This surface-level understanding of what it’s to be a lady makes some facets of “Girls in Blue” deeply irritating – together with the arc of lead character María (Bárbara Mori), the aforementioned housewife. It additionally means this Seventies, ostensibly feminist drama fails to have a lot to say about gender dynamics within the workforce, whilst its complete plot facilities across the ladies who sex-integrated Mexico’s police pressure. “Mad Males” this isn’t.
Nonetheless, it acquired me. “Girls in Blue” has an attractive mixture of parts, a sure hodgepodge that shouldn’t work however does. It’s a thriller as our titular “Girls in Blue” use their police coaching to trace down a serial killer concentrating on younger ladies. There’s a “Silence of the Lambs” ingredient when María hits up an notorious, incarcerated serial killer for recommendation.
Then there’s the historic fiction facet (“impressed by true occasions” as they are saying), full with go-go boots, macrame beads, and white-roofed Cadillacs. “Girls in Blue”’s tackle the period’s sexism doesn’t go a lot deeper than that “it was dangerous,” however the critique continues to be there, reminding us that not so way back (and perhaps even at this time), the concept ladies might serve successfully as protectors of the peace was totally international.
Then there’s the commentary on policing itself. “Girls in Blue” shines in the way it dramatizes detective work, ringing suspense from how Ángeles (Ximena Sariñana) finds and organizes information (within the Seventies we’re speaking paper recordsdata right here). The present additionally presents numerous interrogation strategies, starting from torture to compassion to a lot impact. Certainly, it is significantly insightful when Gabina (Amorita Rasgado), the estranged daughter of the police chief, will get an insider’s perspective of what it actually means to be a cop. State-side audiences might brush off this studying, believing Mexican police are inherently corrupt however the reality is extra difficult, and “Girls in Blue” does an excellent job of exploring that complication.
However this collection is finest on the blood-pounding thriller of all of it. It builds a fancy chase with the clues scaffolding properly upon one another. Once we get the killer’s again story, “Girls in Blue” mines it for typical concepts of trauma and neglect but additionally delivers a powerful rebuke of the standard violent-past-as-destiny trope.
Because the cliffhangers mount, the suspension and stakes go along with them. I favor to look at my TV earlier than mattress and this present required an hour to decompress after – such was my state after exiting this intense, plot-driven setting.
