The Boarding School: Las Cumbres

Spooky and unsettling, this cool series leans heavily on menace and gothic trappings but its strong ensemble cast and compelling writing sell the heavy bits. Viewers are clued in that the boarding school of the title is a Bad, Bad Place in the first few shots: a crow cocks his head and stares meaningfully at one of the main characters; the camera swoops up to show us the school is located on a rocky cliff, cut off from the rest of the world -- hey, what's more threatening than a place you can't leave? These first impressions prove prescient: In the first few days of school we witness, one young student, Paz (Paula del Río) has her head forcibly shaved, two students are imprisoned in stone cells the principal calls "the freezers," and some of the teachers seem to enjoy pushing their students around a little too much...and in very creepy ways.

But though the school itself is dire, there are hints that there's something dark and mysterious connected to the school, which has a sketchy history and possibly even a living malevolent presence. The woods surrounding the school are rumored to be cursed, or haunted, or both. Against this background, a large and interestingly sketched cast fights for survival: Inés (Claudia Riera), who sees ghostlike dark figures; reckless Amaia, who rebels against her family and her teachers every way she can; monk Elias (Alberto Amarilla) who wants to flee from the deadly atmosphere of the school but has a secret reason for being there. It's an overstuffed narrative but a grabby one; pack your school trunks for this series and prepare to stay a while.