Netflix has just premiered 'Under Siege' ('Palacio' in Spanish), an eight-part Colombian series dramatising the 1985 Palace of Justice siege in Bogotá — timed deliberately to drop on the 41st anniversary of the events, which fell on 6-7 November 1985.
The story it tells is one of Colombia's deepest wounds. On 6 November 1985, guerrillas from the M-19 movement stormed the Palace of Justice on Bolívar Square, taking more than 300 hostages, including Supreme Court justices. The government of President Belisario Betancur sent the army in. Roughly 28 hours of fighting ended with a fire that gutted much of the building. At least 94 people were killed or disappeared, and several survivors who walked out alive were never seen again — the disappearances remain a core focus of investigations and court cases to this day.
The series, produced by Colombian studio Dynamo after more than seven years of research, doesn't limit itself to the siege itself. It starts with the political tensions and preparations before the attack, reconstructs the takeover and military response, then jumps forward years to follow the judicial investigations and the families still fighting to learn what happened to their relatives. Judges, soldiers, guerrillas, journalists and victims' families all get their own perspectives.
The production splits direction across three Latin American filmmakers: Guatemala's Jayro Bustamante on the first three episodes, Mexico's Edgar Nito on episodes four to six, and Colombian Samir Oliveros on the final two. Natalia Santa is showrunner and leads the writing team. The cast includes Natalia Reyes as Pilar Navarrete, Luna Baxter as real-life journalist Olga Behar, Mariana Gómez as surviving guerrilla La Mona, Robinson Díaz as Betancur, and Santiago Alarcón as Chief Justice Alfonso Reyes Echandía. Much of it was shot in Bogotá on a 4,000-square-metre set featuring a 30-metre-tall replica of the palace's 1985 façade.
For travellers, this is a useful watch before or during a trip to Bogotá. Bolívar Square and the rebuilt Palace of Justice are stops on almost every walking tour of the city's historic La Candelaria district, and most guides will mention the siege alongside the 1985 Nevilleia avalanche as twin national traumas. Knowing the background turns a photo stop into something far more meaningful — and the series does the job well, presenting the complexity rather than a single version of events. It's also a strong pick generally for anyone interested in Colombia's armed conflict, a theme running through much of the country's most acclaimed recent film and television.
