Rosa Peral’s Tapes (Las cintas de Rosa Peral) is a true-crime documentary that tells Rosa Peral’s side of the story after she was convicted of killing her boyfriend. The documentary is now streaming on Netflix.
Story
Rosa Peral was a police officer, and she had two daughters. In 2017, she was dating Pedro Rodríguez, who was also a police officer. Pedro was murdered the same year, and Rosa, along with her coworker Albert López, was found guilty of his murder.
However, during the trial, Albert claimed that Rosa was the mastermind behind the murder, whereas Rosa claimed that Albert murdered Pedro and that she had nothing to do with the killing.
According to Rosa, she did not report Pedro’s murder immediately because Albert had threatened to harm Rosa’s daughters and she was trying to protect her children. The jury did not believe her, and she was sentenced to 25 years in prison.
The documentary features the first interview that Rosa has given since she was sentenced. The film not only provides Rosa’s version of the events but also brings out the gaps in the trial of this highly-publicized case.
Positives
The documentary depicts Rosa as a human being and not as a femme fatale or as a woman who is nothing more than a cold-blooded murderer, which is something the media was guilty of doing. It depicts the effect that the media trial had on the jury’s judgment.
The documentary features interviews with journalists who admit to writing articles that assassinated her character. Additionally, the interviews with the public prosecutor and people who are convinced that Rosa is the murderer allow the audience to judge the ridiculousness of some of their arguments on their own.
Furthermore, the documentary makes the audience see how Rosa did not get a fair trial. It is not an easy task when Rosa has been villainized so much, but the film manages to do that by providing some very convincing arguments.
The documentary uses clips from the trial to show how Rosa’s private life was made public, even when it was not necessary, and her sexual relationships were used to prove her guilt. Apart from the failings of the justice system, it highlights society’s deep-rooted misogyny that led to her being considered guilty until proven innocent.
Negatives
The documentary is short, so there is not much time for anything else. Due to this, the audience is not given much background information about the case. Those who followed the case will not have a problem understanding the importance of the arguments, but the same cannot be said about everyone.
Verdict
Rosa Peral’s Tapes provides a version of Pedro Rodríguez’s murder that was never depicted in the media. It highlights the unfair treatment that Peral received and manages to offer something unique to the audience.
Rosa Peral’s Tapes
Director: Manuel Pérez, Carles Vidal Novellas
Date Created: 2023-09-08 15:53
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