking about her. He tells her that he loves her and is willing to keep her secret. He suggests that they run away together to his holiday villa in Marbella.
Gloria finds out about Marcos and the fact that Natalia contacted him. She kills him to make sure their truth is not revealed but this pushes Aitana even further away from her.
Gloria also learns German and Caterina’s true identities and uses Abel’s connection with German to set a trap for him. She restrains him and goes home but she’s locked in a room by her children.
Holy Family (2022) ending explained in detail:
What does Aitana choose to do?
Aitana doesn’t want to run away with Gloria and asks Abel to come with her. Abel says that he can’t abandon his mother so Aitana leaves a letter for her with Abel and leaves.
She goes to Marcos’ funeral and is overcome with grief. At the funeral, she runs into Natalia who has come to Madrid looking for her son.
What is Abel’s plan?
Abel goes to the place where German is tied up. German admits that the only thing real about his life is his connection with Abel and he urges Abel to kill him and not leave any loose ends.
Abel says that he can’t do that and sets him free. He goes back home to his mother and tells her to pack everything as soon as possible so that they can escape.
What happens to Caterina and German?
After German is freed, he calls up Caterina and tells her that Gloria and her family are planning to escape since she’s found out the truth about them. He tells her to meet him at Gloria’s house.
Caterina received a call from Fernando earlier, who is also in Madrid now. He tells Caterina to make sure everything is taken care of by the time he arrives and gives her the location she should meet him with his grandson.
German waits near Gloria’s house and as soon as he sees Caterina driving past, he runs his vehicle through hers, instantly killing her while gravely injuring himself.
Do Gloria and Abel escape?
Aitana returns home and while Gloria thinks she’s there to join her family again, Aitana says she’s there to take Hugo back to his real mother, Natalia. She takes the baby to meet Natalia in the park and Gloria follows her.
Abel is returning home in Gloria’s van when he sees her going into the park. Before Aitana can hand Hugo over to Natalia, Gloria arrives and stabs her. Abel comes and gets everyone into the van, including Natalia, as they drive past German and Caterina’s accident site.
With Aitana hurt and Natalia as a hostage, there’s no clear plan of action in Abel and Gloria’s minds right now.
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