Abhiroop Das
Helmed by Pedro Morelli, Netflix’s ‘State of Fear,’ or ‘Salve Geral: Irmandade,’ takes place a few years after the events of ‘Brotherhood,’ but depicts more or less the same, unforgiving reality of Cristina’s life. As a councilwoman, she has considerable sway over how the Brotherhood does business, both inside and outside prison, but that doesn’t necessarily translate to power beyond the bars. As the gang members grow desperate, a series of unfortunate events stitch together to create a complete fallout.
Faced with the imminent possibility of complete social disarray, Cristina realizes that she has a much bigger problem. Her niece, Elisa, has been kidnapped, jeopardizing the legacy as well as the future of the Brotherhood. As such, this criminal organization is in many ways the true protagonist of this Brazilian crime thriller, with each visual and story detail seamlessly informing this group’s creation and purpose.
The Brotherhood is a Fictionalized Group With Nods to a Real-Life Crime Syndicate
The Brotherhood is a fictional criminal faction created by the writing team of ‘Brotherhood,’ or ‘Irmandade,’ led by Pedro Morelli, Felipe Sant’Angelo, and Leonardo Levis. Given that ‘State of Fear’ serves as a spinoff of the original television series, most of the Brotherhood’s characteristics are carried forward. As the show’s creator, Morelli has stated on numerous occasions that the Brotherhood isn’t based on any one particular criminal faction or rebel group. Instead, the creative team reportedly conducted deep research into the world of crime for the show, which included interviews with ex-convicts, police officers, lawyers, and other people involved in law enforcement. All of this helped the writers render a realistic portrait of prison and street-level gangs in São Paulo through the Brotherhood.
Although Morelli has confirmed that the Brotherhood doesn’t have a specific real-life antecedent, there are some loose parallels when it comes to this fictional criminal group and the Primeiro Comando da Capital, or Capital’s First Command, a Brazilian crime syndicate. Also known by its initials, “15.3.3,” the PCC reportedly operates from the state of São Paulo and is among the world’s largest drug gangs. While these are some superficial characteristics it shares with the Brotherhood, there are also some deeper connections that can potentially be drawn. As per reports, the PCC originated in the aftermath of the civil-military dictatorship in Brazil, which ended in 1985, which lines up with the origin story of the Brotherhood and shows how history is dramatized and woven into the story.
The PCC’s Timeline of Activity Partially Aligns With the Brotherhood’s Presentation
The 90s in Brazil were shaped by sociopolitical tensions, and one of its violent incidents took place on October 2, 1992, in the Carandiru Penitentiary. Following a riot at the prison, military police stormed in and unleashed violence, resulting in the deaths of 111 inmates as per state records. The incident led to worldwide concerns about human rights violations, and is also believed to be the emergence point for the PCC. It was founded on August 31, 1993, by eight prisoners at the Taubaté Penitentiary, which vaguely lines up with the Brotherhood’s development within the story as a prison gang. While the PCC initially started out as a prison gang, from the early 2000s onwards, it reportedly marked an expansion into the drug trafficking network, and that draws a vague resemblance to the plot of ‘Brotherhood,’ furthering the potential link.
A strong parallel between the Brotherhood and the PCC can be seen through the plot of ‘State of Fear,’ which revolves around the transfer of prisoners to high-security or segregation units. In reality, a similar turn of events took place in May of 2006, with the proposed transfer of many of the PCC’s leading members to a high-security prison. Reportedly, the PCC retaliated with the infamous ‘May Attacks,’ its largest violent operation to date, which lasted 4 days and caused nearly 600 deaths. In the movie, a similar riot takes up the bulk of the narrative, and there is a strong likelihood that the creators were inspired by this real-life tragedy. However, while the broader elements of the Brotherhood may have a partial basis in real life, the similarities chiefly exist to further the movie’s social commentary, and are likely not biographical in nature.
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