Las de la Última Fila (2022) Drama Review

『Unyielding Friendship and Love in the Face of Death: Stories of Women Shining in Reality』

🎥 Series Overview

🎬 Title: Las de la Última Fila (2022) (English Title: The Girls at the Back)
🌍 Country: 🇪🇸 Spain
🎞️ Genre: Drama / Friendship / LGBTQ+ / Life Reassessment
🗓️ Release: 2022
⏳ Episodes: 6-part miniseries
📢 Director · Creator · Screenwriter: Daniel Sánchez Arévalo
📺 Platform: Netflix

👩‍💼 Cast: Itsaso Arana – Sara
Mónica Miranda – Alma

🧩 Deep Story Exploration (Spoilers)

🌿 Feelings from Childhood (Background)

Sara and Alma, like their three other friends (Leo, Carol, Olga), have been best friends since school days. Until the trip, both of them had harbored feelings for each other for a long time, but avoided or suppressed them. (They deliberately avoided one another out of fear of being emotionally hurt.) Sara is living her life as a mother with a daughter, while Alma is a lesbian in a relationship with another woman, Rege.

⚖️ First Bucket List: Sexual Exploration (Trip Begins)

The friends, before facing cancer, go on one last trip where they perform daily anonymous 'bucket list' challenges. The first task is "having an experience with a woman." (Except for Alma, the others were heterosexual, so they hesitated, but this essentially triggers all but Alma to question or explore their sexual orientation.) This challenge makes Sara and Alma more conscious of their underlying attraction.

🌈 Explosion of Feelings: Kiss and Confession

As the journey unfolds, with bucket list challenges and rising emotions, Sara and Alma are drawn to each other and eventually kiss. This moment marks the decisive revelation of their long-hidden romantic feelings. After this, they acknowledge their deep emotions and confront the truth they had tried to escape.

💬 Reality and the Choice of Separation

Although Sara and Alma confirm their feelings, they ultimately decide not to continue their relationship for realistic reasons. Sara, as a mother, prioritizes her daughter and responsibilities, choosing to leave her relationship with Alma as a 'fairy tale moment' and return to her reality. Alma confesses to her girlfriend Rege that she loves Sara, leading to their breakup. Both agree to return to their lives, ending as lovers but remaining friends.

🦋 Emotional Resonance and Meaning of the Work

🎬 Honest and Delicate Exploration of Women’s Inner Lives

The Netflix series 《Las de la Última Fila》 tells the story of five women’s friendship and survival, but at its core lies the forbidden romance between Sara and Alma, two friends whose long-hidden bond resonates deeply. Their relationship, framed within the broader narrative of the 'mystery cancer patient,' becomes the most dramatic embodiment of the show’s central theme: self-discovery.

👭 A Long History of Avoidance and Suppression

Sara and Alma’s story begins not with romance but with avoidance. Both hint at having held special feelings for each other, but avoided them due to real-life constraints.

• Alma’s reality: Alma is openly lesbian, in a relationship with her girlfriend Rege, and confident in her sexual identity. Yet, with Sara, she always felt an inexplicable emotional barrier.
• Sara’s reality: Sara, as a mother with a daughter, buried her inner desires under societal expectations and maternal responsibilities.

To both, the other was a 'dangerous truth never to be touched'—their closest friend yet the one they most needed to avoid. This painful avoidance only breaks down during this extraordinary trip under the shadow of mortality, when the question "What if life is finite?" forces them to confront it.

🌟 Bucket List: Outlet for Repressed Desires

The anonymously written bucket list, especially the first challenge of "trying an experience with a woman," serves as the trigger for Sara and Alma’s relationship to ignite. Though meant for the other friends, it gave Sara a socially acceptable opportunity to explore her long-suppressed sexual fluidity and feelings for Alma.

Their kiss and confession during the trip is not a mere fling. It is a confrontation with their repressed selves, a liberation cry to live authentically in the face of death. The act of love becomes an act of self-discovery and the courage to break through fear.

🧸 Between ‘Fairy Tale’ and ‘Reality’

When Sara and Alma’s romance reaches its peak, the series offers an unexpectedly realistic resolution. They acknowledge their feelings but realize continuing would fundamentally disrupt their lives.

• Sara’s choice: Sara defines her romance with Alma as a "fairy tale moment" and chooses her responsibility as a mother, returning to her reality. She doesn’t deny her feelings but reaffirms her life’s highest priority.
• Alma’s sacrifice: Alma ends her relationship with Rege to honor her truth about loving Sara, but respects Sara’s choice. Though she endures heartbreak, she learns a profound lesson about the meaning of genuine relationships and love.

This ending may not be the conventional 'happy ending' viewers expect, but it is the most realistic and mature resolution. It reflects the adult dilemma: even when one bravely faces true feelings under life’s brevity, such emotions alone cannot dismantle the complex structures of reality.

Sara and Alma’s relationship is the key axis proving 《Las de la Última Fila》 is more than a friendship drama—it offers deep insight into life’s complexity and mature self-love.

🎯 Personal Rating (Taste-based)

💕 Love Scene Intensity: ♥♥♥
⭐ Rating: ★★★★★