User reviews

I found Bros probably one of the most self indulgent actor/writer projects of recent years, and understand why it bombed as a rom com. Smiley, on the other hand succeeds with characters you want to follow on their romantic journeys through all the episodes! I enjoyed how it was an ensemble, so rather than a focus on just the leads, you can enjoy the supporting players performances and storylines. The chemistry between the two leads, was undeniable (something a project like Bros failed on miserably), and you find yourself rooting for them to find what they are looking for in the end. I won't reveal any spoilers, but I was wondering while watching how they came up with the title, and was pleasantly surprised with the reveal at the end. I think American writers and producers, disappointed by the failure of Bros, should applaud and appreciate how this Spanish production did it right and exceeded expectations for a male/male rom com.

I expected yet another banal, predictable gay rom-com. And while some of the plot is predictable, there is so much more character development than most gay rom-coms that I binged watched the entire series in two sittings. The writing is clever, the acting is very good, and the characters are multi-dimensional.

I enjoyed the many different ways the film explores relationships and people's yearning for love, despite their ages and sexual proclivities. While each character's foibles complicate their searches for love, ultimately their journeys lead them to where they should be.

If you're looking just for eye candy, you can find that here, too. And Barcelona itself is one of the stars.

Even if you're not in love with all of the characters... you can definitely find a few to love in this passionate, smart, and yes, sometimes a little maddening series. Carlos Cuevas is so sexy and such a joy to watch in anything. I dare you not to fall in love with him. Or....how about just finding someone to love in this show and enjoy. Perfect for the holidays.

The original spanish is the best...however if that's not possible it's still very much worth it.

Love being able to see shows from Spain that are done so well. Merlí was also an excellent series. I hope we'll get a second season and a third, and a....

From the cinematography to the storyline, absolutely 10/10! All the little details with the way it's filmed to the execution. The characters internal dialogue was the most intriguing aspect and It always made you question whether what you were watching actually happened. It keeps you guessing throughout.

Now I'm begging the Netflix god's to commission a 2nd series, (even though it was neatly wrapped up) because this was pure genius and I'm being greedy.

A must watch; it'll make you laugh, cry and angry - all the emotions. I never leave reviews - so do us all a favour and give it a watch! :) A must watch this Christmas season.

Finally, I saw a film in which there is no negativity, wars and militarism, dull people who are tired of themselves. Here, gays and lesbians are no different from anyone - everyone communicates with everyone about their innermost dreams and desires. People live, resting from the imposed stereotypes of "right" and "wrong". The film shows life as it should be in a civilized society. All people equally empathize with each other and just live their lives. This is the essence of the film - no one hides their feelings from anyone and does not impose them on others. Imaginary hypocritical tolerance has been replaced by ordinary life, everyone has the right to their own life, if this does not interfere with other people's lives. Life is Beautiful and amazing. Real life is always devoid of stereotypes.

I cried several times throughout the series. It was amazing. The plot weaves several stories through several peoples lives. The sex wasn't gratutuis. Who and why you love someone was done beautifully and comically.

I would almost call this a Christmas movie in Merlin, but with a different cast. Same feel tho. The acting, the facial expressions, the Director was outstanding. Forigen films are just done so much better.

This is what Bros should have been!

(Sorry, that movie didn't pass thr mustard)

Highly recommend this. For anyone in any sexuality.

It's a great love story that might have you cry too.

(Must see, and I don't review too often)

I wasn't sure what to expect with this series. The trailer looked promising but I've been duped by trailers before. The series starts with a call to a wrong number that sets up a chain of reactions and introduces us to the various storylines, all of which were well written and carried out - a stagnation marriage, a lesbian couple at the crossroads of their 7 year relationship, a widow and her long lost childhoold friend. The main story centers around Bruno and Alex, two polar opposites on the gay spectrum who meet by accident and discover there's a white hot chemistry between them. Yes, Carlos Cuevas is very easy on the eyes but that's not the only reason to watch. I intended to view just the first episode and ended up binge watching all eight episodes in one sitting. This series reminded me of the great 2000 Spanish film 'Km.0' which was amazing. Highly recommend this to fans of limited romantic drama series.

Old telephones and wrong numbers, misunderstandings, the inability to express true feelings and blossoming LOVE. That is Smiley.

All the classic elements of rom-com rolled into a delightful Christmas gift from Spain and Netflix.

Throw in a handsome cast of fine actors and this Spanish comedy just flies.

It touches on a wide range of issues including family, and rejection but mostly the search, the timeless search, for love.

