Rivers of Fate – Series Review | Netflix

RIVERS OF FATE on Netflix is a limited series with just four episodes. It plays out in Brazil (org. title: Pssica) and is brutal in its realism. A story of crime, survival, and revenge. This one should get under your skin. Read our full Rivers of Fate series review here!

RIVERS OF FATE is a new Netflix series based on the novel of the same name. With just four episodes, this is a limited series with a fast pace and a brutally realistic story. The story plays out in Brazil (mostly) and shows us how three fates intertwine.

Crime, thriller, and action are the main genres, while revenge and survival are plot drivers for the main characters. Life isn’t easy for anyone, but it still matters whether you’re in charge in this world of crime or a victim struggling for autonomy.

Continue reading our Rivers of Fate series review below. Find all four episodes on Netflix from August 20, 2025.

Three fates are connected

With Rivers of Fate, the English title clearly refers to how the fate of three people living in the Amazon are connected. They’re all living near the Amazon River, and their lives suddenly intersect in unexpected ways.

Of course, their lives also take unexpected turns when they find themselves in the criminal underworld.

One is a teenage girl, Janalice (Domithila Cattete), who is kidnapped by traffickers, and then her story is all about survival. Before this happens, one person’s betrayal results in her being sent to live with her aunt, which does not turn out well.

It is a brutal opening, and we meet all three main characters in episode 1, so you know who you’ll be following.

Who are the real victims?!

Then there’s Preá (Lucas Galvino), who is already a criminal, but also a somewhat reluctant gang leader. He wants something else out of life, but that doesn’t seem to be in the cards for him.

Finally, there’s Mariangel (Marleyda Soto), who is actively seeking vengeance for her family’s murder. While seeking to avenge one, she also tries to help out other victims, but it becomes messy very fast.

There are a lot of victims in Rivers of Fate, and while some become victims by circumstance, others have been born into it, and others still make bad choices.

While following Janalice, Preá, and Mariangel, we also meet many other characters as their lives spiral out of control. Some of these supporting characters become the beating hearts of the story. Others are the devils making everyone miserable.

Watch Rivers of Fate on Netflix now!

Directors on the Netflix series are Fernando Meirelles and Quico Meirelles. Fernando Meirelles previously directed the Oscar-nominated City of God (2002) and went on to direct The Constant Gardener and Blindness. Most recently, he worked on Sugar.

The new Brazilian production (org. title: Pssica) comes from creators Stephanie Degreas, Fernando Garrido, and Bráulio Mantovani (writer on City of God). It’s based on the book of the same name by Edyr Augusto, a writer from Pará.

Rivers of Fate is a limited series that you can easily watch in one sitting, as it’s just four episodes. On the other hand, this is a brutal and realistic story, so you may need a breather.

However you watch it, you will see the best and worst of humans.

Rivers of Fate is on Netflix on August 20, 2025.

Details

Creators: Bráulio Mantovani, Fernando Garrido, Stephanie Degreas
Directors: Quico Meirelles, Fernando Meirelles
Cast: Domithila Cattete, Lucas Galvino, Marleyda Soto, Ademara, Ana Luiza Rios, Bruno Goya, Claudio Jaborandy, David Santos, Felipe Rocha, Gabriel Knoxx, Luca Dan, Maycon Douglas, Ricardo Teodoro, Sandro Guerra, Sendí Baré, Welket Bungué, Wesley Guimarães