3%

This article is about the Brazilian television series. For the American resistance movement, see 3 Percenters.

3%
File:3% official artwork.jpeg Official series artwork
Genre	Drama Thriller Sci-fi
Created by	Pedro Aguilera
Directed by	César Charlone Daina Giannecchini Dani Libardi Jotagá Crema
Starring	Bianca Comparato João Miguel Michel Gomes Rodolfo Valente
Country of origin	Brazil
Original language	Portuguese
No. of seasons	2
No. of episodes	8
Production
Executive producers	César Charlone Tiago Mello
Production locations	São Paulo, São Paulo
Running time	38–49 minutes
Production company	Boutique Filmes
Original release
Network	Netflix
Release	November 25, 2016 (2016-11-25) – present

3% is a Brazilian dystopian thriller series created by Pedro Aguilera, starring Bianca Comparato and João Miguel. Developed from a 2009 independent pilot episode, it is Netflix's first original Brazilian production and the second produced in Latin America, after Club de Cuervos.

The show is set in a future wherein people are given a chance to go to the "better side" of a world divided between progress and affluence in the Offshore, and devastation and poverty in the Inland, but only 3% of the candidates succeed. Netflix gave the show an 8-episode order for the first season. César Charlone, an Academy Award nominated cinematographer known for City of God and Blindness, served as director alongside Daina Giannecchini, Dani Libardi, and Jotagá Crema. Tiago Mello serves as executive producer. The first season became available on Netflix worldwide November 25, 2016. A second season was confirmed on December 4, 2016 on the official 3% Facebook page.

Cast

Main cast

• Bianca Comparato as Michele Santana, the main protagonist of the show and a naive young woman who has a very strong sense of justice. She has no family and was raised by her brother, who didn't return after being sent to the Process.
• João Miguel as Ezequiel, the current head of the Process. He is intense, mysterious, short-tempered, and conflicted by ideal extremes.
• Michel Gomes as Fernando Carvalho, raised by his father, who fostered in him the singular purpose of passing the Process. A wheelchair user, Fernando is disdained by some candidates who don't believe in his chances to successfully complete the Process.
• Rodolfo Valente as Rafael Moreira, egocentric, selfish, sarcastic, and willing to do anything to pass, even cheat. He hides his mysteries and believes the ends justify the means.
• Rafael Lozano as Marco Alvarez, from a family known to always pass in the Process and who are waiting for him in the Offshore. He will do anything to pass in the Process.
• Vaneza Oliveira as Joana Coelho, originally sem registro (without registration), an orphan who survived on her own at the margins of society, on the streets of the Inland. Intelligent and capable, she interacts with few other candidates and shows little interest in the Process. She seems to be there to escape rather than to pass to the Offshore.
• Viviane Porto as Aline, a young and ambitious employee of the Council, with the mission to overthrow Ezequiel and become the next head of the Process.
• Celso Frateschi as the Cause Leader
• Mel Fronckowiak as Julia, Ezequiel's wife and an employee of the Process, who ends up being depressed and in doubt about her actions.
• Sérgio Mamberti as Matheus, a member of the council offshore.
• Zezé Motta as Nair, a council woman from the Offshore who serves as a friend to Ezequiel.

Recurring cast

• Luciana Paes as Cássia, head of security for the Process. She is extremely loyal to Ezequiel.
• Luana Tanaka as Ágata, a candidate in Michele's group.
• Rita Batata as Denise
• Leonardo Garcez as Daniel
• Clarissa Kiste as Luciana
• Julio Silverio as Otavio
• Thiago Amaral as Alvaro
• Cesar Gouvea as Cesar
• Geraldo Rodrigues as Geraldo
• Ediana Souza as Ediana