This series is joy. Sit back and join Bruno and Alex as they navigate the pitfalls of modern romance in a fabulous looking Barcelona.

We may all know where we are going but the journey is half the fun!

Season One: 7/10

Themes: Drama, Lgbtq+, Comedy, Gay, Lesbian, Love at First Sight, Failing Marriage, Reunited Childhood Friends, Hook-Up Culture, Drag Queen, Broken Relationship, Opposites Attract, Romance & Spanish.

Review: Unfortunately I have to admit that this show ended up disappointing me a little. I had different expectations from it than what we got. Whereas I thought the series would focus on Àlex and Bruno for the most part, the focus ended up being split amongst lots of other characters as well. And honestly, none of these other characters interested me much. I really tried to get invested in all the storylines, but it just didn't really end up working. Thus, I ended up feeling bored quite often. And, to make matters worse, the only couple I was actually interested in, Àlex and Bruno, didn't even manage to live up to their potential either. Although these two did heavily interact with each other during the first two to three episodes, after that, there was literally nothing going on between them. They don't speak, they don't connect further: just nothing. Apparently they met just once, fought and hooked up, and that was it. We didn't get any more depth or development after that, and I felt like we were left with a promising beginning that fizzled out into blah. So... Yea. Disappointing. Nonetheless, that doesn't mean I didn't enjoy this series at all, because I did. There were moments I was invested and felt entertained; it's just that there were just also moments where I wasn't. All in all, I feel like this show was average and it definitely could have been better.

Top three characters: 1) Àlex, 2) Vero and 3) Javier.

I found out Smiley by accident and gave it a chance. It turned out I watched the whole thing in one breath, one sitting.

Brilliant writing, deep characters and relatable events!

The show is so true-to-life that it makes you laugh, cry and sometimes both at the same time. There are literally lines in the script to provoke your thinking, your outlook on life.

Highly recommend for those who got bored of cliches in the recent year and seek to watch something real.

What can I compare it to? It's a bit similar vibe to Queer as Folk, but the typical spanish cinema flavours make it unique!

But this is not your typical US LGBT series. It is so much more.

This would have irritated me had it been set in drab London but it was in Barcelona which is a great backdrop to any story. The cast were lookers too although absolutely none of the guys was my type in the slightest.

To stretch the series to eight episodes, there had to be subplots and there were plenty, mainly concentrating on unrequited or misunderstood love.

Dialogue was less convincing though. I know we are in the world of less than butch gay guys but some of the diatribes and cross-talking just didn't ring true. Things were said by all the characters to their loved ones that I found impossible to believe would happen in any real world.

Some of the attempts at profundity were laughable and saccharine but overall the pace didn't flag.

A special mention for Pepón Nieto as Javi. He dominated his scenes by sheer force of personality even though some of his miming needed attention. I loved misunderstood Ramon too, ably played by Ramon Pujol.

This is ideal for viewers wanting 90% of their brains to be asleep while watching something utterly inconsequential. The subtitles were good (my Spanish is too poor for films and series) but I had to ask myself why it wasn't filmed in Catalan? Aren't there enough gay actors proficient in the language?

Alex call the wrong number and ends in a blind date with Bruno, who is not his type at all. We get know them and a group of unforgettable characters -specially Xavier and Vero-.

The story follows a group of people in Barcelona, city that always looks stunning on screen. They will be facing some relationship problems during the holidays (Christmas, New Years Eve and Epiphany), and some typical customs for these celebrations in Spain are shown.

Smiley is a heartwarming gay series from Spain, but it's evident it could be liked everywhere. Hopefully we'll get a second season from Netflix, because we watched the 8 episodes already (in just one day :-)

After I had watched the movie "Bros" and being quite underwhelmed by it, I watched this spanish tv-series and was distincly overwhelmed. These two titles are aiming for the same result, more or less, but "Bros" misses because of the superficiality and the stereotypical characters, while "Smiley" succeeds because it presents human beings instead of "plastics" and manages to tug at the heartstrings in a really good way. When watching, you want these people to feel good and be happy, even though they sometimes act stupid and say inappropriate things...just like any normal human being does. We like them, warts and all!

"Smiley" tries to do rom-com for the LGBTQ-community, but not exclusively because it's a "hetero-friendly" tv-series as well, dealing with difficulties within hetero-relationships as well.

Also, I really liked the.way they used split-screen technique. It's something that used in the wrong way could just irritate, but here it intrigues. And all in all, it's a very well produced and presented series.

The cast is very good also, from the main characters (especially Carlos Cuevas and Miki Esparbé) down to the minor ones, for instance the nanny who has a tiny, but anyway she contributes greatly to happy the ending for one of the couples.

