El caso Alcàsser

I am very interested in crime shows, and I didn't know at all this case, that frightened Spain in the early 90's. Netflix allows us to discover cases from abroad, not only US serial killers or italian mafia. Cases that have touched a country (in France, for instance, Gregory about a very famous case can be found on the streaming platform) 3 girls have been abducted at the same time, They haven't been found in a 3 month period, but when it happens, the perpetrators have been quickly spotted. Thus, this documentary is not interested in the investigation itself (too bad), but in the impact of media on it. That's why he leaves us with more questions than answers.

This doc pretends to denounce the corruption of crimes by media, but at the very end, is corrupting itself these odious murders of three young girls, by using it in a form of propaganda. Completely irrevelant.

This is a tragic story and one worth telling particularly because the case coincided with the advent of trash TV in Spain. In this case that means Telecinco owned by Sylvio Berlusconi of Italy fame. The Netflix film makers have over indulged themselves in their own sense of importance and take away from the story. There are multiple attempts throughout the episodes where they have put themselves in the "frame" and I found this very distracting from the actual story. None more so than at the end where we have one of the filmmakers pursuing the just released Miguel Ricart onto a train and asking him to sit down to chat appearing as though this is a perfectly reasonable request of a man who has just spent 20+ years in prison and has nowhere to go. Guilty of the same offences they highlight of Telecinco during the series in my opinion. It is also regrettable that at the very end of the last episode they decided to use the current politicised discourse in Spain about gender violence to make their own political statement which was not the theme of the documentary and should not have been used in that way. So regrettably, whilst this is a story worth telling I can't trust that the film makers have told that story. That reflects the poor standards of journalism in the country I've lived in for many years. Also, I needed English subtitles for some parts and they are of really poor quality

It's frustrating to watch with no clear evidence as to who really killed the girl's. It does provide lots of theories, but they seem to lead nowhere. The lengths the father of the murdered girl goes to is commendable but saddens me that l feel other participants in the murders have gotten away. I'm also saddened by how badly women were still treated in this day & age, though we do see improvements to protecting women against sexual violence. It feels like the documentary goes longer than needed, still worth a watch.

It is difficult to tell a story like this one without being morbid and sensationalist and Netflix manages perfectly. It focuses on the horrible media circus that created this case in Spain back in the 90's. I was a kid back then and I still remember how this murders horrified the whole country. There a not cheap recreations or morbid details, just investigation about the trial and media coverage. Very interesting.

It is quite obvious that these poor girls were murdered in some kind of sadistic ritual, as any other explanation doesnt add up, despite the official version. Fernando Garcia, Miriam's father and criminologist, Juan Ignacio Blanco are also fully aware that several prominent people were the real perpetrators but it is horrifying to realise that these shadowy figures are so powerful that they can literally get away with the brutal murders of minors- and that this wasn't the first or the last time that children have been abducted and viciously murdered in this horrific way.