Episodes

No.	Title	Directed by	Written by	Original air date
1	"Chapter 01: Cubes"	César Charlone	Pedro Aguilera	November 25, 2016 (2016-11-25)
Far in the future, the majority of the Brazilian population lives in poverty (the Inland), while those in the Offshore live in virtual paradise. Every year, each 20 year old has a chance of getting to the Offshore through a series of tests called 'the Process", but only 3% make it. Michele is one of them, entering with her best friend Bruna. The head of the Process, Ezequiel, is observed by an Offshore woman named Aline. The first test is an interview, after which one candidate commits suicide out of frustration for failing. After being placed into groups, a candidate named Joana notices another candidate, Rafael, has faked his registration. The second test is where each person must assemble nine cubes out of several blocks. Rafael cheats, stealing a cube from another, but Ezequiel allows him to pass. Michele only has eight, but a wheelchair-bound candidate named Fernando assembles a ninth cube out of several of her cubes, allowing them both to pass. Joana makes eleven cubes. Eventually, Michele and Bruna are lead to the back, as the Offshore suspects one of them is an infiltrated mole for a revolutionary group known as "the Cause". Michele convinces Bruna to attack the interrogator, but Bruna dies in the process. The testers assume she was the mole, when actually it was revealed to be Michele, who breaks down in tears for allowing her friend to die.
2	"Chapter 02: Coins"	Daina Giannecchini & Jotagá Crema	Cássio Koshikumo & Denis Nielsen	November 25, 2016 (2016-11-25)
When physically examined, Fernando is told that his legs can be healed at the Offshore, but he tells Michele he wishes to remain in his wheelchair, as his life would not be the same without it. The third test is a fake crime scene set in the Offshore. The group must figure out what happened here. At first it appears that the dummy woman is simply choking, but Fernando believes the choking woman was poisoned. The group agrees, but Rafael points out the clues are misleading, and the woman is actually having an allergic reaction to silver. Fernando eventually agrees, and they pass with Rafael's theory. Aline tracks down Ezequiel, who disappears for the fourth test. The next test involves voting who in the group will be kicked out; the winners take a coin to prove that they are moving on. Despite arguments, Marco suggests they draw scarf lengths to remain the most fair. Joana draws the shortest scarf but never returned her coin to the bag, stealing what should have been Lucas' spot.
3	"Chapter 03: Corridor"	Dani Libardi	Ivan Nakamura & Denis Nielsen	November 25, 2016 (2016-11-25)
The group must walk down a dark corridor together, but a gas is released that causes hallucinations. Everyone sees something different, but Joana is able to escort them all to the other side, passing the test. After being shown to their dorms for the night, Fernando and Michele share a kiss. Despite the effects being meant to wear off, Ágata continues to hallucinate, and tries to kill Joana, but Rafael intervenes. Meanwhile, Ezequiel is shown to have been sneaking out to see a young boy named Augusto who lives in the Inland. Through flashbacks, it is revealed that Joana accidentally killed a gangster's son, which prompted her to fake a registration as well in order to be allowed in the process and evade retaliation. Rafael notices her fake registration, and the two blackmail each other. When Augusto sneaks in and is almost caught by Aline, Ezequiel tells him to never come back. When they all wake up the next morning, Joana realizes the exits have been blocked, trapping the candidates inside the dorms.
4	"Chapter 04: Gateway"	Jotagá Crema	Cássio Koshikumo & Ivan Nakamura & Jotagá Crema	November 25, 2016 (2016-11-25)
The candidates begin trapped in the dorms still. While looking for a way out, Marco reflects on his family history, as each of them have successfully passed the Process and made it to the Offshore. He organizes everyone to get food and pass the test, and the group succeeds with ease. Ezequiel is displeased that they all have passed, and he decides to modify the test, no longer sending food to see how the candidates react. Eventually, Marco and some other men fashion weapons out of the beds to pry open the gate, and when they realize that there's no way out, they (notably Marco) assume that the test will be a survival of the fittest type with limited supplies. The group of men then attack the others who sat around rather than trying to pry the gate, stealing their food and taking them prisoner. Marco loses it as the candidates try to hide food, killing a girl. Meanwhile Michele and friends build a barricade to keep Marco's group out, while Joana escapes from the test by climbing a vent. Ezequiel meets her and explains that only she can stop the test, as he will not. Joana returns, freeing the people whom Marco subjected. Everyone violently attacks Marco's group, beating and presumably killing a few. The gates open and the prisoners escape, minus everyone in Marco's group. Marco attempts to flee, but the door catches him, presumably killing him or seriously maiming him; either way, he is eliminated. Meanwhile, Aline is caught snooping through Ezequiel's things, and it is revealed that Rafael attempted the Process last year and failed, before stealing the registry of his unconscious brother to take the Process for a second time. He also reveals to Michele that he is a mole for the Cause as well.
