# 42 Days of Darkness
**42 Days of Darkness** (*42 días en la oscuridad*) is a 2022 Chilean crime drama miniseries, the first Chilean original series produced by Netflix, inspired by the 2010 disappearance and murder of Viviana Haeger in Puerto Varas[1](https://www.biobiochile.cl/noticias/espectaculos-y-tv/cine-y-series/2022/05/12/42-dias-en-la-oscuridad-y-criticas-de-hijas-de-viviana-haeger-nos-hizo-reflexionar-al-respecto.shtml). It premiered on May 11, 2022 with six episodes, directed by Claudia Huaiquimilla and Gaspar Antillo and produced by Fábula, the production company of the filmmakers Pablo and Juan de Dios Larraín[1](https://www.biobiochile.cl/noticias/espectaculos-y-tv/cine-y-series/2022/05/12/42-dias-en-la-oscuridad-y-criticas-de-hijas-de-viviana-haeger-nos-hizo-reflexionar-al-respecto.shtml) • [2](https://www.cooperativa.cl/noticias/magazine/streaming/asi-se-creo-la-serie-chilena-de-netflix-42-dias-en-la-oscuridad/2022-04-29/094457.html). The plot follows Cecilia Montes (Claudia Di Girolamo), who leads a desperate search for her missing sister Verónica (Aline Küppenheim) while fighting police negligence, media harassment, and social prejudice[3](https://media.netflix.com/en/only-on-netflix/81283608).
| Key fact | Detail |
|---|---|
| Premiere | May 11, 2022, on Netflix; six episodes released at once[1](https://www.biobiochile.cl/noticias/espectaculos-y-tv/cine-y-series/2022/05/12/42-dias-en-la-oscuridad-y-criticas-de-hijas-de-viviana-haeger-nos-hizo-reflexionar-al-respecto.shtml) |
| Status | First Chilean original series produced by Netflix[1](https://www.biobiochile.cl/noticias/espectaculos-y-tv/cine-y-series/2022/05/12/42-dias-en-la-oscuridad-y-criticas-de-hijas-de-viviana-haeger-nos-hizo-reflexionar-al-respecto.shtml) |
| Directors | Claudia Huaiquimilla and Gaspar Antillo[2](https://www.cooperativa.cl/noticias/magazine/streaming/asi-se-creo-la-serie-chilena-de-netflix-42-dias-en-la-oscuridad/2022-04-29/094457.html) |
| Production | Fábula, the company of Pablo and Juan de Dios Larraín[4](https://publications.iadb.org/publications/spanish/document/Detras-de-camaras-creatividad-e-inversion-para-America-Latina-y-el-Caribe-aprendizajes-de-una-conversacion-con-voces-claves-del-sector-audiovisual.pdf?download=true) |
| Source material | Inspired by the Viviana Haeger case and based on Rodrigo Fluxá's book *Usted sabe quién: Notas sobre el homicidio de Viviana Haeger* (Catalonia, 2019)[5](https://dfmas.df.cl/capital/cultura/pablo-macaya-y-el-estreno-de-42-dias-en-la-oscuridad-me-sacaron-el) |
| Main cast | Claudia Di Girolamo, Aline Küppenheim, Pablo Macaya, Daniel Alcaíno, Néstor Cantillana, Amparo Noguera, Gloria Münchmeyer[1](https://www.biobiochile.cl/noticias/espectaculos-y-tv/cine-y-series/2022/05/12/42-dias-en-la-oscuridad-y-criticas-de-hijas-de-viviana-haeger-nos-hizo-reflexionar-al-respecto.shtml) • [6](https://flixboss.com/series/42-days-of-darkness-81283608) |
| Filming locations | Villarrica, Pucón, Puerto Montt, and Santiago[7](https://fabula.cl/42-dias-de-oscuridad/) |
## Spoilers
### Plot and characters
The series opens on the morning of June 29, 2010, when Verónica Montes disappears from her home in the Altos del Lago condominium in southern Chile after failing to pick up her older daughter from school[8](https://www.latercera.com/culto/2022/05/07/42-dias-en-la-oscuridad-las-distintas-caras-de-la-serie-de-netflix-inspirada-en-el-caso-haeger/?outputType=base-amp-type) • [9](https://www.revistaprimerplano.cl/thriller-made-in-chile-42-dias-en-la-oscuridad/). Her husband Mario Medina (Daniel Alcaíno) says he received a call that morning demanding money for her release; his calm demeanor strikes some, including Verónica's family, as suspicious[9](https://www.revistaprimerplano.cl/thriller-made-in-chile-42-dias-en-la-oscuridad/).
