A Widow's Game

Netflix's latest true crime production, The Black Widow, revisits the infamous and deeply unsettling "Patraix Crime" - and does so without moral anesthesia or a sentimental gloss. It makes no attempt to redeem, to console, or to wrap the horror in politically correct discourse. What it offers instead is the clinical dissection of a murder, premeditated in cold blood by two functional adults who, in 21st-century Spain, believed they could get away with it.

Unlike many productions in the genre that mask their voyeurism with a supposed aim of "honoring the victims," this film goes straight to the point. We do not see the body. We do not witness the crime. There is no exploitation of grief, no emotional pornography. The victim and his family are respected - truly respected - and the film gains rather than loses by this restraint. The lens turns instead to the perpetrators, exposing something more uncomfortable, more revealing, and more socially valuable: the internal architecture of those who cross the line.

Despite its evocative title, this is not a femme fatale fantasy. It is the real case of María Jesús Moreno Cantó - known as "Maje" - a nurse by profession, and Salvador Rodrigo Lapiedra, a hospital technician. Both were arrested on January 12, 2018. A seductive young woman manipulating an older, submissive man into becoming a weapon might sound like a cliché, but it is not. It is an archetype. And archetypes are not inventions of screenwriters - they are patterns of real life, repeated because they work, because they are encoded in our culture, our imagination, and, as Carl Jung would argue, in our collective unconscious.

The most disturbing part is not the crime itself, but its banality. Maje and Salva were convinced they could get away with it. They believed discretion, a sense of moral superiority, or the indifference of those around them would shield them. Pathological ego does not require psychotic delusions to act. It only needs self-indulgence, a functional environment that normalizes transgression, and a generous dose of fantasy. As behavioral neuroscience reminds us, the human brain can justify morally reprehensible actions as long as it sees itself as an exception - or rewrites the ethical script to accommodate its desires.

And this is where The Black Widow excels. There is no sensationalism here. There is anatomy. Not just of the crime, but of the decisions, the rationalizations, the self-deception, and the twisted bond between two people who were not victims of each other, but co-conspirators feeding off their shared delusion.

Ivana Baquero and Tristán Ulloa deliver outstanding performances. She is cold, but never cartoonish. He is pathetic, but recognizably human. The script avoids the easy trap of portraying the killers as inhuman monsters; instead, it shows them for what they are: people. And that is far more terrifying. Because if they are people, then anyone - under the right (or wrong) conditions - could potentially become something similar. That is the truly frightening truth.

For me, the crown jewel is Carmen Machi. In a role stripped of her usual comedic register, she plays the investigator who faces life's harshness head-on and trusts her instincts. Though the character is fictionalized, it stands as a worthy tribute to the real-life police work behind the case - to the kind of investigator who, without epic speeches or spotlight, bears the emotional weight of brutal cases, tracking evidence and confronting institutional fatigue. Machi's performance doesn't rely on grand monologues; it lives in hardened gestures, emotional restraint, and her embodiment of a type of woman fiction often forgets: the resilient professional who carries on simply because she must.

The film's aesthetic choices are also commendable. Carlos Sedes's direction avoids visual sensationalism. There is a clinical cleanliness to the world depicted - hospital corridors, anonymous stairwells, police offices. Everything evokes the banality of evil, to borrow Hannah Arendt's phrase: monstrosity doesn't dwell in gothic castles or dark rituals; it lives in your building's hallway, in the hospital kitchen chat, in a WhatsApp message.

And yes, this too is science. Forensic psychology studies show that the most dangerous criminals are not the cinematic psychopaths, but the functional individuals who integrate their perversion into everyday structures. They are the ones who "don't seem capable of that." The human brain doesn't register danger in those who behave normally - and that is why certain signals go unnoticed: because they do not break the pattern.

Bambú Producciones approaches this story with meticulous care. Eschewing the trap of gory reenactments, they maintain narrative tension by focusing on psychology. Instead of simply recounting what happened, they explore how it could happen, and why the perpetrators convinced themselves that their actions weren't criminal, but justified. This is more than storytelling: it's emotional pedagogy. It teaches how moral self-deception works, and how intimacy can become a stage for domination.

