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A Spanish crime thriller based on actual events currently sits as the #1 film on Netflix globally and claims the #2 chart position in the U.S. today! More specifically, we are talking about A Widow’s Game. The film landed on the Netflix platform at the tail end of last month (May 30) and has been making waves ever since.

The flick is inspired by the real-life case of Maria Jesús Moreno Cantó, who has been dubbed the Black Widow of Patraix. Cantó was accused and convicted of killing her husband, Antonio Navarro Cerdán.

Carlos Sedes directed this fictionalized retelling from a script credited to Ramón Campos, Gema R. Neira, Jon de la Cuesta, Ricardo Jornet, David Orea, and Javier Chacártegui.

That’s a grand total of six credited screenwriters according to the picture’s IMDb page. Some might say that more than two scribes is too many cooks in the proverbial kitchen.

True crime has been a popular genre for a long time and Netflix offers a wide selection of documentaries and TV shows. One of its latest releases is also based on a true story.

The new Spanish crime drama A Widow's Game was just released on Netflix, and it immediately became a hit, per Tudum. The crime drama is based on a true story, and follows a homicide investigation where the victim's widow doesn't seem as innocent as she claimed. The film premiered on Netflix on May 30, and immediately rose to the charts globally.

A Widow's Game premiered on Netflix on May 30, and it had only two days to make an impact before the streaming service stopped the count. For the week between May 26 and June 1, the Spanish thriller debuted at the top of the charts in the Non-English Top 10 with an astonishing 15.4 million views, and 31.4 million hours viewed.

The...

In this thriller based on real events, a homicide investigation shatters the squeaky-clean reputation of the victim’s widow. From director Carlos Sedes (The Asunta Case), the crime thriller A Widow’s Game stars Ivana Baquero, Carmen Machi, and Tristán Ulloa. The film, based on a true story, is from the same creative team as the 2024 series The Asunta Case: Ramón Campos, Jon de la Cuesta, and Gema R. Neira.

Stream it now.

Check it out at the top of this page.

In August 2017, a dead body is found in a parking lot in Valencia, Spain, with several stab wounds — and everything uncovered from then on points to a crime of passion. The victim is Arturo Ferrer Puig, who’d been married to a sweet young woman named Maje (Baquero) for under a year. As veteran homicide detective Eva (Machi) pursues the case, she slowly realizes Maje’s story just doesn...

Even though I am a fan of investigative thrillers, the true crime subgenre has always irked me. I mean, imagine you have survived some horrific murder attempt, or worse, and after years of therapy, you have managed to move on. But then you see some hack job of a director or screenwriter bringing back all those memories while spicing things up with their creative flair. Alternatively, how would you feel if someone from your family or friend circle, who was the victim of a heinous act of felony, is brought back to life by the power of cinema and their last moments are now being displayed to the whole world in minute, gory detail? In addition to that, the movies and shows that populate this subgenre always seem to be lazily put together, because the creators think that the dramatization of a real event doesn’t need to have a perspective,...

Netflix is releasing “A Widow’s Game,” a film that promises a chilling exploration of a real-life murder that shocked Spain, brought to the screen by a team renowned for their compelling crime narratives. As you know, crime sells, and audiences dictate. What’s better than a true murder story for a Friday night?

The premiere of “A Widow’s Game” marks Netflix’s continued investment in high-caliber international productions, particularly within the true crime genre that has found a fervent global audience. The film stars Ivana Baquero, celebrated for her breakout role in “Pan’s Labyrinth” and her subsequent work in “High Seas,” as the enigmatic widow María Jesús Moreno Cantó, known as Maje. Opposite Baquero is the highly respected Spanish actress Carmen Machi portraying Eva, the determined inspector tasked with uncovering the truth. Tristán Ulloa, known to audiences from “The Asunta Case” and “Berlin,” plays Salva Rodrigo, a pivotal figure entangled in Maje’s web.

Quick Links Plot and Cast of The Ausnta Case The True Story Behind The Asunta Case What Happened to Rosario Porto and Alfonso Basterra

With Netflix's continued commitment to international cinema/television and exploring true crime, the Spanish miniseries The Asunta Case proved to be the ideal balance between drama and real-life crime. The series stayed pretty true to the case and trial, but as is the case with any dramatization, some elements will be missed, and the movie won't always capture the broad picture; though The Asunta Case comes very close.

We will look at the story behind the killing of Asunta Fong Yang, which is the basis of The Asunta Case, as well as where her parents are now. With the case being so well documented and infamous, the following contains heavy spoilers if you are unfamiliar with the crime that rocked Spain.

Plot and Cast of...

