30 Coins

*30 Coins*
30 Coins
Spanish	30 monedas
Genre	Mystery; Horror; Thriller;
Created by	Álex de la Iglesia
Written by	Álex de la Iglesia; Jorge Guerricaechevarría;
Directed by	Álex de la Iglesia
Starring	Eduard Fernández; Megan Montaner; Miguel Ángel Silvestre; Macarena Gómez; Pepón Nieto; Manolo Solo; Paul Giamatti (2-); Najwa Nimri (2-);
Composer	Roque Baños
Country of origin	Spain
Original languages	Spanish; Italian; English; French;
No. of seasons	2
No. of episodes	16
Production
Executive producers	Álex de la Iglesia; Carolina Bang; Miguel Salvat; Steve Matthews; Antony Root;
Cinematography	Pablo Rosso
Editor	Domingo González
Production companies	HBO Nordic AB; Pokeepsie Films;
Original release
Network	HBO Europe
Release	November 29, 2020 –; December 11, 2023

30 Coins (Spanish: 30 monedas) is a Spanish mystery horror television series created by Álex de la Iglesia for HBO Europe.^[2] Directed and written by De la Iglesia and co-written by Jorge Guerricaechevarría, the series follows Father Vergara, an exorcist who the church exiles to Pedraza, 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 on Max 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]

Synopsis

Father Vergara is an exorcist and ex-convict residing in the small Spanish town of Pedraza, 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 the thirty pieces of silver paid to Judas Iscariot for betraying Jesus and handing him over to the Romans. The three will find themselves caught in a conspiracy involving the Holy See itself, threatening the world as they know it.

Cast

Introduced in season 1

Eduard Fernández as Padre Manuel Vergara (Father Manuel Vergara)^[8]
Megan Montaner as Elena Martín
Miguel Ángel Silvestre as Paco
Macarena Gómez as Mercedes Gandía
Pepón Nieto as Sargento Lagunas (Sargeant Lagunas)
Manolo Solo as Cardinal Santoro^[9]
Cosimo Fusco as Angelo^[10]
Carmen Machi as Carmen
Paco Tous as Jesús
Secun de la Rosa as Martín^[11]
Javier Bódalo [es] as Antonio (the village idiot)^[9]
Antonio Velázquez as Roque^[11]
Nourdín Batán as Jaime^[11]
Carla Campra as Vane^[11]
Carla Tous [es] as Sole^[11]
Óscar Ortuño as Nacho^[11]
Abril Montilla [es] as Elvira^[11]
Alberto Bang as Richi^[11]
Leonardo Nigro as Sandro^[12]
Luigi Diberti as Lombardi^[12]
Víctor Clavijo as Mario^[13]
Nuria González as Salcedo^[14]
Greta Fernández as Miralles
Francisco Reyes as Lagrange^[10]

Introduced in season 2

Najwa Nimri as Haruka^[15]
Manuel Burque as Jonás^[16]
Carlos Bardem as Cardenal de la Cruz^[17]
Paul Giamatti as Christian Barbow^[18]

Production

The fiction is set in Pedraza and the village was likewise the prime shooting location.

The series was produced by Pokeepsie Films for HBO Europe, with the participation of HBO Latin America.^[19] Álex de la Iglesia and Carolina 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 by Roque Baños.^[21]

Most of the production occurred in Pedraza,^[22] province of Segovia. Production also worked in Sepúlveda (also in the province of Segovia), and the Aldeadávila Dam (province of Salamanca).^[23]^[24] Other brief shooting locations include New York, Jerusalem, Paris, Geneva, Rome, Campo Real, Madrid, and Alcalá de Henares (including outdoor shots).^[22]^[24]

Some indoor scenes were shot in the Castle of Calatrava la Nueva in Aldea del Rey and the Palace of the Marquis of Santa Cruz in Viso del Marqués, both in the province of Ciudad Real;^[25] the Castle of Guadamur (province of Toledo), the library of the Instituto del Patrimonio Cultural de España [es] and the University of Salamanca's General Historical Library [es].^[24]

After months of rumours, social media content published by De la Iglesia regarding a new season and the self-announcement of Najwa Nimri as a cast addition on the red carpet of the 9th 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 of Toledo.^[28]

Episodes

Season 1

No.
overall

No. in
season

Title

Directed by

Written by

Original air date

1

"Cobwebs"
(Telarañas)

Álex de la Iglesia

Álex de la Iglesia and Jorge Guerricaechevarría

November 29, 2020

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

"Ouija"
(Ouija)

Álex de la Iglesia