Twin Murders: The Silence of the White City – Netflix Review (2/5)

TWIN MURDERS: THE SILENCE OF THE WHITE CITY is a new crime thriller on Netflix. The movie is from Spain and features a serial killer making a comeback. Read our Twin Murders: The Silence of the White City review here!

Twin Murders: The Silence of the White City is a new crime, thriller, mystery on Netflix. The movie is from Spain (org. title El silencio de la ciudad blanca) which is always a good thing in our book. There are so many awesome Spanish genre movies and Netflix has actually helped to distribute a lot of these in recent years.

That’s why we were really disappointed when the Spanish part of the Netflix crime anthology Criminal was our least favorite. Check out our review of Criminal: Spain here >

Anyway, we’ve moved on since then and still love Spanish productions. With this new crime thriller, we’re dealing with a serial killer which always tends to draw viewers. Obviously, Netflix knows this, so here we are.

Unfortunately, this movie does not deliver on the intelligent plot we loved from other Spanish movies. Especially the ending of Twin Murders: The Silence of the White City just becomes annoying. More on that later.

Continue reading our The Silence of the White City review below.

Spanish horror icon Belén Rueda

In her native Spain, Belén Rueda may be known for many of her roles. However, internationally, she’s become somewhat of a Spanish horror icon. Having starred in movies like the amazing The Orphanage (2007) and Julia’s Eyes (2010), she’s really made a name for herself.

Belén Rueda also starred in the original Spanish version of The Body (El cuerpo) which has since been remade in both South Korea and India. In South Korea, it became The Vanished (read our review here) while the Hindi version, also titled The Body, was recently released on Netflix.

You might like: Our review of the Spanish Netflix thriller Mirage here >

Also, she played a smaller role in the Netflix fantasy thriller Mirage and the horror thriller The Pact. Both from 2018. Basically, I’m just trying to say that if a Spanish movie is to reach an international audience, then putting Belén Rueda in a leading role, is a perfect first step.

For The Silence of the White City, Belén Rueda definitely plays one of the lead roles, so we see her on the screen a lot. Her character reminded me a bit of Basic Instinct’s Catherine Tramell at times. And no, that’s not a spoiler.

It’s just that Belén looks a bit like Sharon Stone (to me, anyway). Also, during part of Twin Murders, the movie almost feels like an erotic thriller. In fact, even the score reminded me of Basic Instinct. Anyway, the whole “erotic thriller” vibe doesn’t last. Still, it shows how much this story changes pace along the way.

Other familiar actors in this thriller on Netflix

While Belén Rueda is sure to draw in viewers, this movie does also have several other familiar actors. Javier Rey plays the lead protagonist as one of the detectives on the case. You may know him from the crime thriller series Fariña (2018).

Also, we have Alex Brendemühl as the original convicted serial killer still in jail. Alex Brendemühl was also in the amazing horror mystery Painless (org. title Insensibles) from 2012. You really should check that one out!

Finally, I have to mention Manolo Solo. He can look quite different from role to role. However, you should be able to recognize him still. He’s been in movies such as Pan’s Labyrinth and the horror-thriller Marshland from 2014.

The ending of Twin Murders: The Silence of the White City

I won’t go into an “ending explained” bit for The Silence of the White City here. However, as always, the ending of a movie tends to define the overall experience. This new serial killer thriller on Netflix is no exception.

Unfortunately, it’s not in a particularly good way. Also, the ending is far from the only issue, I have with this crime-thriller.

The ending of Twin Murders on Netflix takes a long time to get to its final reveal. Obviously, that’s often a good thing for a crime-thriller with a mystery at the heart of its plot.

However, Twin Murders: The Silence of the White City has so many red herrings along the way. And yes, by “red herring” (you can read the Wikipedia definition here), I do mean the use of misleading and distracting the viewer. It becomes increasingly obvious as the plot progresses.

Mind you, we (the audience) do actually get the huge reveal of the real killer quite early on. This is shown less than 40 minutes into the movie which is almost two hours long. However, nobody but us viewers knows who the killer is. That means we get to see the detective run around in circles which isn’t very interesting.

Overall, the ending of Twin Murders on Netflix does answer most questions. Not all of them (since the “red herrings” created many more questions), but the core questions regarding the serial killer are answered.

Watch The Silence of the White City on Netflix now!

The Silence of the White City is a Spanish thriller with the title El silencio de la ciudad blanca (which means exactly the same thing). It was directed by Daniel Calparsoro who also directed The Warning which was released on Netflix in most countries (org. title El aviso). Twin Murder is not nearly as good!

Recommended reading: Our review of the fantasy thriller The Warning on Netflix here >

The screenplay was written by Roger Danès and Alfred Pérez Fargas but based on the novel by Eva García Sáenz de Urturi. The two screenwriters have made several screenplays together in the past so they’re clearly a well-established duo.

I don’t know that I can actually recommend watching this movie on Netflix, but it is very entertaining. Especially if you don’t mind being jerked around (which I do!) and can lean back and let the reveals arrive. Go ahead and check this out if you enjoy Spanish genre films. Just expect lower quality than usual.

Twin Murders: The Silence of the White City will be out on Netflix in several countries on March 6, 2020.

Details

Director: Daniel Calparsoro
Writers: Roger Danès, Alfred Pérez Fargas (screenplay), Eva García Sáenz de Urturi (novel)
Stars: Belén Rueda, Javier Rey, Aura Garrido, Manolo Solo, Alex Brendemühl, Ramón Barea