When faced with an overwhelmingly unexpected situation where the law and order of the state are involved, we are psychologically conditioned to do one of two things. Either confront it head-on or let it decide the course of our lives. Whichever option we choose will define us as the kind of humans we aspire to be. In Spanish filmmaker Elías León Siminiani’s The Asunta Case, another true crime thriller streaming on Netflix, a middle-aged couple is accused of murdering their adopted child. This upended their world instantly, and they had to suffer the wrath of the legal system. At the moment, they choose to fight to prove their innocence. The six-episode web series is based on a real-life incident that created a stir in Spain in 2013. It can be christened an intriguing miniseries, and the style and the pacing are engineered to heighten our curiosity. But beyond the pale of integrity and intentions,...

The investigative thriller The Asunta Case(El Caso Asunta), starring Candela Peña and Tristán Ulloa, tells the story of one of the most shocking true crimes in Spanish history. In 2001, a baby from China named Asunta Fong Yang was adopted by Rosario Porto and Alfonso Basterra, a well-to-do couple living in Santiago de Compostela, Spain. Thirteen years later, she was found dead. Her parents, who’d reported her disappearance, were later arrested for her murder. As the news rippled across the country, the question on everyone’s mind: Why?

Directed by Carlos Sedes and Jacobo Martínez, the series was created by Ramón Campos (Gran Hotel), Gema R. Neira (High Seas), Jon de la Cuesta (Estoy Vivo), and David Orea (Jaguar). Campos directed the 2017 documentary about the case, El caso Asunta: Operación Nenúfar, originally titled Lo que la Verdad Esconde: El Caso Asunta.

Stream it April 26.

Check it out at the...

The Asunta Case on Netflix delves into Spain's chilling true crime story, unraveling the mystery behind Asunta's tragic murder. Talented cast members like Candela Pea and Tristn Ulloa bring depth to infamous characters in this gripping thriller series. Directors Carlos Sedes and Jacobo Martnez craft a compelling narrative, highlighting the impact of Asunta's murder on Spanish society.

The investigative thriller The Asunta Case tells the true story of Spain's most harrowing murder, and it does so through the work of its talented cast. A Netflix series released in April 2024, the show dives into the investigation and arrest of Rosario Porto and Alfonso Basterra for the murder of their 12-year-old adoptive daughter, Asunta. When the case went public in 2013, it sparked a media frenzy in Spain, and over a decade later, the mark Asunta's murder left of society is still prominent.

The chilling story was brought to Netflix by directors Carlos...

Warning: This article contains mentions of suicide.

Asunta Basterra's tragic murder led to the arrest of her adoptive parents on suspicion of her death. Alfonso Basterra and Rosario Porto were convicted based on inconsistencies in their stories and damning evidence revealed during the trial. Basterra and Porto were each sentenced to 18 years in prison for Asunta's murder, with Porto dying by suicide in 2020 while Basterra is still serving his sentence.

The Asunta Case chronicles the disappearance and tragic murder of Asunta Basterra and the subsequent investigation into her death and sentencing of the young girl's killers. The 2024 Spanish crime thriller limited series, created by Ramn Campos, Gema R. Neira, Jon de la Cuesta, and David Orea Arribas, is inspired by the real-life case of the killing of Basterra, which captured the attention of people from across the world. The horrific details of the murder, the events leading up to it,...

The Asunta Case is a brand-new Netflix original miniseries that chronicles the murder of Asunta Yong Fang Basterra Porto in 2013 and the subsequent trial that followed for her parents, who were accused of killing their own adoptive daughter. This is yet another addition to Netflix’s true crime gallery that proves they know what they are doing when it comes to the genre. Just a few weeks ago, Netflix covered the hijacking that happened in the 1970s in Colombia through The Hijacking of Flight 601. There is no dearth of true crime stories that this streaming giant has covered. The Asunta Case was released on April 26, 2024, and it was created by Ramón Campos, Jon de la Cuesta, Gema R. Neira, and David Orea.

The show begins with ex-couple Rosario Porto and Alfonso Basterra filing a missing persons case for their daughter Asunta at a local police station in the town of Santiago,...

In this week’s International TV Newswire Variety digs into Latin American news following Mip Cancun where Viacom International Studio’s “El Nudo” featured as one of the year’s best-selling formats. Telefe has announced it’s bringing back its popular gameshow adaptation of “Hole in the Wall.” Spain’s Atresmedia begins shooting “Benidorm” on location. And in Scandinavia “Moscow Noir” producers team up on historical series “The Nobel Brothers,” which will reveal untold stories of the “Russian Rockefellers” who used their fortune to launch the Nobel Prizes.

Viacom International Studios to Distribute “El Nudo” Globally

Viacom International Studios (Vis) has secured global distribution rights for “El Nudo,” the Spanish adaptation of Viacom own original “Love After Loving,” made by Viacom-owned network Telefe, which premiered earlier this month in Spain.

Of the top 20 series to sell formats internationally in 2018, Argentina was the major scripted format export power in the world,...