A mysterious individual stands before a bank teller, sunglasses hiding their face, bundled up jacket hiding their gun, and a seemingly obvious request ready to emerge from their lips. It’s a familiar scene, but the timid whisper that follows is the first clue that this is not the beginning of your average heist drama.
“I’m not going to hurt you.”
Moments later, platinum blonde wig in hand, the titular character of Portuguese language drama sits in a dark alley gripping her steering wheel, looking at the bundle of much-needed cash in her lap with disbelief. How did she end up here?
Set on the idyllic coast of Costa da Caparica, just outside Lisbon, this new six-part series follows business owner turned unlikely criminal, Vanda (Gabriela Barros) as she fights to keep her life afloat amidst the upheaval of the 2008 financial crisis.
Temporarily a blonde... Source: SBS On Demand
To make matters worse, Vanda isn’t faring much better in her personal life. Her husband Mário (João Baptista) offers her no support, and is also out of work but, unsurprisingly, appears content to do nothing about it. He spends his days making demands of his wife, squandering what little money the family do have, and sleeping with Vanda’s salon employees behind her back. Though she has forgiven him time and time again for his many indiscretions, money woes and wounded pride see her finally take a stand.
The timing isn’t ideal for leaving behind whatever sense of security she has left, but, for Vanda, it’s long overdue, even though Mário isn’t going to let her walk away without making life difficult. But Vanda is as brave and determined as they come, and she’s done with putting herself last.
She might be resilient, but that doesn’t diminish the obstacles that Vanda knows she will have to overcome. With her life now well and truly in pieces, and the added burden of an estranged husband and fractured relationships with her children to carry, the urgency to find a solution to her growing debt leaves her with limited options. That is until a report on the evening news catches Vanda’s eye.
“Who hasn’t thought, when faced with life’s injustices, that taking the law into your own hands would be the only option?”
It may not be the only option, but it’s the only one she’s got, even though the notion of thieving her way out of trouble leaves Vanda feeling uneasy at best. Enter a wig, her son’s toy gun and a completely mad idea that could spell the end of her problems or lead to a life behind bars.
From the moment she approaches the bank teller’s desk, and adopts this new image in the process, there’s no going back. So begins a campaign that takes Vanda’s alter ego to folk hero status, as she keeps the public guessing what her next move will be.
Vanda with her son, Jorge. Source: SBS On Demand
Though Elisa is pretty spot on with her initial impressions of the case, actually tracking down the glamorous blonde-haired bandit is an almost comedic process. A few unreliable witness accounts are no match for Vanda’s ingenuity and the police will have to get creative if they want to have any chance of catching up with her.
Drawing heavily on the story of real-life Portuguese bank robber Dulce Caroço, the positively outlandish events are given the credibility of a basis in truth, and the series brings a refreshing originality to the very best bits of the classic heist drama.
Stream free On Demand
Vanda
