O Jogo da Viúva

As "A Widow's Game" (2025 release from Spain; original title "La viuda negra" or "The black widow"; 122 min.) opens, we are reminded that this is "based on true events". It is August 6, 2017" and in a small city south of Valencia, a man's body is discovered, brutally stabbed to death. Eva, a police officer, is assigned to lead the investigation. It's not long before the surviving widow, Maje, is a suspect, even though she has an alibi. At this point we are a good 10 minutes into the movie.

Couple of comments: let me state upfront that I had never heard of these facts before. It doesn't take long to get a sense of how this might play out. The movie is brought in 3 chapters, from the perspectives of Eva, Maje and Salve, the latter a possible love interest. Some bits of the chapters overlap on purpose, just to give the different perspectives on the same facts. I quite enjoyed it for what it was, nothing more nothing less. There isn't anything truly shocking or revealing. It a matter of watching these performances play out. The movie benefits a lot from the lead performance by Spanish actress Ivana Baquero (as Maje), always easy on the eye, and perfectly conveying the seduction games played by Maje. Last but not least, I have no idea why the English title of the movie was changed from "The Black Widow" to the bland "A Widow's Game".

"A Widow's Game" started streaming on Netflix some weeks ago, and I just caught it the other night. This movie is currently rated only 42% Certified Fresh on Rotten Tomatoes, which feels low to me. If you are in the mood for a foreign murder mystery drama, I'd readily suggest you check this out, and draw your own conclusion.

"A Widow's Game" was a compelling watch. As a true-crime enthusiast, I appreciated its deep dive into a real Spanish murder case I knew nothing about.

The actress playing María (Ivana Baquero) delivered a strong performance, skillfully portraying a manipulative character who exploited men's weaknesses in relationships. The film's overall story about manipulation in love was well-told.

My main critique is the lack of chronological clarity at times, which made following the sequence of events a bit challenging. Also, I would have liked to see real footage or photos of the protagonists at the end, which often enhances true-crime adaptations.

Despite these minor points, it's a worthwhile and thought-provoking film, recommended for fans of true crime and psychological thrillers.

I don't get the rave reviews. It's an ok show to watch while doing something else. However I watched it with full undivided attention. Honestly it's a tad boring. At the end I was like ok that's it? Ok so we are done now? Ok cool.

This is based on a true story but it's a story that's been told a thousand times. I kept waiting for some twist or turn or excitement but nope. Just your regular run of the mill crime. I wouldn't even expect this to be a main plot point in a soap opera. This doesn't bring any intrigue or thrills. Honestly a mediocre true crime podcast is better than this movie.

PROS it's watchable and the acting is good and everyone seemed like real people. This is a breath of fresh air from Hollywood where everyone is great looking and is overly dramatic. CONS you find out pretty early on that the widow is a lying trash person. And soon after you find out everything else. The rest is just watching cops do their job. And it's not thrilling. It's just like ok welp i hope they wrap this up soon cuz I've got bed.

EXTREMELY forgettable, but a decent background movie to have on that doesn't require a lot of attention. Honestly a regular Law and Order SVU episode is leaps and bounds better than this movie. Actually they've showed this plot on THAT show a hundred times but only better.

I watched this movie without knowing it was based on a true crime story.

By the way, the movie has no climax - it seems like from the very beginning you can figure out everything that is going to happen.

You can clearly understand the entire plot by the middle of the movie. So, in the end, I asked myself: what's the real problem with this film? If I stopped watching after the first 20 minutes, I would have already drawn all the conclusions.

The movie also includes some side stories that make no sense, like the detective's child having problems at school, or the policeman's death that has no real connection to the main plot.

Despite all that, I liked the lead detective's performance.

What would constitute a man going through a ' mid life crisis' to commit a murder for a much younger female who he's clearly besotted with? This went through my mind as a flaw to the story but then I remembered it was based on a true life crime in Spain.

It kept us guessing with different view points from each of the would be male suitors esp the gullible male nurse!! Haha!.

I enjoyed the amorally of the lead female because I couldn't wait for her to be caught and put on trial.

My only gripe was I wanted to see more of the breakdown of the relationship between Artimus and his conniving wife.

A solid, decent Netflix thriller.