In the sun-drenched world of Spanish YA romance, few stories have ignited as fierce a frenzy as Culpa Mía (My Fault), the 2023 Prime Video hit that transformed Mercedes Ron’s Wattpad juggernaut into a cinematic guilty pleasure. At its core? The electric chemistry between Nicole Wallace as the fiery teen Noah and Gabriel Guevara as the brooding bad-boy Nick, a step-sibling pair whose forbidden attraction propels a tale of passion, betrayal, and redemption. “Culpa Mía wouldn’t hit the same without Nicole and Gabriel,” as one fan aptly tweeted, capturing the sentiment that’s propelled the film to over 100 million streams and spawned a trilogy that’s now a cornerstone of Prime Video’s international slate. Directed by Domingo González in his feature debut, the movie’s blend of sultry tension and teen angst has hooked Gen Z viewers worldwide, but it’s the leads’ off-screen rapport – and a rumored premiere spat – that’s kept the buzz alive as the series hurtles toward its 2025 finale.

The story kicks off with 17-year-old Noah (Wallace), a tomboy mechanic from a modest background, whose world upends when her mother, Rafaela (Marta Hazas), marries ultra-wealthy tycoon William Leister (Iván Sánchez). Uprooted to a sprawling Valencia mansion, Noah clashes with her new stepbrother, Nick (Guevara), a tattooed racer with a dangerous edge and a garage full of high-octane toys. What starts as sibling rivalry ignites into a clandestine romance, fraught with secrets, jealous exes, and high-stakes drag races that double as metaphors for their reckless hearts. Based on Ron’s 2017 Wattpad hit – part of the Culpables trilogy that’s amassed 1.5 billion reads – the film clocks in at 117 minutes of glossy drama, complete with rain-soaked kisses and poolside makeouts that scream “forbidden fruit.”

Wallace, 23, and Guevara, 23, were revelations in their breakout roles, channeling the raw vulnerability of Ron’s characters with a chemistry that’s as palpable as it is problematic. Noah’s arc – from guarded outsider to empowered lover – lets Wallace flex her dramatic chops, honed on the Spanish teen series Skam España (where she played Nora opposite Guevara’s Cristian). “Noah’s not just a damsel; she’s a fighter who owns her desires,” Wallace told Collider in a December 2024 chat, crediting the role for her post-Culpa surge, including a signing with TFC Management for U.S. gigs. Guevara, son of ’90s heartthrob Marisol Fuentes, brings brooding intensity to Nick, a role that echoes his Skam bad-boy roots. His tattooed arms and leather jackets aren’t just aesthetic – they ground Nick’s vulnerability, making his slow-burn surrender to Noah all the more swoon-worthy. Critics praised their synergy: Times of India called them “dazzling,” noting how their “sweet and endearing chemistry” elevates the film’s “erratic tone shifts.” Even detractors, like Decider‘s John Serba who dubbed it “atrocious,” conceded the leads’ likability as a “self-aware wink.”

The film’s success was meteoric. Dropping June 8, 2023, Culpa Mía rocketed to Prime Video’s top spot in 190 countries, becoming the platform’s most-watched international original ever. It lingered in the global top 5 through 2024, spawning merch drops (Noah-inspired hoodies flew off shelves) and a U.S. remake, My Fault London, greenlit in 2024 with two sequels planned. The trilogy’s formula – enemies-to-lovers with a side of family dysfunction – taps into the After and Twilight vein, but with a Spanish flair: Valencia’s neon-lit streets stand in for rainy Pacific Northwest vibes, and the dialogue crackles with bilingual banter. Ron, the 30-something author whose Wattpad tale exploded during lockdown, consulted on set, ensuring Noah’s punk-rock edge and Nick’s vulnerability stayed true. “They captured the heat,” she posted on Instagram, where fan edits of Wallace and Guevara’s steamiest scenes have billions of views.

Off-screen, the duo’s dynamic has been a tabloid tease. Both rose through Skam España (2018-2020), where their characters’ subplot laid groundwork for Culpa‘s sparks – a meta nod fans adore. Dating rumors swirled post-premiere, fueled by cozy Venice Film Festival snaps in 2023, but Wallace shut it down in a Collider interview: “We’re like siblings – the good kind.” Tension peaked at the December 23, 2024, Culpa Tuya (Your Fault) premiere in Madrid, where viral videos captured Wallace dodging Guevara’s photo ops and exiting the stage mid-presser. “Did Noah and Nick fight IRL?” trended on X with 500,000 posts, speculating everything from method-acting bleed to a lovers’ quarrel. Wallace later clarified on Instagram Stories, “Just a long day – love my co-star!” but the clip, showing her brushing past him with a curt “excuse me,” added delicious meta-drama to the sequel’s betrayal plot.

Culpa Tuya, streaming December 27, 2024, amps the stakes: Now college-aged, Noah and Nick navigate distance, temptation, and a rain-drenched confession that had director González gushing to Deadline, “It’s better than the first – more mature, more grown-up.” The trilogy caps with Culpa Nuestra (Our Fault) on October 16, 2025, picking up years later at a wedding reunion, where “past secrets and new challenges” test their bond. Wallace and Guevara reprise, with González promising, “The third is the best – fans will lose it.” An English trilogy, starting with My Fault London in 2026, is in development, eyeing a YA crossover like Netflix’s Elite.

The cultural ripple is seismic. Culpa Mía boosted Wattpad’s Spanish reads by 40%, per the platform, and sparked TikTok trends like #NoahNickChallenge, where duos lip-sync rain kisses (200 million views). It’s a boon for Spanish cinema, following Society of the Snow‘s Oscar nod, with Wallace landing a Netflix lead in 2025’s The Asunta Case. Guevara, meanwhile, eyes Hollywood, repped by WME post-Culpa.

For all its cheese – drag races as foreplay, anyone? – Culpa Mía thrives on Wallace and Guevara’s alchemy: her wide-eyed defiance meeting his smoldering gaze in a slow-burn that feels inevitable. As Ron tweeted, “Noah and Nick are chaos and calm – just like love.” With the finale looming, fans brace for heartbreak, but one thing’s sure: Without this duo, the fault wouldn’t feel quite so mine.