The ‘famous’ Netflix documentary about Vinicius Junior, the Real Madrid and Brazil national team player — currently FIFA’s Best Men’s Player (The Best award) — was released a few days ago.
Controversy Around Racism
The documentary is about an hour and a half long and reviews his career and life, with a strong focus on the racism Vinicius has endured. The climax comes during the match against Valencia, where a large part of the crowd allegedly chanted “monkey, monkey” at him.
This has greatly angered Valencia CF, which claims it will sue the documentary for spreading false information, insisting that the crowd shouted “tonto, tonto” (stupid, stupid) instead of “mono, mono” (monkey). To make matters worse, Vinicius was sent off in that match after being grabbed by the neck by a Valencia player — an incident the VAR curiously chose not to show the referee…
But one thing is clear: several fans did chant those insults. In fact, three supporters were sentenced to eight months in prison for them — a historic ruling that is featured in the documentary. La Liga president Javier Tebas is also shown apologizing for his initial reaction, which was widely criticized for seeming to attack Vinicius rather than defend him.
Eventually, the football world rallied around Vinicius and his cause, shifting the focus away from football.
His Personal Triumph
But the real “movie” of Vinicius is his transformation at Real Madrid — something no Madrid fan had seen before. He went from being a player completely underestimated and even mocked (by players like Joaquín from Betis or Piqué), to someone we, the fans, didn’t expect much from — poor finishing and decision-making made it hard to believe in him.
He was even demoted to Castilla until Solari brought him back. His own teammate, Benzema, was caught at halftime during a match literally saying not to pass the ball to Vini. Ironically, that incident sparked a turning point in his career. Benzema appears in the documentary and openly admits saying it — explaining that he did it on purpose because he believed Vinicius had far more potential than he was showing.
That Vinicius-Benzema partnership ended up bringing many titles to Real Madrid, including two Champions Leagues (although Benzema had already left for the second), and helped Benzema win the Ballon d’Or.
Going from being a ‘meme’ to being The Best is something rarely seen in football, and it shows his drive for self-improvement. The documentary shows how he used even his injuries as opportunities to come back stronger.
Vinicius’s Big Family
Another key aspect is the large group of friends he lives with, who serve as his emotional support. His family also appears in the film. In the end, it’s clear that Vinicius is not just about himself — he has a big family behind him, a kind of team of its own, where they win and lose together.
Vinicius, a Cristiano Ronaldo Type
Like most superstars — especially the Cristiano Ronaldo type (or David Beckham in his day) — you either love him or hate him. (Although in Beckham’s case, it was probably more envy than anything else, haha.)
Vinicius’s attitude does resemble CR7’s in many ways. He even calls him one of his idols, has a mural of him in his gym, and uses him as a role model. So, many of Vini’s mannerisms are similar to Cristiano’s — which naturally draws hate from some people.
In fact, a large part of the racism he denounces may actually be pure hate toward him as an individual (after all, if it were just racism, players like Mendy would be targeted too). That said, it still needs to be condemned, and his fight against racism is important to keep cleaning up football from hate, violence, etc.
A Good Documentary if You’re a Vinicius Fan
All in all, it’s a light documentary (especially compared to many recent multi-episode docuseries). It’s just one episode, lasting about an hour and a half — and I personally liked it.
Of course, if you hate Vini, you probably won’t enjoy it. But if you like Vini and/or Real Madrid, it’s a must-watch. The original language is Portuguese (as it was made for Netflix Brazil), so I recommend watching it in your preferred language.