30 Coins (Spanish:30 monedas) is a Spanishmysteryhorror television series created byÁlex de la Iglesia forHBO Europe.^[2] Directed and written by De la Iglesia and co-written byJorge Guerricaechevarría, the series follows Father Vergara, anexorcist who the church exiles toPedraza, a remote village in Spain, where he hopes his enemies forget him.^[3][4]

The first season premiered on November 29, 2020, on HBO Europe;^[4] the second season, whose filming reportedly began in February 2022,^[5] premiered onMax on October 23, 2023.^[6]

In May 2024, Álex de la Iglesia stated that Max had not renewed the series, but the episodes of what would have been the third and final season were already written, and he intended to find a way to get them produced.^[7]

Father Vergara is an exorcist and ex-convict residing in the small Spanish town ofPedraza, attempting to move on from a troubled past. As paranormal phenomena start taking place in the village, he finds help in local mayor Paco and town veterinarian Elena, in figuring out the mystery seemingly related to a coin he owns. This coin might be one of thethirty pieces of silver paid toJudas Iscariot for betrayingJesus and handing him over to the Romans. The three will find themselves caught in a conspiracy involving theHoly See itself, threatening the world as they know it.

Introduced in season 1

Introduced in season 2

The series was produced by Pokeepsie Films forHBO Europe, with the participation ofHBO Latin America.^[19]Álex de la Iglesia andCarolina Bang (on behalf of Pokeepsie Films) and Miguel Salvat, Steve Matthews and Antony Root (on behalf of HBO Europe) were the series' executive producers.^[20] The musical score was composed byRoque Baños.^[21]

Most of the production occurred inPedraza,^[22]province of Segovia. Production also worked inSepúlveda (also in the province of Segovia), and theAldeadávila Dam (province of Salamanca).^[23][24] Other brief shooting locations includeNew York,Jerusalem,Paris,Geneva,Rome,Campo Real,Madrid, andAlcalá de Henares (including outdoor shots).^[22][24]

Some indoor scenes were shot in theCastle of Calatrava la Nueva inAldea del Rey and thePalace of the Marquis of Santa Cruz inViso del Marqués, both in theprovince of Ciudad Real;^[25] theCastle of Guadamur (province of Toledo), the library of theInstituto del Patrimonio Cultural de España [es] and theUniversity of Salamanca'sGeneral Historical Library [es].^[24]

After months of rumours, social media content published by De la Iglesia regarding a new season and the self-announcement ofNajwa Nimri as a cast addition on the red carpet of the9th Feroz Awards,HBO Max officially confirmed the return of the series for a second season on 11 February 2022, with shooting already underway.^[26][27] Footage for season 2 was shot in the city ofToledo.^[28]

