David Farnor | On 16, Nov 2017

Walter Presents is heading to warmer climes this winter, as it flies out to meet Mexico’s answer to Leon: Mr. Avila.

The gripping thriller portrays the trials and tribulations of a hitman with a heart, who struggles to juggle his life as a family man with his career as a top assassin. Echoing Luc Besson’s Leon, The Sopranos and Six Feet Under, Mr. Avila combines the intensity of a violent thriller with the pathos of a family saga.

A middle-class, life insurance salesman, husband and father, Mr. Avila leads a double life as a hitman for hire in a brutal criminal organization, whose HQ is conveniently and innovatively placed in the local funeral parlour. At first glance, Ávila’s life is hardly any different from that of any other citizen in a big city; however, leading and preserving his double life is about to become a whole lot harder.

Ávila is unexpectedly promoted, becoming the boss of this clandestine organized crime Company. The new position will bring problems and responsibilities and Mr Avila soon finds out that there is a very fine balance to be struck in order to prevent the delicate house of cards from come tumbling down. As the past comes back to collect its dues his life, as well as that of his wife, María, and his son Emiliano become a nightmare from which there appears to be no escape.

An HBO production, Mr. Avila won awards at ATVC Awards and the Telly Awards when it originally premiered in Mexico. Since then, it has received a plethora of other accolades, the most recent being an Emmy nomination for best Non-English US Primetime Program.

The first episode of the series will be broadcast on Channel 4 at 11pm on 21st November, with the full box set then available on Walter Presents.

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