Burning Body, the limited series that is going to release this Friday, looks quite promising, through whatever sneak peak we were able to get from the trailer. Murder mysteries are hard to pull off, and amidst the bunch of them that get made every year, only a few are able to leave a mark. The biggest vice of any murder mystery is losing its authenticity and falling into the trap of incorporating the same old troops that we have seen a million times. The series has a very David Fincher-ish vibe to it, and we do hope it is as captivating as his films. It looks like the kind of series where we would get to delve deep inside the psyche of the people involved and witness how they try to manipulate others, how they try to save themselves from the clutches of the law, and to what extent they are ready to go to get what they want. We hope that in their quest to stylize the narrative, they don’t lose out on the rawness and effectiveness of the narrative, as the premise does seem to have a lot of potential if executed in the right manner.
Spoiler Alert
Real Story and Plot
Burning Body is inspired by true events that shook the city of Barcelona back in May 2017, when the charred body of a police officer named Pedro Rodrigues was found in the trunk of a burned car. Through the trailer and reading whatever information we had about the case on online portals, we got to know that we are dealing with people who are reckless, highly impulsive, and didn’t think twice before taking the law into their own hands.
As of now, we do not know how much creative liberty would be taken by the makers or what elements they would add to dramatize the narrative and elevate the entertainment quotient. As far as the real-life case against the police officers from the Guardia Urbana is concerned, it is quite an interesting one, where we would get to see a battle of narratives. Pedro’s body was found near the Foix Reservoir in Barcelona, and though the car was fully burned, the police officers were able to ascertain the identity of the victim through the chassis number. Soon, two people were taken into custody: Pedro’s girlfriend and colleague, Rosa Peral, and another police officer named Albert Lopez, who used to be Rosa’s partner in the past before she met Pedro. There were rumors that Albert and Rosa were having an affair behind Pedro’s back, and once he got to know about it, they conspired to kill him.
During the initial investigation, both suspects accused each other of the murder. Rosa testified that Albert had come to her house and killed Pedro in cold blood, and he threatened Rosa not to go to the authorities if she wanted her children to stay alive. According to Rosa, Albert had asked her to help him dispose of the body, and because she was scared for the safety of the children and had seen what Albert was capable of doing, she agreed to do the needful. They then put the dead Body of Pedro Rodrigues inside the truck and decided to park it in an isolated area and burn it down so that no evidence could be recovered by the law enforcement authorities. However, according to what we read on various news portals, we came to know that Albert had a totally different story, and he claimed that whatever Rosa was saying was a complete lie. He said during the interrogation that he and Rosa had once again rekindled their spark and started getting involved in each other’s lives.
Rosa wanted to be with Albert, but she couldn’t do it because she was scared of how Pedro might react once he learned about it. Some sort of altercation might have happened between Pedro and Rosa, and Albert claimed that when he reached the house, Pedro was already dead. Albert told the authorities that he agreed to help Rosa out because he loved her and was ready to do anything to keep her out of prison. After conducting the preliminary investigation, the police officers got to know that the night before the murder, Albert and Rosa were constantly in touch with each other as they had exchanged several calls. Albert had come to Rosa’s quite early in the morning and that’s when they had made a plan to dispose of the body.Â
After the lower courts ruled against them, Rosa and Albert appealed to the Supreme Court as a last resort. But even the apex authority found them guilty of murder and sentenced Rosa to 25 years and Albert Lopez to 20 years.
Cast and Characters
Burning Body, directed by Jorge Torregrossa, stars the enigmatic and vivacious Ursula Corbero as Rosa Pearl, the partner of the victim and the prime accused in the case. Together with Rosa, the other suspect was Albert Lopez, who, as stated earlier, was also called into questioning by the law enforcement authorities since he also shared a past with Rosa, and both of them were in a romantic relationship before Rosa met the victim. The character of Albert Lopez has been played by Quim Guitierrez in the series.
The trailer looks engaging, and we are glad that Ursula Corbero gets to play a character that, at least on paper, has a lot of potential. It’s an actor’s delight to play such convoluted and grey characters where the people never get to know what’s actually going on inside their minds. People like Rosa Peral are like conundrums in themselves, and one never gets to know what drives their motivations or to what extent they are capable of going.Â
Where to Watch
Burning Body is a limited series that is going to be released on Netflix on September 8th, and it is already creating waves and promising to be a nerve-wracking murder mystery.
Final words
We are excited to watch what Jorge Torregrossa and his entire team bring to the table. These real-life characters were quite multifaceted, complex, and eccentric in their own way, and it’s a tricky job to be able to encapsulate all those intricacies and details and bring them on screen as unadulterated as possible. They were police officers, yet all of them, at some point in time, had been accused of misconduct and had abused the powers that were vested in them by the state. Even after the final judgment was given by the Supreme Court, there were a lot of things that couldn’t be explained. It would be interesting to see if the director takes a stand or gives equal weightage to both sides without being prejudiced, leaving it up to the viewers to formulate their own opinions.
