In my 20s, I gravitated toward serious television. I couldn’t get enough of arthouse dramas, documentaries and obscure black-and-white films. Sure, like everyone else, I also enjoyed mainstream comedies – “Broad City” and “Girls” were staples of my early adulthood. But I preferred headier content. Maybe it was a reaction to growing up on unserious, though beloved, Mexican telenovelas, absurd talk shows and raunchy comedies. My taste swung the other way.
That shifted in my 30s. With daily news cycles already serving up endless drama, and at times trauma, I lost my appetite for bleak documentaries or heavy films. Instead, I began seeking out lighter shows. So when I saw the trailer for “Mentiras, La Serie,” I was delighted. Not only did it star my childhood icon Belinda, but it also featured a lineup of Mexican talent including Luis Gerardo Méndez, Regina Blandón, Mariana Treviño and Diana Bovio. The series premiered on Amazon Prime in June, which in today’s infinite-content reality doesn’t exactly make it “new.” But at MND, we like to highlight great Mexican movies and television shows, regardless of their release date.
A passion project
“Mentiras, La Serie” springs from “Mentiras, el Musical,” Mexico’s most successful stage show. Since its 2009 debut, the jukebox musical built around 1980s Spanish-language pop hits has logged over 4,000 performances. Written by José Manuel López Velarde, it combines melodrama, comedy and nostalgia in a story of four women caught in a deadly love quadrangle, all played out with the era’s most beloved songs.
For “Mentiras, La Serie,” Luis Gerardo Méndez not only played Emmanuel but also served as executive producer, teaming with López Velarde and director Gabriel Ripstein on the adaptation. Ripstein described the project as both a tribute and an expansion. A chance to revisit beloved characters while widening their universe through a fresh visual style. He noted that more than 30 of the most iconic songs from the 1980s would anchor the story, brought to life by a cast and crew he called “spectacular.”
The music rights posed a major hurdle, dragging negotiations out for four years. Some iconic hits didn’t make the cut due to licensing costs. Still, Méndez held firm on what mattered most: preserving the playful, campy energy and casting talent that could carry it. He pursued actress-singer Belinda for Daniela from the start and brought back Mariana Treviño, who had originated Lupita on stage.
Méndez has also cited “Moulin Rouge,” “La La Land,” and even “Barbie” as inspirations for the show’s hyper-stylized tone. And that influence is easy to spot. The series is bold, theatrical, and not afraid to lean into excess.
Campy, colorful and surprisingly layered
The eight-episode series is a visual feast: over-the-top ’80s aesthetics, from big hair to bright costumes to exuberant musical numbers. The theatrical connection is obvious in intentionally artificial sets –cardboard trees, painted backdrops, stage-like spaces –that remind viewers this is performance first and foremost.
But beneath the camp, there’s sneaky depth. Some of the characters eventually confront the biggest lies of all. The ones they’ve been telling themselves. And while the show thrives on melodrama, it also exposes the assumptions society projects onto women – assumptions that in 1980s Mexico, with its deep traditionalism, weighed even more heavily. That combination of playful excess with undercurrents of critique is what makes “Mentiras, La Serie” more than just a glossy adaptation.
Why the musical struck such a chord
“Mentiras, el Musical” endures not only because of nostalgia but also because it reimagines the music and sensibility of the ’80s in a way that feels affectionate and exaggerated, like a telenovela with dance numbers. Its success stems from the energy of camp paired with the emotional resonance of songs embedded in Latin American popular culture.
That formula has proven durable, spawning tribute concerts, anniversary editions, and the drag parody “Mentidrags.” For many, the musical isn’t just a night at the theater. It’s a reminder of the cultural mood of the ’80s, when Latin pop and power ballads offered both entertainment and catharsis.
Songs and scenes that soared
The adaptation found new life through its soundtrack. Belinda’s mash-up of “Él Me Mintió / Mentiras Mentiras” climbed to No. 1 on Spotify’s Viral 50 Global chart, while the Mentiras album debuted at No. 6 on Spotify’s Top Albums Debut Global list. Overall, the soundtrack racked up over 2.4 million streams in just days. The success also boosted the original singers. Daniela Romo’s streams jumped 170%, Amanda Miguel’s by 94% and Yuri’s by 75%.
The series itself fueled online buzz, with Belinda’s numbers and several campy scenes going viral on TikTok and X (formerly Twitter), where fans dissected everything from the costumes to the cheeky dialogue.
More than just escapism
When I first watched “Mentiras, La Serie,” I didn’t realize the stage show’s cultural weight, so I came in fresh. Some longtime fans criticized the changes to the plot, but I found the series fun, layered, and at times poignant. It left me curious to see the musical live.
I don’t really seek heavy content because the world already feels heavy enough. Mentiras, La Serie gave me the kind of playful diversion I was craving, but it also offered something deeper. A reflection on love, lies and the roles women were boxed into during a more conservative Mexico. That mix of camp and commentary is what makes the series worth watching—and why it’s more than just light entertainment.
Rocio is a Mexican-American writer based in Mexico City. She was born and raised in a small village in Durango and moved to Chicago at age 12, a bicultural experience that shapes her lens on life in Mexico. She’s the founder of CDMX IYKYK, a newsletter for expats, digital nomads, and the Mexican diaspora, and Life of Leisure, a women’s wellness and spiritual community.
