Common Sense Media Review
By Brian Costello
,
based on child development research. How do we rate?
Uninspired true crime tale has some violence, language.
Parents Need to Know
Why Age 14+?
Any Positive Content?
Where to Watch
Videos and Photos
Crime Diaries: The Celebrity Stylist
Parent and Kid Reviews
What's the Story?
In CRIME DIARIES: THE CELEBRITY STYLIST, Rebeca (Juana Del Rio) is a Colombian detective who must investigate what appears to be the murder-suicide of an up-and-coming hairstylist named Mauricio and his mother. They are found in a bloody bed with a suicide note. But things are not what they seem. It doesn't take long for Rebeca and the forensics team to determine that Mauricio and his mother's stabbing deaths could not be suicide. Furthermore, Rebeca begins to suspect Jhon, the jealous makeup artist brother of Mauricio. Meanwhile, the case has become the talk of Colombia, with massive media coverage. Through interviews and dogged determination, Rebeca must find a way to prove that Jhon was the killer.
Is It Any Good?
This is a flat rendering of a sensationalized true crime story loosely based on real events. In Crime Diaries: The Celebrity Stylist the killer is all but revealed less than halfway through the first act. This formula of working backwards from knowing who the killer is early on works for, say, Columbo or Poker Face, but there's nothing particularly clever about what happened, and not a lot to uncover.
So the murders aren't solved through brilliant deduction or plot twists, but through hard work (and forensics). There's a barely developed side story involving the lead character, Rebeca, as a career-driven detective trying to succeed in a patriarchal power structure, but, like the main story, it doesn't feel fully developed or engaging. The whole thing, true or not, comes across as uninspired.
Talk to Your Kids About ...
Families can talk about true crime movies like Crime Diaries: The Celebrity Stylist. How is this similar to and different from other true crime movies that you've seen?
How does the movie provide clues that what was initially believed was not the case?
Were the scenes of the dead bodies necessary to the story, or did it seem to overly sensationalize a story based on a well-known case? Why?
Why are so many people fascinated by true crime stories?
Movie Details
- On DVD or streaming : November 22, 2023
- Cast : Juana del Rio , Walter Luengas , Johan Velandia
- Director : Jacques Toulemonde Vidal
- Inclusion Information : Female Movie Actor(s)
- Studio : Netflix
- Genre : Drama
- Run time : 71 minutes
- MPAA rating :
- Last updated : December 8, 2023
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