In short, The Black Widow is a resounding success. Not only for its acting and technical quality, but for its ethical stance: it neither glorifies nor trivializes its subjects. It reveals the horror of the ordinary - how easy it is to cross the line when one believes the world owes them something. A work not only to be seen, but to be felt - in the skin, the gut, and, if watched with eyes wide open, in the conscience.

I don't get the rave reviews. It's an ok show to watch while doing something else. However I watched it with full undivided attention. Honestly it's a tad boring. At the end I was like ok that's it? Ok so we are done now? Ok cool.

This is based on a true story but it's a story that's been told a thousand times. I kept waiting for some twist or turn or excitement but nope. Just your regular run of the mill crime. I wouldn't even expect this to be a main plot point in a soap opera. This doesn't bring any intrigue or thrills. Honestly a mediocre true crime podcast is better than this movie.

PROS it's watchable and the acting is good and everyone seemed like real people. This is a breath of fresh air from Hollywood where everyone is great looking and is overly dramatic. CONS you find out pretty early on that the widow is a lying trash person. And soon after you find out everything else. The rest is just watching cops do their job. And it's not thrilling. It's just like ok welp i hope they wrap this up soon cuz I've got bed.

EXTREMELY forgettable, but a decent background movie to have on that doesn't require a lot of attention. Honestly a regular Law and Order SVU episode is leaps and bounds better than this movie. Actually they've showed this plot on THAT show a hundred times but only better.

I am Spaniard so I have watched this one without subtitles, what is a plus.

So, If you love Spanish series like "El cuerpo en llamas", A window's game is for you. The movie is amazingly real as cruel the case it is.

First, the case is sad and at the same time makes you think about how cruel a woman can be.

Second, cast is superb. Great acting from Tristan Ulloa and Carmen Machi. Ivana Baquero is great too.

Last, the settings and production are superb. Pretty close to reality. Around 95% of the movie happened. Also the scenarios are real too.

So, overall an ugly crime, but a great movie. I mean, if you love true crime, this one is for you.

As "A Widow's Game" (2025 release from Spain; original title "La viuda negra" or "The black widow"; 122 min.) opens, we are reminded that this is "based on true events". It is August 6, 2017" and in a small city south of Valencia, a man's body is discovered, brutally stabbed to death. Eva, a police officer, is assigned to lead the investigation. It's not long before the surviving widow, Maje, is a suspect, even though she has an alibi. At this point we are a good 10 minutes into the movie.

Couple of comments: let me state upfront that I had never heard of these facts before. It doesn't take long to get a sense of how this might play out. The movie is brought in 3 chapters, from the perspectives of Eva, Maje and Salve, the latter a possible love interest. Some bits of the chapters overlap on purpose, just to give the different perspectives on the same facts. I quite enjoyed it for what it was, nothing more nothing less. There isn't anything truly shocking or revealing. It a matter of watching these performances play out. The movie benefits a lot from the lead performance by Spanish actress Ivana Baquero (as Maje), always easy on the eye, and perfectly conveying the seduction games played by Maje. Last but not least, I have no idea why the English title of the movie was changed from "The Black Widow" to the bland "A Widow's Game".

"A Widow's Game" started streaming on Netflix some weeks ago, and I just caught it the other night. This movie is currently rated only 42% Certified Fresh on Rotten Tomatoes, which feels low to me. If you are in the mood for a foreign murder mystery drama, I'd readily suggest you check this out, and draw your own conclusion.

A widows game is based on a true story though like some of these films certain aspects are changed to make it more appealing. We start with maje upset then we go back at certain points to see how we got here with police chief eva trying to work it out. Its clear though maje is up to something and never really cared for her husband salvo ever since they married. Its an interesting watch all the way through but unfortunatly we have been here before with films like this. Predictable is the word but I still liked to see how maniplitive maje was. Acting was good and overall its a decent true crime film.