Netflix has become known for its fair share of real crime docuseries, and while some of them were less successful than others, the new documentary based on the famous "l'affair Gregory" pushes the boundaries of how well the genre can be executed, joining Making the Murderer and The Keepers in the fall of fame.
The original crime - the kidnapping and killing a 4-year-old in the small French village quickly becomes virtually nothing but a beginning of the now-35-years-and-counting saga of lies, power abuse, violence and despair, with twist and turns on every corner. That alone guarantees a good watch, but the makers were able to somehow push the envelope further; the story telling is powerful here, production is solid and the final result is the most fully realized, self-confident piece of document making I have seen in a long time. One has to constantly remind oneself it is a death of a child we are getting further and further away from - and from finding the person(s) responsible for it.
It may not be 100% perfect, but I had to give it a ten - if for not the brilliant job done, then for allowing the memory of little Gregory to live on a bit longer. And without finding the person culpable for the crime, that might just have to do.
The original crime - the kidnapping and killing a 4-year-old in the small French village quickly becomes virtually nothing but a beginning of the now-35-years-and-counting saga of lies, power abuse, violence and despair, with twist and turns on every corner. That alone guarantees a good watch, but the makers were able to somehow push the envelope further; the story telling is powerful here, production is solid and the final result is the most fully realized, self-confident piece of document making I have seen in a long time. One has to constantly remind oneself it is a death of a child we are getting further and further away from - and from finding the person(s) responsible for it.
It may not be 100% perfect, but I had to give it a ten - if for not the brilliant job done, then for allowing the memory of little Gregory to live on a bit longer. And without finding the person culpable for the crime, that might just have to do.