Die Dame der Stille: Die Mataviejitas-Morde

Netflix goes back to its documentary drawing board, venturing out of the United States in search of riveting serial killer cases. This time, the setting is Mexico, and several elderly women are being strangled to death between the period of 1998 - 2006. The case presents its interesting details - the killer could be a woman? There's also the timely bias in the perception of transvestites and homosexuals. Even with multiple officers assigned to the cases, multiple composites to go by, and even a 3D bust of the killer shown extensively in news media and public spaces, the incompetence of the local police force to connect the dots and capture the killer is clearly evident. The government came up with silly solutions like the additional door lock and so on.

A couple of suspects are interrogated and even sentenced for the killings with no conclusive evidence. The actual killer is revealed only in the final 45 minutes. The story then takes a decisive turn, diving into the reasonings and the methods of execution. The killer profiling was correct, and the composites did look quite similar to the real person, yet how she got away with so many murders over the years while living a regular life with her family is shocking, to say the least. The piece could have easily been a bit crisper; however, due time is given to the victims' acquaintances and kin. That's always an appreciable aspect when it comes to documentaries like these. A suspect wrongly accused of the murders is still in jail - another confusing aspect overall (even if she was a burglar). The crime scene recreation (and capture of the suspect) are done with finesse, though the soundtrack could've been better.

I'm so sorry to the people who have lost loved ones and have to watch this "documentary" set to this terrible Agatha Christie movie-of-the-week score. Such a disrespectful treatment of your pain.

I gave it three stars SOLELY because giving it only one felt like it might be another slap in the face to the victims, somehow.

I gave up in under ten minutes. Another reviewer called in "pensive" and I have to respectful disagree. I think I'd go with "carnival style", myself.

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.

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!

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.