Neymar: The Perfect Chaos is a Netflix Mini-docuseries focusing on the life of the Brazilian footballer Neymar Jr. The miniseries consists of 3 episodes that tell the story of different time periods in Neymar’s career. The series is directed by David Charles Rodrigues.
Neymar: The Perfect Chaos Cast
- Neymar Jr. – Self
- Neymar Sr. – Neymar’s father
- Nadine – Neymar’s mother
- Davi – Neymar’s son
- David Beckham – Self
- Lionel Messi – Self (Neymar’s teammate at Barcelona and currently at PSG)
- Mbappe – Self (Neymar’s teammate at PSG)
- Thiago Silva – Self (Neymar’s teammate at Brazil national team and at PSG)
- Marquinhos – Self (Neymar’s teammate at Brazil national team and at PSG)
Neymar: The Perfect Chaos Review
The episode series reflects on Neymar Jr.’s career from his humble beginning playing on the streets, playing for Santos from the age of 17, then coming to Barcelona and eventually moving to PSG at a record deal. The show was shot in the later half of 2019 and till the October of 2020. Each episode focuses on major aspects of his career. The show dwells into his personal and professional life, the ups and downs of his career and the praises and the criticism he received.
The first episode is about his beginning in his hometown, his rise in popularity in Santos and ends with him signing with Barcelona. Neymar was greatly influenced by his father, Neymar Sr., who was a footballer himself. We see how Neymar grows as a player and as a person but still isn’t mature enough in the way he presents himself to the media. That’s where his father came into the picture, handling his brand, managing his sponsorships and putting the best possible version of Neymar in front of the world. During his time playing for Santos, at the age of 19, he becomes a dad. This shows his affectionate side towards his son. Neymar also leads Santos FC to a championship after almost 40 years.
The second episode highlights his move to Barcelona, winning the UEFA champions league, playing for Brazil in the 2014 world cup in their home base and his controversial decision of transferring to PSG for a record deal. Neymar achieves his dream of playing in Europe as he comes to Barcelona. He also gets to play with Messi and form a trio of him, Messi and Suarez which made Barcelona the team to beat in 2015, the year they won the champions league trophy. The episode remarks on the round of 16 match between Barcelona and PSG in the 2016-17 season, where Barcelona had the biggest comeback in the knockout stage in the Champions League as they defeated PSG with a score of 6-1. In the end, Neymar makes a decision of going to PSG for a new challenge but fans and his teammates were unhappy with his decision as they believed it was motivated by money.
The third episode shows his journey after moving to PSG. Neymar faced many challenges in this period where he again failed to win a world cup with Brazil, failed to win a champions league with PSG and was also accused of rape. He was signed by PSG to get them the champions league trophy but the team failed to lift their curse of getting knocked out in the round of 16 until 2020. Brazil was knocked out in the quarterfinal of the 2018 World Cup. The rape allegations against him were dropped due to insufficient evidence. He was unhappy at PSG and decided that he wants to go back to Barcelona to the dismay of the fans. The deal did not go through and Neymar had no option but to stay with PSG. Eventually, the team got to the finals of the champions league in 2020 but failed to clinch the win.
The series tries to show the side of Neymar unknown to the world but lingers onto some parts a bit too long. Major aspects that the fans would like to know the answers to are brushed off too soon or are not much looked into. His decision as to why he left Barcelona and why did he feel like going back to them is not answered.
The speculation of whether he did it for the money or if he felt as if he was always under the shadow of Messi was not focused on as much as the fans would like to know. His relationship with his father is highlighted the most and it is certainly the best aspect of the series. The massive expectations of him from the world and his father deteriorated their relationship. His father’s goals of building a brand that can live long after his football career is over don’t coincide with Neymar’s own dreams which caused a rift between them. The trust that Neymar has in his father is still going strong as he knows that his father is looking out for him.
The Movie Culture Synopsis
Neymar: The Perfect Chaos wants to show Neymar as a chaotic, untraditional rebel but they rarely focus on what makes him a rebel. We see what Neymar is to his family and what he is in front of the media but we don’t see anything new. If you are a fan of him then you already know almost everything in the series but still can be a fun time reliving it all. The series is definitely interesting for those who don’t know much about football and Neymar.
Neymar: The Perfect Chaos premieres on Netflix on the 25th of January. It will be released worldwide.