The search is driven mainly by Cecilia, Verónica's sister, supported by her husband Arturo Fernández (Daniel Muñoz) and Víctor Pizarro (Pablo Macaya), a lawyer turned private investigator who has fallen on hard times[9](https://www.revistaprimerplano.cl/thriller-made-in-chile-42-dias-en-la-oscuridad/). The story counts the days from the disappearance, weaving the public dimensions of the case, including police ineptitude, judicial inertia, and class bias, with the private lives of the characters[10](https://interferencia.cl/articulos/series-de-tv-42-de-dias-de-oscuridad-el-pais-y-el-paisaje).
## The real case
The series draws on the case of Viviana Haeger, an accountant who disappeared on June 29, 2010 from a private neighborhood of Puerto Varas, in southern Chile, and whose body was found 42 days later hidden in the attic of her own house[5](https://dfmas.df.cl/capital/cultura/pablo-macaya-y-el-estreno-de-42-dias-en-la-oscuridad-me-sacaron-el) • [11](https://dicyt.usach.cl/wp-content/uploads/2023/10/5.-Cuadernillo-Revistas-DICyT-FuturoUSACH.pdf). The case generated wide public attention in Chile, both for its outcome and for the unanswered questions around it, including errors in the police investigation and the suspected involvement of the victim's husband[12](https://revistaral.cl/wp-content/uploads/2023/03/Revista-RAL-3.pdf).
The judicial process closed seven years after the crime, when José Pérez Mancilla was sentenced to ten years in prison for robbery with homicide[13](https://www.latercera.com/culto/2022/05/13/columna-de-rodrigo-munizaga-42-dias-en-la-oscuridad-el-frio-misterio/?outputType=base-amp-type). In the real trial, the central figures were Jaime Anguita Medel, Haeger's widower, and José Pérez Mancilla, a worker of Anguita's, along with the victim's mother Delia Massé and her sisters Ingrid and Mónica Haeger[14](https://elcomercio.pe/saltar-intro/netflix/series/42-dias-en-la-oscuridad-la-muerte-de-vivian-haeger-el-caso-real-en-el-que-se-inspira-serie-de-netflix-chile-jaime-anguita-noticia/).
## From book to series
The project began with the journalist Rodrigo Fluxá, who covered the case for four years, reviewed nearly 5,000 pages of the case file, listened to 3,249 legally intercepted phone calls, and covered the full trial in [Puerto Montt](https://www.edgepedia.org/puerto-montt)[15](https://www.latercera.com/finde/noticia/usted-sabe-quien-el-libro-sobre-el-caso-haeger-que-sirvio-como-base-para-la-primera-serie-chilena-de-netflix/). His book *Usted sabe quién: Notas sobre el homicidio de Viviana Haeger* was published in 2019 and became the basis for the series, on whose script Fluxá worked alongside Huaiquimilla and Enrique Videla[5](https://dfmas.df.cl/capital/cultura/pablo-macaya-y-el-estreno-de-42-dias-en-la-oscuridad-me-sacaron-el) • [9](https://www.revistaprimerplano.cl/thriller-made-in-chile-42-dias-en-la-oscuridad/).
The makers describe the series as inspired by, not based on, the Haeger case: character names were changed, fictional characters were added, and some events were altered[13](https://www.latercera.com/culto/2022/05/13/columna-de-rodrigo-munizaga-42-dias-en-la-oscuridad-el-frio-misterio/?outputType=base-amp-type) • [9](https://www.revistaprimerplano.cl/thriller-made-in-chile-42-dias-en-la-oscuridad/). Director Claudia Huaiquimilla, the Chilean filmmaker behind *Mala Junta* and *Mis hermanos sueñan despiertos*, said the team chose not to document an absolute truth but to pursue a broader reflection[8](https://www.latercera.com/culto/2022/05/07/42-dias-en-la-oscuridad-las-distintas-caras-de-la-serie-de-netflix-inspirada-en-el-caso-haeger/?outputType=base-amp-type). Among the adjustments, the fictional daughter Karen has no boyfriend and is in Chile with her younger sister when her father is arrested, and the story's weight falls on the sister and the lawyer rather than on the widower, as in the real trial[16](https://www.latercera.com/culto/2022/05/12/42-dias-en-la-oscuridad-que-es-real-y-que-es-ficcion-en-la-primera-serie-chilena-de-netflix/?outputType=base-amp-type) • [14](https://elcomercio.pe/saltar-intro/netflix/series/42-dias-en-la-oscuridad-la-muerte-de-vivian-haeger-el-caso-real-en-el-que-se-inspira-serie-de-netflix-chile-jaime-anguita-noticia/).
