The Park Maniac

"Maníaco do Parque" (2024), a Brazilian crime drama directed by Mauricio de Eça and written by L. G. Bayão, fails to portray one of the most heinous crimes committed in Brazil precisely because it falls into the very trap that the story itself criticizes: the invisibility of the victims' suffering. In the end, Eça's feature film chooses to shed light on themes that, although important, compete with and, at many points, overwhelm the true narrative thread that could have elevated the film.

There was only one path to make this one of the most powerful films in Brazilian cinema: to delve deeper into the story and give voice to the victims. The script does the exact opposite. Not every screenplay will align with all the audience's expectations, but certain expectations naturally arise when watching a film like "Maníaco do Parque": the psychological development of the serial killer up to the point of committing the crimes, the victims' traumas, the chilling cat-and-mouse chase, the trial, the twists and turns. This film has none of that. What it offers instead is a repeated attempt, scene after scene, to make a shallow and unexciting story about investigative journalist Elena, played by Giovana Grigio, seem compelling. Grigio fails to convey the emotion and commitment required for the role. Her wide-eyed expressions and more intense scenes come off as awkward, more due to overacting than genuine emotion. Another recurring theme is the toxic environment in journalism, which, while important to portray, did not need to occupy so much screen time.

It is unfortunate that one of the most shocking criminal cases in the country received such treatment. A film with this theme demands clarity of purpose, or it risks burying fundamental issues. Instead of focusing on the victims' suffering or building a gripping thriller, the script scatters itself across subplots, such as the protagonist's unresolved relationship with her father, the sale of the family apartment, newsroom rivalries, and the toxic atmosphere of journalism, which add little to the central narrative. The result is a film that strays from its original potential and fails to do justice to the gravity of the story it set out to tell.

The Park Maniac is a movie based on the true story of Francisco, a Brazilian serial killer who lived in São Paulo in the 1990s.

As the movie begins, his entire arc quickly becomes secondary to the plot and feels rushed. You don't get to learn his full story or how he began killing. Instead, he has already killed many women, and there is no development of his character.

The spotlight shifts to the story of Elena, a journalist on a quest to discover herself while struggling against machism in the brazilian press and society.

My main criticism is that you never feel connected to her story. If the intention was to highlight the struggles of women during that time, I believe focusing on the victims would have made for a much richer and more compelling story.

The whole film misses the point, and in the end, you feel cheated, expecting a serial killer story but getting something completely different.

I am Brazilian and I totally remember the story back in the end of the 90's about this guy. Famous Brazilian serial killers are rare, we do have some. We also have a sort of them disguised as "congressmen", because what they do is continuously steal, embezzlement, corruption, and that in the end totally take away lives. But that is another story. Back to this movie, it really seems it was rushed all the way. The movie is a flop. The producers added a character that did not exist. A movie has to be a story very well told, this is not. This movie has never captured the horror of the real victims, the family, what was the killer's thinking process. I love going to the movies, even writing about it, this was so amateur it hurts me as a Brazilian movie theater goer. Not really half -a** made. I'd say 1/3-a** made maybe. A real shame these people missed an opportunity to make a great movie despite the category. It looks like a bunch of cinema students, not even senior ones, went out for a happy hour.], and after some drinks, they decided they could join and make a movie. Rating this movie 4 is fair but I am not sure it is not a "3". I understand that budget in Brazil is a challenge, but hey, it looks like they made this movie out boy and girl scouts cookies sales.

Terrible script, actress Giovana Grigio does not convince with her forced performance. The story is not real and still treats the viewer as an idiot. Once the maniac is arrested, he asks her for an interview, and she goes there so he can confess to the crimes. That's ridiculous, that doesn't happen. The script and actors act by "imitating" Americans in police series. But in Brazil this doesn't make sense. This one deserves to go in the trash. I feel sorry for the main actor who didn't deserve to be in a film like this. Because he is a good actor. Silverio Pereira should receive extra money for taking part in a shameful film. I felt treated like an idiot watching an absurdly untrue film. And the police and investigators being treated like idiots while the journalist is treated like the investigator of the case.

True crime stories can indeed be great inspirations for interesting movies, but this movie missed a big opportunity. The story of one of the most infamous brazilian serial killers was poorly executed with a sloppy direction. They added a fictional character, an investigative journalist from a tabloid newspaper. The idea of focusing on this character isn't all that bad, but they could've dug deeper into the killer's perspective and leaned more into the horror genre. There's no suspense, no mysteries and the movie fails to hold your attention. Sometimes, the script gets disjointed and everything feels mechanical. There's a lack of background history, the characters seem shallow and hard to connect with. They don't show their motivations. The acting is awful and the killer feels like a caricature. Honestly, a total waste of time.