This show was such a good find on Netflix, what a great cute caring story.

Pros: 1. The relation between Bruno and Albert, what a breath of fresh air that was, so cute and it shows that a heterosexual and a homosexual can have ( and they have ) a lot in common and they can have a meaningful relation as portrait in this show.

2. Carlos Cuevas, I am truly obsessed with his talent and beautiful, beside he does make a gorgeous powerful bottom.

3. The kisses, omg the way Bruno and Alex kiss will forever be engraved in my head.

Cons.

1. I really felt that the show had way too many side a stories happening at the same time, I wish it had focus on more in Alex and Bruno love story.

2. Too short, I think the series has a huge potential to develop more this character.

This was such a great show, depicting how gay culture can be so toxic but also showing the love for one another in this show was truly heartwarming. The different types of stereotypes this show depicted and how we all have our own "types" it couldn't of rang more true to how each episode followed. That's when you know you have a great show is when you have a plot and storyline but it's real life and the struggle for love and happiness in the gay community. Because it is just that... hard and this show actually shows you it's not about your type but opposites that attract and the personalities..

Smiley is what you would expect a Spanish series to be like. It's all a bit too colourful, the actors are more or less excited and talk too much, the story tends to take a back seat because it's implausible, leaves a lot to the ideas of scriptwriters who have read or written too many scripts themselves and casts a troupe of more or less good-looking young actors who reduce their clothes at every opportunity. Smiley is not really any different. And even if everything seems very sympathetic, the problems of the LGBTIQ community virtually vanish into thin air, if they exist at all, due to the tolerant society in which the main characters move, it all seems a bit too artificial, kitschy and of course unbelievable. However, if you like to watch exactly what happens, then this mini-series, which runs just right for Christmas, is the perfect piece of sugar cake.

Guillem Clua's play, "Smiley, una historia de amor" (2012), took 10 years to be adapted to the screen, but it was worth the wait, as we finally have a proper adult LGTB romantic comedy with an excellent cast!

And the extra bonuses are the beautiful cinematography with Barcelona as the background, the smart editing, the insight into Catalan Christmas traditions and just the overall good storytelling loosely based on the Sino-Japanese mythology of the 'Red Thread of Fate' (everyone is destined to meet one another, in a certain situation, as they are "their true love").

The English dubbing is good, with only a couple of emotionless voice actors in secondary roles and one inadequate mature female voice for a child.

Definitely, a binge-watching series!

... Lots of talking, predictable and somewhat cheesy.

The concept, idea, and story are interesting but there's a lot of dialogue and it's hard to connect to the characters.

Very little is told about their back stories.

Good ideas with the editing, but sometimes it makes the series more on the kitch side...

The main character Alex is portrayed as a loving romantic smart young man but at the same time, a very shallow guy, who fits all the homosexual stereotypes and with little substance or intelligence, he has nothing to hold a conversation... Could have been way better, but it's still a good series!

This is a slightly cheesy gay RomCom. It's like something from the 1940s or 50s. The character played by Carlos Cuevas is slightly reminiscent of his character played in "Merli". The story is bizarre, with very strange characters that include a heavily bearded transvestite. The plot is filled with constant misunderstandings and plays a bit like a French farce. Despite his short stature, Cuevas dominates his scenes and makes his character seem quite believable. Like all RomComs, this one has many twists and turns but has a happy ending where all loose ends are neatly tied up with everyone living happily ever after. The door seems to be left open for a second season, but that remains to be seen. Like many series from Spain, the audio is poor, almost inaudible at times. They really need to use better technology that will ensure a clear audio track.

I was expecting another empty series interspersed with sex scenes. How wrong was I?

It was set in Barcelona in and around a gay bar with really interesting characters.

I really enjoyed this show which made different couples examine themselves, their relationships and finally look introspectively at their love lives. The central relationship between Alex and Bruno was great. They tripped themselves up at each stage and eventually stopped denying their true feelings.

The other characters added extra tension and entertainment. It us a pity they didn't show more sights of Barcelona as it looks like a great place to visit.

Can't believe it is over in 8 shorts episodes.

I started to watch this series with very low expectations and ended up seeing all eight episodes in less than 24 hours, which is something I never do. One of the reasons I liked the series is that it is not set in New York or London, the actors do not speak English, and the cultural environment is very very Catalan. So you don't have the sensation that "you've seen it all before. And even if there are lots of clichés in the story, you tend to forgive the authors because the actors deliver very believable performances of "ordinary" people. It is a "feel good" series with a happy ending (no spoilers).