Move Over Hunger Games: Netflix’s Binge-Worthy Drama Is a Perfect Replacement
Are you ready for another deadly fight?
The term "battle royale" became popular thanks to Kinji Fukasaku's 2000 movie of the same name. It refers to a competition in which participants must fight each other until the last person standing. A new wave of popularity of such stories began in 2021 after the release of Squid Game on Netflix.
But there are a lot of similar stories: some authors force characters to fight each other or deceive rivals, others put a whole team in a difficult situation and force them to work together.
3% is The First Brazilian TV Show on Netflix
Latin America in general, and Brazil in particular, is a very important region for the development of Netflix, which has entered the international arena. And to conquer local markets, it is necessary not only to translate series and movies into the language of a given region, but also to release original local content.
3%, a project about survival games in a post-apocalyptic world, is the first Brazilian series on the Netflix streaming service and the platform's first project in Portuguese. It fits perfectly into the wave of teenage dystopias about a world divided into rich and poor.
The irony is that 3% writer Pedro Aguilera came up with the pilot episode in 2009, before The Hunger Games movie launched the new wave of popularity for the genre. However, these stories are very different, and the Brazilian series puts much more emphasis on interesting characters with unusual backstories.
What is 3% About?
In the distant future, most people live in a dystopian world: there is not enough food and resources. Every year, all 20 year olds get the chance to go to the Offshores – the place where the elite live. Everyone must go through the "Process," a test that results in only 3% of the candidates being selected.
The next group includes the smart and fair Bianca, the cunning Rafael, who is willing to commit fraud to achieve his goal, the wheelchair-bound Fernando, and other participants. But one of them may turn out to be a spy for a group of revolutionaries.
3% is Different from Other Dystopian Stories
This series is not a typical dystopia and has nothing in common with the usual representatives of the genre, such as Black Mirror or The Hunger Games.
The story, the characters and the world in 3% are not black and white – there is no obvious good fighter for freedom against tyranny and the evil totalitarian machine that oppresses everyone. The conflicts of the series are based on what is happening in reality, not on what might happen in the future. This makes 3% an original and fresh project in the genre.