The Park Maniac

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.

The Park Maniac of 2024 on Prime Amazon. The story revolves around a person who works for a food/parcel courier company. He is a champion of scates and achieve his targets set by his boss much in advance of the rest of the staff. He has a mental craze for young girls. He lures these girls under some pretext takes them to woods rapes and kill them.

There is a young girl working for a news paper, follows these murders closely and manages to find out the delivery man. She gives a name of The Park Maniac, to this man and prints a write up with pictures in the news papers. This Maniac reads about his article and destroys all his belongings runs away to Argentina. But while attacking a lady, the police comes and catches him. The film is good till here. Thereafter the pace slows down and the film becomes boring.

"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" hit streaming with a promise of historical redress, aiming to build a narrative centered on the impacted people and their perspectives, leaving the criminal in the background. But this noble intent doesn't really come through in the end. Instead, the film slips into a contradiction: despite the director's repeated claims in interviews that the focus would be on survivors' and families' stories, the film is drawn to explore Francisco's dark charisma, the killer. This promise of redress falls flat; the title and promotions highlight the criminal, creating expectations that are undermined on screen, where the focus frequently shifts back to the actions of the maniac, who's being tracked by a fictional journalist-the real protagonist-rather than on the aftermath for his victims. As a result, what could have been a tribute to the memory of the murdered women instead turns into a film that wavers between respect and exploitation.

Maurício Eça attempts a critique of sensationalist journalism through the young reporter Elena (Giovanna Grigio), who would theoretically bring a female perspective on the tragedy. But Elena's character is weak: she's little more than a caricature of 90s journalism, capturing only superficial, stereotyped aspects. Instead of a well-rounded character who could guide us through a newsroom filled with ethical conflicts, she's portrayed as the "ideal journalist," facing a toxic environment in a predictable, almost didactic way. This setting, dominated by grotesque male figures, ends up as a distorted mirror of a real issue but represented in such a limited way that it borders on cartoonish. The film clearly wants to take a stand against toxic journalism, but by creating shallow and predictable characters, it ends up diluting any impactful critique of media sensationalism or sexism.

This didactic tone peaks with the introduction of Martha (Mel Lisboa), Elena's sister. As a psychologist, she's reduced to a two-minute monologue explaining "what psychopathy is" in simplistic terms, like a walking encyclopedia just rattling off information. Instead of adding a deeper, human perspective, her character feels more like a manual entry, underutilizing a talented actress and missing the chance to delve into the complexities of psychopathy. The script opts for the cliché that equates mental disorders with crime, perpetuating stereotypes and limiting the discussion on the roots of violence-an essential topic in true-crime productions.

The violent scenes, a controversial aspect since the film's release, reflect this project's moral ambiguity. Rather than restricting violence to what's essential for the story, the director chooses explicit scenes that leave the audience uncomfortable. These moments are reminiscent of the media spectacle the film claims to criticize, bringing to the screen the same sensationalized image that has already scarred viewers who follow such cases. Even though rape scenes are omitted, the way violence is depicted suggests that "realism" must be shocking and graphic. This choice, however, places the film on delicate ethical ground, especially considering it deals with a real and recent case in collective memory. Instead of sensitizing viewers to the impact of the crimes, the film reduces victims to harsh and insensitive images, leaving audiences to question the necessity of these scenes.

Despite the focus on victims in the marketing, the narrative often shifts back to the criminal himself. Silvero Pereira, who plays Francisco, is, in fact, the only actor able to bring out the nuances of his character. His performance captures a man torn between an apparent normalcy-the everyday delivery guy-and the predatory nature of the killer. He navigates these two sides with notable skill, highlighting the paradox between the ordinary and the monstrous. Meanwhile, Giovanna Grigio's portrayal of Elena has moments of intensity, especially in scenes where she confronts her newsroom's toxic environment, reflecting the charged, sensationalist world of journalism. But her talent is limited by a shallow character arc that doesn't allow her to fully explore her emotional layers or inner struggles in a satisfying way.

It's clear that "The Park Maniac" drew inspiration from works like "Silence of the Lambs," which explores the psychological and emotional impact of an investigation on those involved. But unlike Jonathan Demme's film, Elena's journey here is riddled with easy solutions and predictable outcomes, resulting in a shallow narrative. Her ethical dilemmas and challenges lack depth and are resolved without much effort, diminishing the strength of her supposed "victory." The climax, where Elena leaves the newsroom in a supposedly triumphant exit, feels artificial. Though visually designed to be memorable, it comes off as a flashy but empty gesture, more focused on aesthetics than on genuinely resonating with the audience, draining the scene of any impact it might have had.

In the end, "The Park Maniac" gets stuck in uncomfortable ambiguity, unsure whether it wants to critique sensationalism or perpetuate it. By trying to give equal weight to both the criminal and the protagonist, the film loses its initial purpose of honoring the victims, delivering a narrative that seems uncertain about its own morality. What could have been a respectful homage ends up becoming just another chapter in the morbid spectacle it tries to denounce.

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.