No. overall	No. in season	Title	Directed by	Written by	Original release date
1	1	"Cobwebs" (Telarañas)	Álex de la Iglesia	Álex de la Iglesia andJorge Guerricaechevarría	November 29, 2020 (2020-11-29)
This article's plot summarymay betoo long or excessively detailed. Pleasehelp improve it by removing unnecessary details and making it more concise.(September 2023) (Learn how and when to remove this message) In Geneva, Switzerland, a gunman nonchalantly shoots every officer at a bank while shrugging off bullets. In the vault, he takes a coin from a safety deposit box. Outside, he is picked up in a car with a sunglass-wearing priest in the back. The priest takes the cash, and removes the charm that kept the gunman alive. In Pedraza, Spain, a cow at the Alonso farm gives birth to a human baby. To prevent bad publicity for the town, Mayor Paco goes with Elena, the veterinarian who delivered him, and the farm workers to the local priest. Padre Manuel Vergara argues that it is not a supernatural event but that the calf and baby were switched to cover the child of an unwanted pregnancy. A young, religious, homeless man, Antonio, believes the baby is evil and takes him to the church's roof to kill him. Instead, he gives it to Elena before jumping, telling the priest it is for his sins. The Alonsos take the child for safekeeping. Elena finds one of the coins on Antonio. Paco and Elena find out that Manuel caused a boy to die doing an exorcism. Elena confronts the priest about his past, who admits the boy is where he got the coin from. Elena visits the Alonsos, where the husband tells her their son died in an accident as a toddler. His wife, Carmen, sees the boy's birth as a blessing. The child is as large as Carmen when Elena goes to his room. Later, Carmen blends liver for the child, making the husband question it all. She repeatedly stabs him. Elena returns with Paco, finding the downstairs covered in cobwebs made from wool. Carmen attacks them, wrapping Paco in the wool cobwebs while Elena escapes. When Manuel and the police return to the house, the police shoot Carmen in defence. Speaking to Manuel, he advises Elena to be rational as she finds the skin the child has shed. Paco and Carmen are taken away in an ambulance. Carmen wakes up and calls her "son", now a spider-like monster, causing the ambulance to crash, and she escapes. At the church, Manuel readies for the beast with Elena there. A seemingly possessed Carmen arrives and asks Manuel for the coin, saying it is from hell and claiming she was at the exorcism. After shooting Carmen with bullets blessed by holy water, the monster comes for the coin which Elena has. Her phone dials Paco in their struggle, and he tells her to destroy a charm Carmen uses to control the Spider monster. It drives the monster away. Manuel explains away the events as a hallucination. He then asks Elena for the coin, but she keeps it, repeating his words that it is "just a piece of metal."
2	2	"Ouija" (Ouija)	Álex de la Iglesia	Álex de la Iglesia and Jorge Guerricaechevarría	December 6, 2020 (2020-12-06)
3	3	"The Mirror" (El espejo)	Álex de la Iglesia	Álex de la Iglesia and Jorge Guerricaechevarría	December 13, 2020 (2020-12-13)
4	4	"Memories" (Recuerdos)	Álex de la Iglesia	Álex de la Iglesia and Jorge Guerricaechevarría	December 20, 2020 (2020-12-20)
5	5	"The Double" (El doble)	Álex de la Iglesia	Álex de la Iglesia and Jorge Guerricaechevarría	December 27, 2020 (2020-12-27)
6	6	"Holy War" (Guerra Santa)	Álex de la Iglesia	Álex de la Iglesia and Jorge Guerricaechevarría	January 3, 2021 (2021-01-03)
7	7	"The Glass Box" (La caja de cristal)	Álex de la Iglesia	Álex de la Iglesia and Jorge Guerricaechevarría	January 10, 2021 (2021-01-10)
8	8	"Sacrifice" (Sacrificio)	Álex de la Iglesia	Álex de la Iglesia and Jorge Guerricaechevarría	January 17, 2021 (2021-01-17)

The first episode of the eight-part first season premiered onHBO Europe on 29 November 2020.^[4] The rest of the episodes were released every week. The series aired in theUnited States viaHBO andHBO Max in 2021 before airing onHBO Latin America.^[4]

The first episode was screened at the77th Venice International Film Festival on September 11, 2020.^[1]

According to the American review aggregation websiteRotten Tomatoes, season 1 of30 Coins has a 91% approval rating based on 11 reviews from critics, with an average rating of 7.7/10 and a critics' consensus on the site reading: "propulsive action, effective haunts, and just the right amount of absurdity make30 Coins a twisty terror treat".^[29]

Scout Tafoya ofRogerEbert.com found the series entertaining, writing that de la Iglesia and Guerricaechevarría "peddle a Catholic version of the Cosmic Horrors of William Hope Hodgson and H.P. Lovecraft"; "their style a crispy plait ofLuis Buñuel andAlex Cox".^[30] Rosie Knight ofIGN considers that "much of the strength of 30 Coins comes from [its] trio of leads" and that "easily the best thing about the show is that, aside from the horror, it also works as an Indiana Jones-style artifact quest," giving it 8 out of 10.^[31] Marissa de la Cerda, writing forThe A.V. Club, writes, "The grotesqueries that de la Iglesia is known for are on full display in the phantasmagoric visuals and viscera". She grades it a B, concluding that it "successfully lean[s] into its drama-horror hybrid to underscore the characters' humanity."^[32]

Reviewing forCinemanía, Miguel Ángel Romero considered De la Iglesia's creation as an immersion in the Lovecraftian universe and also noted an implicit reference toNyarlathotep in the season finale.^[33] Romero praisedCosimo Fusco's chilling performance and the performances ofEduard Fernández andManolo Solo in antagonist roles,^[33] also welcoming the referential nature of De la Iglesia's work (inspired by the likes ofAntonio Mercero,Ridley Scott andJohn Carpenter).^[33] Among the negative aspects to be improved, Romero cited the "particularly calamitousCGI" featured in the last episodes and the disjointed plots.^[33]

• 2020 in Spanish television

• 30 Coins atIMDb

• 2020 Spanish television series debuts
• HBO Europe original programming
• 2020s horror television series
• Spanish mystery television series
• Spanish thriller television series
• Spanish-language television shows
• Television shows set in Castile and León
• Television shows set in Rome
• Television shows filmed in Spain
• Spanish horror fiction television series
• Television series about witchcraft
• Television shows about exorcism
• Television series about demons
• Television series about religion
• Television shows about Catholicism
• 2020s Spanish drama television series
• Spanish fantasy television series
• 2020s supernatural television series

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