Aahana Swrup
Netflix’s ‘Billionaires’ Bunker,’ originally titled ‘El Refugio Atómico,’ is a genre-bending show that is half post-apocalyptic thriller and half mystery drama. Young and headstrong Max Varela leads the narrative as a recently released convict who is being corralled out of prison and to an underground bunker by his extremely wealthy family. As it turns out, the end of days is nearer than anticipated, and with WWIII on the horizon, Spain’s one percent has decided to seek their survival underground. This includes the Falcons, the wealthy family of Ane, Max’s girlfriend, who died in a car crash, which was drunkenly brought on with the latter behind the wheel.
Yet, this inter-family drama isn’t the worst of the survivors’ problems. The architect behind the ingenious luxury bunker, Minerva, has a secret or two up her sleeve that might just demolish her multi-millionaire clientele’s self-serving worlds. The Spanish show, created by Álex Pina and Esther Martínez Lobato, centers its narrative around themes rooted in reality, such as class inequality and its retaliatory sentiments. Thus, even its more sci-fi-influenced narrative tools, such as the titular bunker, end up retaining some off-screen influences.
Billionaires’ Bunkers Is Inspired by a Real-Life Phenomenon
‘Billionaires’ Bunkers’ is a fictional story whose inception is credited to the imagination of Álex Pina, Esther Martínez Lobato, and their team of screenwriters. The co-creators have been long-time collaborators with multiple projects under their belt. They’re famously known for their work on other beloved class-critical series ‘Money Heist‘ and its spin-off show ‘Berlin.’ Thus, this project’s thematic identity was intimately familiar to the creators. Interestingly enough, one specific instance from real life stirred the foundational genesis of this story. Pina got the idea to create a narrative revolving around wealthy folks and their doomsday escape plans after witnessing a similar phenomenon unfold in reality during the COVID-19 Pandemic.
Around the time, in the early 2020s, news reports spread about the world’s topmost financial elite groups burying luxury bunkers as last-resort solutions to apocalyptic possibilities. Media theorist Douglas Rushkoff, who specializes in human autonomy and the digital age, had a peculiar interaction in 2022 that he shared with the world. The author and documentarian was reportedly invited to a meeting with “ultra-wealthy stakeholders,” who had a myriad of questions for him. The topics ranged from bitcoins, virtual reality, and inevitably to concerns regarding survival in the aftermath of a world-ending event, sustaining survival, and maintaining control over survival bunkers. In time, the story blew up, creating notable conversation around multi-millionaires and their apparent armageddon survival plans.
“The billionaires understand that they’re playing a dangerous game,” Rushkoff told VICE. “They are running out of room to externalize the damage of the way that their companies operate. Eventually, there’s going to be the social unrest that leads to your undoing.” Initially, these public conversations surrounding this same phenomenon inspired Pina to tell a story about the elite and their selfish hang-ups, but with a twist added to it. “They (the ultra-rich) started building buildings that went 13 floors underground, and we thought this was a wonderful reason to tell this story,” Pina shared in a conversation with Deadline. “We wanted to make a show that was naughty, witty, and about rich people during an apocalypse.”
Billionaires’ Bunkers Blends Genres by Subverting Conventions
The superficial premise of ‘Billionaires’ Bunkers’ remains closely tied to reality, drawing inspiration from the socio-cultural reality of the class divide. Nonetheless, the story introduces an intriguing twist to the otherwise clear-cut narrative that steers its course away from post-apocalyptic expectations. Instead of a story about survival at the world’s end, the show primarily centers around themes of deceit, class vengeance, and the ever-present prevalence of moral ambiguity. Early on, the show finds its footing as an “eat the rich” tale, where the bunker, the nuclear warfare on Earth’s surface, and the enforced micro-society provided by Kimera are all part of an overarching ruse.
In the show, Minerva and her crew have orchestrated the perfect circumstances to corral and confine Spain’s richest for their own financial gains. As such, the narrative becomes a study in human behavior, particularly in relation to economic status and its impact on social behaviors. Since the Varelas, Falcons, and other rich families are all inhabiting a bunker, albeit a luxury one, some aspect of their socio-economic power drains away. Thus, they’re only left with their desires, relationships, and shortcomings. This makes for an intriguing dynamic that allows for the story to function on an inter-personal basis. Furthermore, the duplicitous nature of the central premise paves the way for some satirical and ironic storytelling that underlines the absurdity of the situation. Thus, these aspects allow for the show to strike a balance between social commentary and character-driven, drama-focused storytelling. Ultimately, while this facet of the story diverges the characters and their narratives from real-life instances, it adds a captivating layer to ‘Billionaires’ Bunker.’
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