Parents' Guide to Murder in Monaco

Netflix has carved out quite a niche in popular crime documentaries, and this death among the Monaco elite has all the hallmarks of its hit formula—plus the added glamor of money and power. The subject of Murder in Monaco, Edmond Safra, rubbed shoulders with the rich and famous, from Hollywood stars to Russian oligarchs, which offers a glitzy sheen to the grisly story. Utilizing a number of sources, including new interviews, crime scene photos, news footage, and reconstructions, the documentary builds a picture of a chaotic night where everyone has a reason to lie and anyone could be a suspect. Was it the wife, the nurse, the Mafia? Each has their own chapter, but the suspect that develops the most interesting on-screen personality is Ted Maher, Safra's nurse and bodyguard, who begins as an innocent victim, but whose truth becomes more and more bizarre. Among the other eccentric characters is The New York Post journalist Isabel Vincent, who's so dedicated in her quest for the truth that she moves to Brazil in search of answers about Safra's wife, Isabel—the death of whose fourth husband leaves her as one of the richest women in the world—and Lady Colin Campbell, a wealthy woman with a larger-than-life personality and connections to many of the main players. Both go on to write books relating to the death, and both meet with the ire of Lily's lawyers, forcing them to keep much of the content out of the public domain. Everyone has their own motives here, and there are twists and turns and reasons to second guess everything that's come before right up until the credits roll. Even director Hodges Usry gets pulled into the narrative toward the end, as things descend down a murky new rabbit hole. The pace moves along quickly and Usry does well to keep things contained to 90 minutes, though viewers would likely have held on longer to spend a little more time in this sometimes playful, often unbelievable, but always fascinating web of true crime.