## Family criticism and reception
In April 2021, a week after Netflix announced the series, Vivian and Susan Anguita, the two daughters of Viviana Haeger, published a letter in the newspaper *El Llanquihue* objecting that no one from the production had contacted them beforehand[8](https://www.latercera.com/culto/2022/05/07/42-dias-en-la-oscuridad-las-distintas-caras-de-la-serie-de-netflix-inspirada-en-el-caso-haeger/?outputType=base-amp-type). "Our story is already quite public, but it is still ours," they wrote, asking that the production remember that real lives lay behind the story[17](https://chilefilos.wordpress.com/2022/09/15/42-dias-en-la-oscuridad-la-serie-la-historia-y-las-controversias/). La Tercera reported that Mónica Haeger, the victim's sister, had in fact been informed of the project before its official announcement, though she did not read the scripts[8](https://www.latercera.com/culto/2022/05/07/42-dias-en-la-oscuridad-las-distintas-caras-de-la-serie-de-netflix-inspirada-en-el-caso-haeger/?outputType=base-amp-type). After the premiere, Huaiquimilla said the team empathized with the family's pain and had sought to treat the subject with care[1](https://www.biobiochile.cl/noticias/espectaculos-y-tv/cine-y-series/2022/05/12/42-dias-en-la-oscuridad-y-criticas-de-hijas-de-viviana-haeger-nos-hizo-reflexionar-al-respecto.shtml).
Audience response was strong. The day after its premiere the series became the most-watched series in Chile, and it reached seventh place among the most-watched non-English-language series, accumulating 9.9 million hours of viewing[17](https://chilefilos.wordpress.com/2022/09/15/42-dias-en-la-oscuridad-la-serie-la-historia-y-las-controversias/). Netflix reported that it stayed several weeks among the ten most-watched series in Chile[9](https://www.revistaprimerplano.cl/thriller-made-in-chile-42-dias-en-la-oscuridad/). On IMDb it holds a rating of 6.5 out of 10 from about 2,000 votes[18](https://www.imdb.com/es/title/tt15090462/). Critics noted the cold, rainy southern landscapes as a character in itself, filmed in [Villarrica](https://www.edgepedia.org/villarrica), Pucón, and Puerto Montt, and praised the ensemble cast, while some found genre indecision between drama and police procedural[10](https://interferencia.cl/articulos/series-de-tv-42-de-dias-de-oscuridad-el-pais-y-el-paisaje) • [13](https://www.latercera.com/culto/2022/05/13/columna-de-rodrigo-munizaga-42-dias-en-la-oscuridad-el-frio-misterio/?outputType=base-amp-type). The series won four awards and received seven nominations in total[18](https://www.imdb.com/es/title/tt15090462/), including Best Social and Political Series at the 2022 PRODU Awards[7](https://fabula.cl/42-dias-de-oscuridad/).
## Significance for Chilean television
As the first Chilean original for Netflix, the series marked a milestone for the local television industry and for Fábula, which had previously produced the streaming series *El Presidente* and *La Jauría*[13](https://www.latercera.com/culto/2022/05/13/columna-de-rodrigo-munizaga-42-dias-en-la-oscuridad-el-frio-misterio/?outputType=base-amp-type). Reviewers placed it above those earlier Fábula productions in script quality, and its success returned Fluxá's book to the bestseller lists[13](https://www.latercera.com/culto/2022/05/13/columna-de-rodrigo-munizaga-42-dias-en-la-oscuridad-el-frio-misterio/?outputType=base-amp-type) • [19](https://revistasantiago.cl/cine/los-peligros-de-la-ficcion/). The series also entered a wider pattern in which Netflix and Amazon Prime Video chose Chilean originals tied directly to national reality, recent criminal cases covered heavily by the press, and worked almost exclusively with Fábula as a local production partner[20](https://alaic.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/02/ANAIS-ALAIC-2024.pdf).
