Emanuela Orlandi, la disparue du Vatican

This is an unnerving docuseries. On one side, you have the power of the Church as a monolithic institution; on the other, a family's longstanding plea for justice, accountability and transparency.

The Vatican is not only the seat of Roman Catholicism; it's also an independent city-state with its own head of state who, for all intents and purposes, is a sovereign or autocrat, if you will. Seen against this backdrop, the unexplained disappearance of young Emanuela Orlandi 39 years ago presents to us a great story full of mystery (for many) and angst (for the Orlandi family).

It's a compelling narrative that takes the viewer to different versions of the truth about Emanuela's disappearance none of which is totally conclusive. Journalist Andrea Purgatory and Pietro Orlandi, her older brother, guide us to the different twists that the search for her takes. Here's a family who needs closure but who couldn't have it. The people inside the Vatican who know what happened do not open up even after all these years, and several popes. What kind of humongous secret is the Vatican hiding? What emanates from them is sepulchral silence reminiscent of the Mafia's omerta. The family is stunned when the Pope cryptically tells them that she's in heaven.

The resource persons who grace the series to shed some light into the appearance all agree that the Vatican knows what happened to Emanuela. Will the truth come out? Andrea Purgatori sum it up, thus: no matter how much you try to hide, the truth will always come out.

The docuseries doesn't provide closure but piques our attention and gently reminds us not to forget because Emanuela's case matters.

A decent documentary from Netflix on a very interesting and mysterious case. The lives of a simple family and an innocent girl, Emanuela Orlandi, changed forever in 1983. The doco presents some valid theories that could explain the disappearance. It became explosive and mind-blowing when they showed the Vatican's secret political aims and money laundering. What is more amazing is how the Pope was very likely aware of the truth behind this innocent girls disappearance.

I did find certain parts hard to follow due to having to match a lot of the English subtitles to the video content. They rushed through some parts and those parts covered a lot of key content which I had to rewind to try piece together to understand it. They might have been able to shorten the series by 1 episode as well I feel by introducing the new theories or information a little earlier.

I feel the last episode sums up this event well. The Vatican clearly had a lot of the answers to Emanuela's disappearance but chose to protect the Church and sacrifice the life of an innocent girl. I feel the childhood friend could have also shared her info a lot earlier about Emanuela being bothered by a senior person from the Vatican. She selfishly waited so many years to shed light on advances made on Emanuela. This might have led to a breakthrough but too much time has passed now. It is quite evident her kidnapping was a power move to blackmail the Vatican. I had so many questions and really wondered where she was and what happened to her??? Sadly I feel it was something sinister and dark that the Vatican will never disclose.

Let's get rid of one aspect upfront: as several reviews remark, the documentary drags a little here and there; could've been 3 episodes maybe? Yes probably.

But - is this really the point?

No, I done think so. This is a tragic story and had to be told; and re-told over and over again.

The documentary has the big merit of laying on the table all the facts and the underlying theories, from the most credible to the obviously fake, behind the Orlandi case in a rather objective and lucid manner.

And while, as expected, the documentary offers no culprit, it leaves the viewer with a well documented certainty: whatever the truth is, there is only one knowing it: the Vatican. And the Vatican keeps hiding it; and this is an insult to the family, to the justice system and to their faithfuls.

Considering the huge cost in terms of reputation damage this is causing to the Vatican, the benefit of doing it must be bigger. So it must be VERY big.

Premix: as a non-italian, I would have probably given a lower rating. However, everyone living in Italy knows the importance of this story in the Italian "pop" culture, and how important it is to keep talking about it.

The story narrated is incredibly interesting, and the docu-series helps re-ordering the puzzle which has been unfolded in the last 35 years. A puzzle with various and different pieces: a story of a missing girl, a story with intertwined religious and political powers, a story of corruption, a story of a family which never loses faith.

However, although the docu-series lucidly describes all the different theories behind this case, it does not really add anything new to what is already known, a part from the very last new witness in the last episode, giving a sense of "I whish but I couldn't" as soon as the last episode ends.

On the production side, the docu-series is well done, though it was probably way over-streched: some specific episodes received way too much importance, and the cut-scenes were all over the places and way over used throughout all the episodes, ending up boring the viewer.

Nevertheless, if someone is able to overcome these issue, and to focus on the main point of the story, she will be able to better understand what is behind one of the biggest scandal in Vatican's history, and to witness the tragic story of Emanuela Orlandi.

Let's hope the truth will come out sooner or later.

Very long and drawn out but unfortunately is exactly what this poor family have had to endure for most of their lives. One review thought it was one sided but when the Vatican have refused to comment, take part, provide any other facts or show the slightest bit of compassion to this dignified family it can only lead to the obvious conclusion. The church can no longer hide these dreadful crimes and say no comment without defending themselves. This is the real reason populations are deserting the churches. Too much of their abhorrent behaviour has come to light. So many are no longer sheep but some have been lambs unwittingly to a miserable slaughter. They all need justice.