Name: Burning Body
Director: Jorge Torregrossa, Laura Mañá
Released: 2023-09-04T23:33:48

Inspired by true events, Burning Body follows the murder case of a police officer suspected of being killed by someone very close to him. The series is now streaming on Netflix.

Story

A woman named Rosa Peral lives with her daughter and her boyfriend, Pedro. Rosa and Pedro are both police officers. One day, Perdo leaves the house after an argument with Rosa and never returns.

A few days later, Pedro’s charred remains are found in the trunk of his burnt car in the Foix reservoir. Pedro’s murder case is given to Detective Ester Varona, who is told by Rosa that the last time Pedro contacted her, he did not want to tell her what he was doing because he did not want her involved.

Pedro’s death leaves Rosa heartbroken and alone. On top of that, Rosa and Javi, her ex-husband and the father of her daughter, are in the middle of a legal battle over the custody of their daughter.

During the investigation, Ester comes to know about Rosa’s past. As the story of Rosa’s relationship with Javi, Pedro, and her patrol partner Albert unfolds, Ester realizes that Rosa has not been completely honest with her.

Performances

Although the show fails to make Rosa’s character mysterious and interesting, Úrsula Corberó still manages to perform her part well. If not for Corberó’s performance, Rosa would not have anything interesting about her.

Quim Gutiérrez is able to convey Albert’s anger, jealousy, and passion; he does look like a man who has aggressive tendencies. Similarly, Isak Férriz and José Manuel also give convincing performances. While Férriz appears sensible, Manuel is immature and impulsive.

Positives

The first episode successfully gets the audience to believe in a character’s story and then change their perception completely towards the end. The show makes the audience see why someone who does not know the whole truth might believe in a character’s innocence.

There are times when the instincts of the characters lead them to the truth, and this is depicted in a very believable way. The audience can easily understand why and how the characters’ opinions are changing.

Negatives

The murderer is revealed in the very first episode. With that, the show stops being a murder mystery. It then becomes a very dull account of the characters’ lives that does not have much to offer. After the first episode, the show does not surprise the audience.

The show certainly did not need eight episodes to tell a story that could have been wrapped up in half that number of episodes. Perhaps the audience would have enjoyed watching the show if it had not been stretched so much.

The show keeps switching between the past and the present, and the switch is not always smooth. Due to that, the murder investigation also seems to be all over the place.

The characters in the show are one-dimensional, and they cannot get the audience invested in their stories. Since the murderer is revealed in the beginning, the motives of the characters should have made the audience curious, but the show fails to make that happen.

Verdict

Burning Body is an unnecessarily long and unexciting drama that one might not watch till the end. As the story is inspired by true events, one might just as well read about the case on the internet.