Meurtres sur la Costa del Sol: l'Affaire Wanninkhof-Carabantes

A concise documentary covering the murders of two young girls in Andalusia; and one botched trial. The doc gave a good overview of events, interviewed relevant people, and had a lot of archival news footage. The English dubbing worked well, knowing when to leave it in Spanish for the news footage.

The victim's mother, Alicia, I found her to be a very surprising character. I understand her pain of losing her daughter, but to discover who the real killer was and to still insist to pin it on your ex lover, out of pure vengeance and hatred, is something that just shows how evil she is. She even expressed feelings of sympathy for the killer, describing him in a positive manner at some point in the documentary, how he was tall, good looking, good manners when they met in the past. This is appalling, your own daughter's killer... no remorse for what the poor woman (Dolores) had to go through, still being delusional that, even when there is clear proof who the real killer was, she still wants to believe that the killer was Dolores, out of pure evil and hatred and resentment in your heart.... I found her a terrible woman, vindictive. I had the feeling that she enjoyed being in the spotlight, talking to reporters, years after the crime, she loved being a little star, just mean spirited, terrible woman.

What starts off as a generic true crime doc takes a few turns here and there that you may not see coming. The show has a lot of original interviews and some GOOD new shots of the coast of Malaga.

As it is the case with crime docs, it shows the dark side of an individual, but also that of the society along with its selfishness and greed.

It's a quick short watch. Check it out!

Murder by the Coast is a Netflix true-crime documentary that is part-Spanish-part-English. It qualifies as a whodunnit, a case of wrongful conviction, and yet another instance of multiple women being mistreated. Writer-director Tània Balló approaches the murder case(s) objectively, never taking sides or focusing on wild theories surrounding it. The individuals picked for the interviews shed further light on two separate incidents of murder in a very direct, factual manner. Any text that appears within the film is shown first in Spanish, followed by English. This style encapsulates the Spanish-British story overlap in a perfect way. With a run-time of under 90 minutes, Murder by the Coast makes for crisp viewing.

Coming to the incidents themselves, the documentary makes you feel for its central characters and questions the unfair nature of media trials. The trauma inflicted upon the women - ranging from the mothers of the murder victims, the lesbian who was convicted because she easily "fit the profile" (are you serious?), the woman who was attacked and left severely injured by the offender, the ex-wife of the offender - are all showcased without distorting facts or overplaying emotions. I'd have loved to see a short interview of Dolores Vázquez where she could speak against the miscarriage of justice meted out to her. The authorities who allowed Tony Alexander King to commit more murders and the media which resorted to feeding frenzy should both be ashamed of themselves.

Not surprised a wrong conviction was initially reached in an environment where there's endless talking and impassioned feelings but very little reasoning. In many societies, people wouldn't hesitate to judge, self-express, give opinions, and react, but very few are willing to reason, listen, analyze, question, and look at things from multiple perspectives.