## References
1. ["42 días en la oscuridad" y críticas de hijas de Viviana Haeger, BioBioChile](https://www.biobiochile.cl/noticias/espectaculos-y-tv/cine-y-series/2022/05/12/42-dias-en-la-oscuridad-y-criticas-de-hijas-de-viviana-haeger-nos-hizo-reflexionar-al-respecto.shtml)
2. [Así se creó la serie chilena de Netflix "42 días en la oscuridad", Cooperativa.cl](https://www.cooperativa.cl/noticias/magazine/streaming/asi-se-creo-la-serie-chilena-de-netflix-42-dias-en-la-oscuridad/2022-04-29/094457.html)
3. [42 Days of Darkness, Netflix Media Center](https://media.netflix.com/en/only-on-netflix/81283608)
4. [Detrás de cámaras: creatividad e inversión para América Latina y el Caribe, IDB Publications](https://publications.iadb.org/publications/spanish/document/Detras-de-camaras-creatividad-e-inversion-para-America-Latina-y-el-Caribe-aprendizajes-de-una-conversacion-con-voces-claves-del-sector-audiovisual.pdf?download=true)
5. [Pablo Macaya y el estreno de 42 días en la oscuridad, DFMAS, El Mercurio](https://dfmas.df.cl/capital/cultura/pablo-macaya-y-el-estreno-de-42-dias-en-la-oscuridad-me-sacaron-el)
6. [Where to watch '42 Days of Darkness' on Netflix, Flixboss](https://flixboss.com/series/42-days-of-darkness-81283608)
7. [42 Días en la Oscuridad, Fábula](https://fabula.cl/42-dias-de-oscuridad/)
8. [42 Días en la Oscuridad: las distintas caras de la serie de Netflix inspirada en el caso Haeger, La Tercera](https://www.latercera.com/culto/2022/05/07/42-dias-en-la-oscuridad-las-distintas-caras-de-la-serie-de-netflix-inspirada-en-el-caso-haeger/?outputType=base-amp-type)
9. [Thriller made in Chile: "42 días en la oscuridad", Revista Primer Plano](https://www.revistaprimerplano.cl/thriller-made-in-chile-42-dias-en-la-oscuridad/)
10. [Series de TV – 42 días de oscuridad: el país y el paisaje, Interferencia](https://interferencia.cl/articulos/series-de-tv-42-de-dias-de-oscuridad-el-pais-y-el-paisaje)
11. [Cuadernillo Revistas DICyT FuturoUSACH](https://dicyt.usach.cl/wp-content/uploads/2023/10/5.-Cuadernillo-Revistas-DICyT-FuturoUSACH.pdf)
12. [Revista RAL No. 3](https://revistaral.cl/wp-content/uploads/2023/03/Revista-RAL-3.pdf)
13. [Columna de Rodrigo Munizaga: 42 días en la oscuridad: el frío misterio, La Tercera](https://www.latercera.com/culto/2022/05/13/columna-de-rodrigo-munizaga-42-dias-en-la-oscuridad-el-frio-misterio/?outputType=base-amp-type)
14. [42 días en la oscuridad: la muerte de Vivian Haeger, el caso real, El Comercio Perú](https://elcomercio.pe/saltar-intro/netflix/series/42-dias-en-la-oscuridad-la-muerte-de-vivian-haeger-el-caso-real-en-el-que-se-inspira-serie-de-netflix-chile-jaime-anguita-noticia/)
15. [Usted sabe quién: el libro sobre el caso Haeger, La Tercera](https://www.latercera.com/finde/noticia/usted-sabe-quien-el-libro-sobre-el-caso-haeger-que-sirvio-como-base-para-la-primera-serie-chilena-de-netflix/)
16. [42 Días en la Oscuridad: qué es real y qué es ficción, La Tercera](https://www.latercera.com/culto/2022/05/12/42-dias-en-la-oscuridad-que-es-real-y-que-es-ficcion-en-la-primera-serie-chilena-de-netflix/?outputType=base-amp-type)
17. [Todo lo que tienes que saber de 42 días en la oscuridad, Chiléfilos](https://chilefilos.wordpress.com/2022/09/15/42-dias-en-la-oscuridad-la-serie-la-historia-y-las-controversias/)
18. [42 Días en la Oscuridad (2022), IMDb](https://www.imdb.com/es/title/tt15090462/)
19. [Los peligros de la ficción, por Marcela Fuentealba, Revista Santiago](https://revistasantiago.cl/cine/los-peligros-de-la-ficcion/)
20. [Anais ALAIC 2024](https://alaic.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/02/ANAIS-ALAIC-2024.pdf)
---
*Topic: Encyclopedia › Arts and culture › Screen and stage › Film and television › Series and fictional screen worlds › International serial drama and telenovelas › Telenovelas and Latin American/Iberian serials › Latin American and Iberian serial remakes and format adaptations*
*Initially written Oct 3, 2026 · Reviewed: Oct 3, 2026; Oct 25, 2026 · Edited: Oct 3, 2026; Oct 25, 2026; Nov 1, 2026 · Last review: Oct 25, 2026*
*Copyright 2026 EdgeChat AI, a subsidiary of Biostate AI.*
License: Edgepedia Community License 1.0, https://www.edgepedia.org/edgepedia/license