Season 1, comprising eight episodes, aired on Amazon Prime exclusively. It premiered on October 2, 2018, commemorating 50 years of the depicted events.[7] On November 9, 2018, it was announced that the series would be renewed for a second season which premiered on September 28, 2022. This season its losely based on Corpus Christi Massacre and subsequently guerrilla groups 3 years after the events of the first season.[8]
An Unknown Enemy explores the origins of the Mexicandirty war of the 1960s, and portrays the attempts of Fernando Barrientos, head of the "NSD" secret police, to ensure a grip on political power, as the country goes through a series of social turmoils, in part provoked by the agency he is directing. All happening in the frame of theCold War, the1960s youth counterculture, the preparations of1968 Olympic Games in Mexico and the upcoming1970 Mexican general election.
The series received mostly mixed reviews.[9] Although some praised it for its cinematography, others deeply criticised its portrayal of the student protests by "over-simplyfying" the events of 1968, "focusing too much on the government conspiracy"[9] and putting forth a notion of adeep state in Mexico, distorting how the events unfolded, making it ultimatelyPRI propaganda.[10]
The series is produced by filmmakerGabriel Ripstein,[11] who is also one of its executive producers and writers, and is starring award winner actorDaniel Giménez Cacho as Fernando Barrientos.[12] It also stars:
