She films one former government official, Gabriel Regino, posing in front of a massive portrait of himself. Cuevas excels at spotlighting vainglory, and there’s plenty to go around here. The Lady of Silence is as much a work of cultural criticism as a story of suspense.Ī sense of mischief runs throughout, evident nowhere more than in the interview sequences. But journalists and victims’ family members lament that Mexican law enforcement was far more interested in the killings of younger women in Ciudad Juárez than in the elderly victims in Mexico City. Media coverage of Juana Barraza, a former professional wrestler who came to be called La Mataviejitas (or “The Little Old Lady Killer”), played this angle to the hilt. The grandmother, we learn, is a sacred figure in Mexican culture, as exemplified by the Golden Age Mexican actress Sara Garcia, who made a career of playing grandmas. The Lady of Silence is speedy, but it is also laden with the kind of cultural context that turns a good story into a great one. The film is infused with a relentless energy, created through a steady rhythm of resources. As we eventually learn, they had no idea. The authorities figured their suspect was a strong, stocky man capable of administering a chokehold. Police tracked down suspects and even made arrests, but the killings continued. The killer sweet-talked victims, entering their homes with offers of financial aid and help battling the bureaucracy of the social assistance system. From 1998 to 2006, a serial killer targeted elderly women in Mexico City, strangling them with telephone cords, rubber bands or whatever else was handy. On the surface, The Lady of Silence is no laughing matter. Director Maria José Cuevas has located the overarching absurdity in a tragic story in full command of her craft, she emerges as a talent well worth watching. For every few quick-and-dirty procedurals, you’ll find something with real style and personality - something like The Lady of Silence: The Mataviejitas Murders, a zesty doc that walks right up to the edge of dark comedy, peers over the cliff, and takes a cheeky plunge into something weird and wonderful. All options, however, are not created equal. You can scarcely surf the great streaming ocean without happening on a serial killer documentary or series, a fact that probably says more about us than the entertainment industry.
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