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From the shores of Spain, Netflix brings to us this Christmas season a heart-warming tale of love, relationships, tears, and of course, joy, just in time as we all get ready to unwind and spend some much-needed downtime with our cosy cuddle (or whatever) buddies.

Smiley revolves around two gay men, Alex (Carlos Cuevas) and Bruno (Miki Esparbé), and their friends and families, and depicts the challenges that each one of them (and in a way us) faces in holding on to what’s important, and the difficult choices in balancing love and life.

An Unintended Recipient Of A Voicemail Changes Everything

In a serendipitous start, Alex leaves a voicemail for a Grindr mate, for whom he allegedly develops strong feelings based on the love (and of course, other things) he felt over the previous hundred nanoseconds. Somehow Bruno ends up as the unintended recipient of the voicemail and decides to return the call. The story develops from there, in an interesting fashion, woven around Alex and Bruno, and their friends and families — and an apparent love triangle involving Alex’s parents – showcasing various human emotions, and in ways quite insightful of what goes on in the minds of folks.

While one may be tempted to call the storyline predictable, Smiley is refreshing in a multitude of ways. It’s an ode to honesty, not only in the main, but also in every sub-plot — honesty in how we relate to others, as well as how we deal with our deepest feelings of love, lust, and loss.

With references to typical interactions on hook-up apps, Smiley surely would strike a chord with even the seemingly most hardened souls…if only they would accept it. It sends a wonderful, but quite often sadly ignored message to look beyond just the superficial, and paints in black and white, the insecurities that even the apparently most handsome and confident people hide. But above all, it underlines the importance of abandoning your judgements and accepting and loving people for who they are.

Great Viewing This Holiday Season

The series also cements Carlos Cuevas as a superb actor, be it in his sweet smiles and eyes brimming with love whenever he sees Bruno; or his tears of sorrow on hearing his father’s voice, or when leaving a voicemail for Bruno, while burning inside. Mike Esparbe’s emotive brilliance is showcased when an apparently innocuous reference to beer brings out Bruno’s true feelings for Alex. The split-screen scenes, with perfectly timed dialogues, adds to the freshness, while the spattering of humour lightens the mood– maybe as a subtle reminder to keep smiling, and take life, and ourselves, easy.

If good critic scores and audience reviews are anything to go by, Smiley should definitely make for a great viewing this season while you down your egg nog and look forward to love and happiness in the new year!