‘The Innocent’ review: Spanish adaptation of Harlan Coben thriller works better than the novel

Director Oriol Paulo, who shares writing credits with Jordi Vallejo and Guillem Clua has created a thrilling narrative, providing the right amount of detail in perfect doses

In an interview with this writer, Harlan Coben spoke of the pros of moving his stories out of the US in the adaptations. As part of the multi-million dollar deal with Netflix, 14 of Coben’s novels are to be adapted. After the gender-swapped The Stranger, and moving The Woods from the US to Poland, comes The Innocent, with the action again moving out of the States, this time to Barcelona and Marbella. . In the same interview, Coben talks of his fascination for putting an ordinary man in extraordinary circumstances and the fact that the past is never quite buried. The Innocent features both these Coben favourites. Mateo’s (Mario Casas) life was just beginning, when in the process of breaking up a brawl, he kills a young man, Dani. Mateo is sent to prison for four years for accidental homicide. After serving his sentence, Mateo tries to rebuild his life. He works in his brother’s legal firm and falls in love with a beautiful woman, Olivia (Aura Garrido). Nine years later, it looks as if Mateo is emerging from the shadow—he marries Olivia, they are expecting their first child and are looking to buy their first home. That is when a strange photo from Olivia’s phone drags Mateo into a maelstrom of suspicion, violence and danger.