Diary of a Gigolo review: An unexpectedly intriguing whodunnit narrative

Diary of a Gigolo revolves around the glamorous life of a gigolo. The story follows the investigation of a dead body found at his house. 

Story

Without giving much thought to her plan, Ana Bolonte hires Emanuel, a professional gigolo, to seduce Julia, her daughter. She believes it would improve their relationship and help her daughter move on from the pain of her father’s death. He falls in love with Julia and ruins her plan. 

Ana starts getting jealous of her daughter’s relationship and gives Emanuel an ultimatum to break up or she will reveal his secret. Emanuel quits his job for Julia which disappoints his employers, Minou and Florencia, who treated him like a family member.

While investigating a harmful drug approved by her family’s lab, Julia leads Ana to the truth behind her ex-husband’s death. Ana confronts the killer but gets admitted to a psychiatric hospital without her consent. 

Ana is found dead at Emanuel’s house and an investigation team is set up. All her connections are investigated and their secrets are revealed. 

Performances

Victoria White plays the character of a shy art school student, Julia. She uses minimal movements to establish her character identity. Her subtle transformation in the end to the assertive woman was admirable. 

Jesús Castro plays the charming gigolo. While his appearance is flawless for the character, his performance falls behind. Emanuel is portrayed as the perfect man yet is unable to display depth through his acting.

Fabiola Campomanes plays Ana who is conflicted between her traumatic life and her alcohol addiction. She displays the cycle of Ana’s recovery and relapse and her increasing madness as Emanuel falls in love with Julia. Her performance increases the stakes in the eventual death of her character.

Begoña Narváez and Adriana Barraza are outstanding in their performance as two strong-headed women with their own conflicts and obsessions. 

Positives

Diary of a Gigolo follows a classic whodunnit narrative by starting with the interrogation scene and revealing the killer in the resolution. Despite being slightly predictable, the series adds multiple plotlines to deceive its audience. 

The narrative juggles between pre-murder and post-murder scenes which adds a layer to its mystery which wouldn’t have been possible through a linear timeline. 

The character arcs are well thought out and have a realistic pace whether it is Julia’s transformation into an assertive woman or Ana’s gradual descent into madness. 

Negatives

The show heavily relies on the glamorous life of a gigolo to grab the audience’s attention making it look like the writers themselves do not believe in the strength of their plotline. 

The show takes time to set its premise and characters which makes the initial episodes less interesting than others.

Verdict

The trailer for ‘Diary of a Gigolo’ might mislead the audience’s expectations about the actual focus of the show but despite the marketing decisions, the plot makes a decent story and has an unexpected resolution triggering the cathartic factor of a whodunnit narrative. 


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