Burning Body – Netflix Series Review

BURNING BODY on Netflix is a new Spanish thriller series (org. title: El cuerpo en llamas). It’s based on a true crime but takes a few too many liberties. I’m not a fan of that, at all. The series has eight episodes and a true crime documentary is released on the same day. Read our full Burning Body mini-series review here!

BURNING BODY is a new Netflix thriller series from Spain (org. title: El cuerpo en llamas). The mini-series has eight episodes and is based on a true crime. Not one I was familiar with, but after reading up on it, I really feel it takes dramatizing to a new level. It’s very much skewed in the same way that the press clearly did from day one.

I can say this after having also watched the Rosa Peral’s Tapes documentary. This is released on the same day and we’re reviewing that one as well. Personally, I feel you should watch both before maybe reading up on the case. This fictionalized take on the case can’t really stand on its own. Not for me, anyway.

Continue reading our Burning Body mini-series review below. Find it on Netflix on September 8, 2023.

Inspired by true events

The real case and this Netflix series both have the same crime. The exact same crime. A police officer is murdered and his body is left in a car which is then set on fire. Hence the title of Burning Body. Very quickly, two other police officers are suspected of having murdered him; his girlfriend and the girlfriend’s lover.

Officially, Burning Body isn’t “based on a true crime” as much as it’s been given the label “inspired by true events”. However, having watched the series and read up on the case that “inspired” the series, I feel like calling bullsh*t.

Using the “inspired”-label feels like an excuse to heavily dramatize and do whatever you want with the “characters”. This becomes all too obvious when I read through the spoilers list (a list of spoilers to avoid that accompanies the screener). It very much reads like the actual case in most ways.

I mean, they haven’t even changed the names of any of the main characters. Or not so much “characters” as real-life people.

Too much telenovela drama

It’s been an issue with several Spanish genre productions on Netflix that I get a distinct telenovela vibe. Or that it just comes across as being very soap opera-inspired. Now, I have no problem with soap operas or telenovelas, but neither has any place in a crime thriller series. Especially not one based on – or inspired by – a real case.

Before I ever read up on the actual true crime, I felt like the story in Burning Body was extremely skewed. The woman accused of murdering her boyfriend was clearly viewed as bad because she was a sensual woman. One that had enjoyed relationships with several men.

And sure, this can be important in a murder case, but it is clearly more of an issue because she’s a woman. Suddenly, a murder case is all about the quality of her character rather than the evidence. Because actual evidence – or facts of any kind – is very scarce. To put it mildly!

Watch the Burning Bodies mini-series on Netflix

Jorge Torregrossa is the director of the Burning Bodies mini-series and it does stay true to its style, so I’ll give Jorge Torregrossa that credit. The writers on the series are Carlos López, Laura Sarmiento Pallarés (Diablero), and Eduard Sola. I’m not too impressed with the way this story is told, so I can’t exactly praise it. It simply goes on to perpetuate the same angle that the paparazzi ran with in real life.

I want to be clear that I do not blame any of the actors in this Netflix mini-series. In fact, I thought they all did a solid job, but with a screenplay and pacing that seems so tainted, it’s difficult to really enjoy their performances.

Úrsula Corberó (Money Heist / La casa de papel) plays the lead character of Rosa and clearly delivers what the story wants. You may also recognize some of the other actors in the series. Pep Tosar (Muted), José Manuel Poga (Red Sky), Raúl Prieto (The Snow Girl), Isak Férriz (Infiesto), and Pep Ambròs (Who Is Erin Carter?) are just a few of the actors, you may know.

The Burning Bodies mini-series is on Netflix from September 8, 2023.

Details

Director:Jorge Torregrossa
Cast: Úrsula Corberó, Quim Gutiérrez, José Manuel Poga, Isak Férriz, Eva Llorach