La Cacería: Las Niñas de Alto Hospicio

La Cacería is as good as crime thrillers get and perhaps real-life series (it is based on a true story) is more gripping than any work of fiction. The setting is a small town on the fringes of the Atacama desert which gives the series an uncommon atmospheric air. Francisco Melo in the lead role of Inspector Rojas may appear at first sight to be guilty of the trope of a cop who battles his demons but don't let that put you off. His is an excellent performance and expect no less from a fine cast that includes Gastón Salgado, Valentina Muhr, Jaime Omeñaca and Alejandro Goic. There are no cat and mouse games; no chases; no twists and turns-as with most real-life investigations this one is about plodding detective work, overlooked clues and tips, and some fortuitous events that lead to the unravelling. This series is hard to come by; I understand there's a sequel and frankly, I can't wait to see season 2

Having seen other South American series and movies, this also looked promising, especially as it was based on a true story and set in a remote part of Chile, rather than the more traditional urban areas. The acting by Francesco Melo was quite solid, apart from a few scenarios that were really misplaced, like the boxing segments. There were other unnecessary scenes and far too much emphasis on the sexual interactions between various characters. The main story of the missing girls was often lost in the many other side stories, which made it longer that needed and more complicated than necessary. The stark and bleak landscape and oppressive poverty and conditions these people lived in was hard to watch at times, and yet important to the story itself. There was enough tension and a few possible suspects that only became clear near the end. But the last episode was handled poorly with too much philosophizing by Rojas while the killer just stood there listening. Overall a very dark, sad and unflattering look at an event in Chile's recent history. The past was bad enough, and it looks like there is still room for improvement in the areas of corruption, domestic violence and gender inequality. An ok series but it could have been a bit more streamlined.

I really didn't know what I was expecting from this. I've actually seen some excellent stuff coming out of Chile recently, but this wasn't of the same standard.

It's pretty clear that the venal and incompetent local police department didn't cooperate in the making of this series, so much of each episode had to be invented. Unfortunately, a lot of it felt like padding; the series could have been resolved in 4 episodes.

The love affair between two of the main protagonists looked contrived. Worse there was clearly no chemistry between them. Their lovemaking scenes were utterly unconvincing.

I presume the discovery of the murderer happened as outlined in the series. This was portrayed as an intuitive leap of faith rather than the following of a set of clues.

We shall never know. The files relating to the cases of the missing girls were burnt and incompetence and corruption were covered up. I guess this effort was the best that could be done with the material available but it's not really up to par.