Netflix's Upcoming 'Siempre Bruja' Will Make You Book the Next Flight to Cartagena

Good news for worldly lovers of Netflix. The streaming platform is quickly becoming global thanks to its growing international roster. With successful Australian series like Instant Hotel and Back with the Ex, as well as their impressive number of Spanish-speaking shows, the platform is well on its way to conquering the world.

February 1 will see the release of many shows on Netflix, but perhaps the most exciting one yet is Colombia's Siempre Bruja, or Always a Witch to English speakers. 

The imaginative show delivers breakout performances from some of the youngest and most talented Latin American actors. Here's everything you need to know ahead of the show's premiere.

The bruja in pop culture is set to live on with this Colombian series that follows a 19-year-old slave and witch, Carmen, who's about to be burned at the stake in colonial Cartagena for falling in love with a white man.

With the help of an old wizard, she can escape her doomed fate. Carmen has the option to travel to a time and place where people no longer believe in witches (aka present day), on one condition: she must promise to never use her bruja powers.

When she agrees, she's transported to modern-day Colombia, where she makes new friends, learns about internet apps, and has to kind of make a new life for herself in 2019, while adjusting to the fact that 1646, for her, was just yesterday.

But as the title suggests, once a witch, always a witch — and Carmen has to contend with her powers while trying to fit into present-day society.

The starring role of Carmen is brought to life by newcomer Angely Gaviria, an Afro-Colombian model, dancer and actress originally from Cartagena, who's currently living in Bogotá.

Before appearing on Siempre Bruja, Angely played small roles in Colombian productions such as Niche, La Selección, 2091 and Los Morales before landing the recurring part of Julia Cervantes in the telenovela Pambelé.

"Siempre Bruja is a series about love," the protagonist told El País in Spanish. "Without its magic, there's no point to the struggle. Carmen takes risks for love, there's no other reason."

"I would have never imagined playing a witch," the young actress says in the same interview. She calls her character Carmen "empowered, decisive and lovable."

Angely is also hopeful that her starring role will bring other Afrolatino actors into the spotlight. "We're used to seeing Black talent in secondary roles ... but things are changing because our Afro history is gaining a space in Colombia and in the whole world," she said in Spanish to the media outlet.

As viewers will notice from the gorgeously colorful backgrounds of the series, Siempre Bruja was filmed entirely in Colombia. Locations span Bogotá, Cartagena and Honda, a small area in the Andean region of Tolima.

The landscapes look so stunning and beautiful, this series will have you looking up flights to Colombia.

Slow your roll, people! Season 1 hasn't even come out yet. As for a second season, it's still early days and we expect the people at Netflix want to see how this series performs before ordering another batch of episodes. 

So, if you're so desperate for a second season, the best way to ensure that happens is by binging the first when Siempre Bruja hits Netflix on February 1.