5	"Chapter 05: Water"	César Charlone	Pedro Aguilera	November 25, 2016 (2016-11-25)
Five years prior to the start of the series, Ezequiel becomes the head proctor for the 99th Process and onward. He is married to a proctor, Julia, who assists with the first test, the interview stage. During his first time in charge, she disqualifies a candidate who had done no wrong- the candidate simply admitted to having a child. Later, she and Ezequiel monitor a raid, where a young boy is seen in the footage. Julia breaks down in tears at the sight of the boy, and she later reveals to Ezequiel he is the son she abandoned when she passed the Process, Augusto. Throughout Ezequiel's time as head proctor, Julia's behavior becomes more and more erratic until she attempts to escape to the Inland to see Augusto. Ezequiel stops her and has her committed to the Rehabilitation and Treatment Center, where she drowns herself in the ocean, committing the first suicide in the history of the Offshore. Ezequiel breaks down and goes to see Augusto himself, secretly beginning a relationship with the boy that continues today. Throughout the flashbacks, the candidates relax in the grass and tree center of the testing facility before being led to their individual rooms.
6	"Chapter 06: Glass"	Daina Giannecchini & Dani Libardi	Cássio Koshikumo & Denis Nielsen & Ivan Nakamura & Jotagá Crema	November 25, 2016 (2016-11-25)
Each given their own rooms, the families of each candidate are brought in, giving the candidates an option: continue with the Process, or give up and take an outstanding amount of money to take for their family. Michele and Rafael pass; Joana is confronted by a henchmen sent by the father of the boy she killed who entered her room posing as her father. He tells her she can either stay there and be killed or walk out with him and live, since the Process is offering more money than the price put on her head. She decides to stay and the man reveals himself to be a citizen of the Offshore and that she passed. Fernando goes through a reverse experience as his father tries to convince him to stay while he is willing to go back. He decides to carry on when his father tells him he'll have nowhere to go if he returns. The remaining candidates head for their final, individual tests: Michele must tell Bruna's parents she is dead and convince them to allow their younger daughter to take part of the Process; Fernando must design a new test for the Process; and Rafael must seek help from another candidate in order to press two buttons at the same time. They all pass; Rafael made it with Fernando's help after revealing to him that he and Michele are both with the Cause. Ezequiel goes to tell Augusto he cannot see him anymore, and Aline agrees to keep Ezequiel's secret. Michele digs out a small capsule from under her skin.
7	"Chapter 07: Capsule"	Daina Giannecchini	Cássio Koshikumo	November 25, 2016 (2016-11-25)
A celebratory dinner is held for the candidates before the final step, the "purification" ritual. Michele poisons Ezequiel's drink using the poison from the capsule she removed from her hip, but he and Cesar inadvertently exchange their cups, resulting in Cesar being killed instead. Knowing he was the real target, Ezequiel interrogates all candidates individually and Rafael, who saw Michele's actions, drops the empty capsule over a railing. Ezequiel and Cássia stage a fake confession from the captured Cause member they hold in which he names Aline as a fellow member, and she is arrested, suspected of the murder. In a final attempt to prove her innocence, she tries to send the council some files incriminating Ezequiel, but Nair interferes and has her send them a positive report on him. Michele returns to her room, only to find Ezequiel waiting for her, capsule in hand.
8	"Chapter 08: Button"	César Charlone	Denis Nielsen & Pedro Aguilera	November 25, 2016 (2016-11-25)
Ezequiel tells Fernando Michele has been eliminated and he decides to quit in order to find her. Meanwhile, Michele is actually being tortured by drowning and with a pau de arara. Ezequiel reveals to her the only reason he hasn't killed her yet is because he was also a member of the Cause and knows what is like to be on her shoes. He also shows her footage of her brother alive and well and says she has been fooled. Michele finally reveals where she was supposed to meet the Cause leader and he is arrested, while she is still allowed to the Offshore. The purification ritual is revealed to be a sterilization procedure so that heritability is completely replaced by meritocracy. Rafael is shocked at first, but hesitantly proceeds anyway. Joana quits the Process when given the choice between murdering a member of the gang which is after her and joining Ezequiel's élite. She meets Fernando as she leaves and they both express their frustration with the Process. Joana is last seen staring at some Cause graffiti while Fernando watches his father from afar. The successful candidates are last seen en route to the Offshore.

Critical reception

On Rotten Tomatoes, the series holds positive reviews with an approval rating of 80%, based on 5 reviews, with an average score of 4/5.

External links

• 3% at IMDb
• 3% independent pilots on YouTube