Don't be fooled; Hulu & Disney Plus' new sports drama is secretly a surprisingly funny comedy

To look at its poster or trailer, you’d think La Máquina would be a boxing drama designed for fans of the sport. Promotions for the show, which depict its stars as well as some hanging boxing gloves, don't let on that it’s also one of the funniest series to come out so far this year.

Released on Wednesday, October 9 on Hulu in the US and Disney Plus everywhere else, La Máquina is a boxing drama produced by and starring Star Wars actor Diego Luna and Mozart in the Jungle’s Gael Garcia Bernal. It’s a Mexican show, and is Hulu’s first-ever Spanish-language series.

The latter plays Esteban, a boxer reaching the end of his career who manages to get one last match thanks to his manager, Andy, played by Luna. His comeback seems guaranteed until it emerges that a criminal group is masterminding his return and they want to control his fights.

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Even reading that synopsis makes La Máquina sound like a crime drama but during a screening of the first episode, I was surprised to discover just how much humor was packed into the show — and I wasn't alone, judging by the laughs from the audience.

Most of this comes from Diego Luna's manager Andy, who you might not realize is played by the Rogue One and Andor star given the removal of his facial hair. Andy is an extravagant man and his excesses were what evoked most of the chuckles during the screening: the door of his mansion is so large that he struggles to open it, inside the building are huge portraits of him, and residing within is his mother whom he seems to have a very questionable relationship with.

This contrasts really nicely with the rather reserved Esteban, who's given more of the dramatic beats of the show, but his bewilderment in the scenes he shares with Andy is just part of the comedy.

I'm not the biggest fan of boxing but La Máquina is like Rocky in that it's more about the characters than the sport — I enjoyed it despite caring little for the activity itself. It reminds me of Ford vs Ferrari (or Le Mans ‘66, depending on where you live) which I found really moving despite having no interest in motor racing — the best kind of sports drama is enjoyable regardless of your level of understanding of the sport.

I was only shown the first of six episodes of La Máquina so I can't attest to whether it’ll stay funny throughout — I imagine tonal changes are coming from episode two as the crime plot was only introduced right at the end of the first, which might mean there’s less room for jokes. Plus the official synopsis of the show talks about a storyline for Esteban’s journalist ex-wife Irasema (played by 3 Body Problem star Eiza Gonzalez) which wasn’t even touched upon in episode 1.

But the show's funniest parts were in background details or the character performances, which can sit side by side with a crime plot. I’m going to keep watching the series with the mind of it being a fun comedy show, and if you’re not interested in boxing or sports dramas, I think you'll enjoy it in that regard too.