This study approaches the first season of Netflix's Argentinian series El reino / The Kingdom (2021), co-created by Marcelo Piñeyro and Claudia Piñeiro, through its religious aspects, first by reviewing evangelical influence in Latin... more
This study approaches the first season of Netflix's Argentinian series El reino / The Kingdom (2021), co-created by Marcelo Piñeyro and Claudia Piñeiro, through its religious aspects, first by reviewing evangelical influence in Latin American politics and showing why this has become an object of scrutiny for cowriter and feminist activist Claudia Piñeiro. Second, it analyzes how the fictional pastors in El reino represent Neo-Pentecostal prosperity theology and how this belief system, uncritically extrapolated to excess, facilitates their simultaneous acceptance of Christianity and crime. As in her crime novels, Piñeiro seeks to expose damaging ideologies that contribute to injustice and inequality, particularly in relation to gender and sexuality. Thus, El reino highlights the connections between its religious and political context, individual crimes such as money laundering and sexual abuse, and societal injustices that victimize women, LGBTQ+ people, and the poor.
