A Dama do Silêncio: La Mataviejitas

Very interesting and well produced documentary. Although I agree that the background music can be annoying at times, this does not affect the final quality. The reproductions of the crime scenes and especially the capture of the killer were done with great finesse. Finally, I have seen other documentaries that deal with real crimes in Mexico and what stands out is the completely flawed justice system, it is not a Democratic State of Law, with respect to fundamental guarantees, which is regrettable. The duration is also a positive point, as there were no uninteresting parallel narratives, really focusing on what mattered, including in a very artistic way.

God this one was a very chilling and very well documented documentary, this case was a big thing in the late 90s and early-late 2000s in Mexico. I was not mentally aware at the time when this woman commited her crimes cause I was still a kid, but now watching her story and all the terrifying and evil things she did, my god she was a terrible human being. I learned more about this case with this documentary, it has comments from some of the police department people that were working at the time, and family members of some of the victims of this woman. I am not a fan of documentaries but this one really gave me the chills, I highly recommend watching it.

It's definitely a string of serious and captivating cases.

But there are elements in this documentary that just take away from its seriousness. First of all, some of the officers, seriously, "no serial killer in this country before this (since 1940's)?" Give me an effing break, most countries do, let alone Mexico, the problem is just the failures of many police officers in connecting the dots. It's not the fault of the producers that such inane comments were made, but no pushbacks?

Then the soundtrack, what's up with that? Strange application of a theme. I get it, it could instil a sense of irony and suspense, but there's a balance to strike here. The soundtrack at hand is just stupidly, comically farcical, as if being intentionally disrespectful to the victims. It's real life, not Dick Tracy. It can be funny when mocking politicians and police officers, not when victims are being shown. Also, it's perfectly ok to not have extraneous music for a few moments, the incessantly running music shows a lack of discipline and vision.

Then the pictures of victims being strangled being shown like some kind of visual technique. And a myriad of other visual techniques, they're not just distracting, but take away from the gravitas of the situation.

"Oh she has a robe... must be a healthcare personnel" (is dressing up impossible in the country?). Also this happened between 1999 and 2004, there's no more concrete method to verify DNA or whatnots before each suspect is being showcased in a glass cage like some kind of zoo animal? And the cute lock solution? As if that's going to stop a determined killer? "A man crossdresses as a woman," only for one of the officers to go "oh a homosexual" *face melts away emoji*. "Serial killers don't act near where they live or near their workplaces," says one officer (the same officer who claims it's the first time this is happening in the country, yet he has no qualms dispensing generalizations like a master). Seriously? Says who, which study? Because I can easily name some cases that contradict his assertion. What should a professional conduct be like, you ask? I know, getting the serial killer's signature as a sign of fan-girling.

So. Much. Stupidity.

I don't know who thought it was a good idea to put cartoon sounding dramatic music in the background, but it was so distracting and annoying that I couldn't continue watching. The choice of music was in stark contrast to the somber tone of the storyline which made it feel completely disjointed and almost comedic.

It's a shame because I like these kinds of shows and I'm a very tolerate person. This would be the first one I've had to turn off because of how bad and annoying the background music was.

The only thing I can suggest is to watch it with subtitles and with the sound off. I'm going to have nightmares with this atrocious music as the background!

Not bad very straight forward! Crazy on the motive tho she probly had it tough growing up wish they had more details about her younger years

Very sad for the loss of their grandmothers the years and amount of people that were killed were crazy.

Mexico had never seen a serial killer before, that topic was new to the authorities at the time made it very challenging to them to capture her.

Conclusion very good doc kept me very interested from the get go never was I drifted attention from it kept on getting more and more interested, I don't get the bad reviews this doc is better than 80% of the garbage that is shown on net !