Amazon Prime’s ‘Culpa Mia’ or ‘My Fault’ is a Spanish-language drama film that revolves around Noah, a 17-year-old girl with a normal life – she has friends, and a boyfriend, goes to school, and lives alone with her mother, Rafaele. All of that changes, however, when her mother marries a rich man by the name of William Leister. Leister is also a single parent with a son, Nick, who is a model son in every possible way. But Noah soon finds out that her new stepbrother is hiding something a lot edgier under that perfect façade.
While trying to figure out Nick’s secret, Noah starts falling for him. Would this forbidden romance be able to blossom? Directed by Domingo Gonzales, the film features the talents of Nicole Wallace, Gabriel Guevara, Marta Hazas, Iván Sánchez, Eva Ruiz, Victor Varona, and Ivan Massagué. While the storyline of ‘Culpa Mia’ is interesting, is there any truth behind it as well? Read on and find out!
Wattpad Sensation Turned Movie: Culpa Mia’s Story
‘Culpa Mia’ is not a true story. Adapted for the silver screen by the film’s director, Domingo Gonzales, alongside Mercedes Ron, the film is based on book one of the latter’s ‘Culpables’ trilogy. Interestingly, the book series started off as a Wattpad story, with over 50 million reads in 2017 – shortly after which Mercedes was approached by Montena Juvenile Literature, an imprint of Penguin Random House publishing, for a three-part book deal.
“It is being a dream to be able to see my book turned into a movie, who wouldn’t want it? The truth is that I did well on Wattpad, and with the book too; there is a very important fan base that I think is going to love the movie and they are going to enjoy it, so I hope it does very well,” the author said in an interview with Milenio. The entirety of the film is carried forward by the chemistry between the actors, and not just the main leads. This is probably owing to the fact that author Mercedes Ron was involved in the casting from start to finish, even though she did not like certain things.
“I participated a lot in the casting process, they took me very much into account. And the truth is that with Nicole (Wallace) it was very easy, we all agreed that she was ‘Noah’. Gabriel (Guevara) cost me a little more, especially because he didn’t have blue eyes, and I knew that it was important to the fans, but in the end we gave importance to the chemistry between them and that they act very well,” she continued.
The visual aspects of the film – the high speed and very much illegal car races, the underground fights, gambling, as well as the way the rich elites live in Spain – are brought to life with a clarity and naturalness that doesn’t seem forced, or too far removed from people’s imagination, by director Domingo Gonzales. The reason such attention to detail has been given in ‘Culpa Mia’ is probably because the director consulted author Mercedes Ron about almost everything, all to make the film more in line with the audience’s expectations. The fact that he is a big fan of the book series also helped.
“I’m also a big fan – in addition to the books (‘Culpables’ trilogy) – of this type of romantic film – that’s why I think the producers Álex de la Iglesia and Carolina Bang, and Amazon, chose me to direct it, because I’m passionate about it. They knew that I was going to do it with a lot of love, which is what I have put into it […] You have to make a product that works, that entertains. And the book already had all the ingredients. It was more a question of editing, of synthesis and of highlighting more everything that was good about it,” Gonzales told Milenio.
Taking everything into consideration, we infer that while ‘Culpa Mia’ might not be a true story, the passion and effort that has been put into the making of the film is quite clear on the screen. While an unconventional romance, the vastness of the fan base that the books have garnered alone should be enough to convince anybody that there is something worth investing in in the story.
Read More: Where Was Culpa Mia Filmed?
