Common Sense Media Review
By Barbara Shulgasser-Parker
,
based on child development research. How do we rate?
Female serial killer evaded cops for eight years; violence.
Parents Need to Know
Why Age 14+?
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Where to Watch
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The Lady of Silence: The Mataviejitas Murders
Parent and Kid Reviews
What's the Story?
THE LADY OF SILENCE: THE MATAVIEJITAS MURDERS looks into a notorious case that rocked Mexico City between 1998 and 2005. A killer was slipping into the homes of elderly women and strangling them, lots of them, terrifying the city and baffling the police for years. In retrospect, the police investigation was less than stellar. Citizens grew alarmed and politicians feared for their careers while the killer remained on the loose. The authorities made many wrongheaded and ineffective moves. The police assumed that the killer was a man dressed as a woman so, in a massive waste of resources and time, so-called "transvestite" streetwalkers were rounded up, fingerprinted, and photographed. Only when a citizen caught her in the act in January 2006, after more than 40 murders, was a proper suspect arrested. The suspect was described as a muscular woman who liked to dress up as a female wrestler and hang out with real female wrestlers. When she was apprehended -- on the street where she'd just strangled someone -- she admitted to that crime, but none of the others.
Is It Any Good?
The Lady of Silence: The Mataviejitas Murders is interesting solely as the documentation of a police investigation connected with that rare phenomenon, a female serial killer. Almost everything else about it is dull, mundane, and repetitive.
The director's approach adheres to the most basic recipe and results in a most basic documentary: with talking heads, newspaper headlines, crime scene photos, aerial shots of cityscapes, long shots of federal buildings, and serious men and women pontificating at desks. A Mexican audience already familiar with the crimes that attracted years of national attention will probably appreciate details about a story so embedded in the culture, but for viewers of other nationalities, the emphasis on the police's errors and missteps takes up far too much of the running time, especially given how bizarre and surprising the perpetrator turns out to be: a wannabe female wrestler, a self-proclaimed victim of child sexual abuse who seems to feel justified in her crimes. That she becomes a celebrity, with songs written about her, that she's revered at her prison, that two other people charged earlier with the same murders went to prison -- these facts are far too interesting to be relegated to the tail end of this story.
Talk to Your Kids About ...
Families can talk about why it took so long for the police to look for a female killer.
Two people seem to have been wrongly convicted for murders that only stopped once the actual killer was caught. One person is still in jail for murders she didn't commit. Do you think the system needs to be reformed to prevent such injustices?
Why do you think killers sometimes become celebrities?
Movie Details
- On DVD or streaming : July 27, 2023
- Director : Maria Jose Cuevas
- Inclusion Information : Female Movie Director(s)
- Studio : Netflix
- Genre : Documentary
- Run time : 111 minutes
- MPAA rating :
- Last updated : August 2, 2023
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