Under Siege: Netflix’s New 8-Part Thriller Revisits The 1985 Hostage Crisis

Published Nov 6, 2026, 2:20 PM EST Greg is a Lead TV Writer & Critic at Screen Rant with expertise in new streaming releases. He's published over 3000 articles at SR, including weekly recommendation guides and dozens of reviews on Rotten Tomatoes. He previously worked in Development at ABC Television & Lawrence Bender Productions. Greg majored in Film Production at Chapman University's Dodge College. Greg also has years of broadcast TV production experience at major networks such as NBC, TNT, and ESPN. He currently lives in Greater Boston. Netflix's new 8-part thriller revisits a real hostage crisis on the 41st anniversary of the devastating events & is a must-binge series this weekend. Released on Friday, November 6, 2026, this new 8-part Netflix series has a total runtime of just 6 hours and 51 minutes, giving subscribers the ideal length for a weekend binge that can be finished by Sunday night. The series is based on a real-life hostage situation involving more than 300 hostages and took more than seven years of research to properly adapt for television. Under Siege​​​​​​, or Palacio, was added to Netflix today, more than four decades after the real-life hostage situation that it portrays. With its historical basis and brief 8-part length, it's one of the best and most intense new series to binge-watch this weekend on Netflix. Under Siege dramatizes one of the most horrific and controversial political crises in Colombia's modern history, which is infamously known as the November 1985 siege of Bogotá's Palace of Justice. The series combines nail-biting thriller elements with political intrigue, investigating the subsequent disappearance of several survivors of the attack. Under Siege Is Based On The Real 1985 Palace Of Justice Hostage Crisis Netflix The 1985 Palace of Justice hostage crisis lasted two days and began with roughly 35 members of the urban Colombian guerrilla group known as M-19, who stormed the Palace of Justice, home to the nation's highest courts, including the Supreme Court, and held hundreds of people hostage. The new Netflix series portrays these events as well as the Colombian military's extreme response to recover the building, forcing a violent conflict that ultimately took the lives of more than 100 people. Under Siege also depicts the aftermath of the tragedy, including missing victims, deeper investigations, and community response. Under Siege follows several of the key personnel associated with the hostage crisis. They include Pilar Navarrete, a wife searching for her missing husband, played by Natalia Reyes, and Jimmy Beltrán, an employee at the Palace of Justice, played by Camilo Amores. The series also follows Olga Behar, an investigative journalist looking into the siege, played by Luna Baxter, and Belisario Betancur, the President of Colombia during the crisis, played by Carlos Manuel Vesga. Pilar serves as the main protagonist of the series, providing the emotional core as she desperately searches for her husband, Jimmy. Reyes worked closely with Pilar to capture as much authentic detail in her lead performance. The production team also did exhaustive research, including interviewing more than 50 people connected to the crisis, to create the most comprehensive depiction of the events ever put to screen. Netflix’s 8-Part Thriller Is One Of The Best New Series To Binge This Weekend Netflix While Netflix has several new series worth binge-watching this weekend, like Keira Knightley's spy thriller Black Doves season 2, Under Siege is well worth your time this weekend, especially for fans of remarkable true stories and high-stakes historical dramas. Rather than simply crafting a story of good versus evil, the creatives behind Under Siege made sure to include multiple perspectives, painting a complex web of ideology, emotion, and politically charged revolution. The series also explores the motivations behind the M-19 group, which is partially connected to Pablo Escobar and his Medellín cartel, which is alleged to have financed the operation. As far as new thriller series based on historical events, it does not get much better than Under Siege on Netflix this weekend. There have been no reviews published for Under Siege at the time of writing, so the series remains without a Rotten Tomatoes score at this time. That said, due to the global impact of its heavily documented subject matter, Under Siege is nicely positioned to become one of the biggest surprise streaming hits on Netflix this weekend, which is why we highly recommend pressing play on the riveting new 8-part Netflix series.