The Women and the Murderer (2021) User Reviews

A good story, a little hard to follow.

[Sleepin_Dragon · 6/10 · 15 February 2022]

I originally watched this back when I had Covid, and I blamed the virus for my struggles to follow this, so I decided to watch it again, and whilst it is a fascinating story, it is really hard to follow. It feels really disjointed, and somehow it feels a little incomplete.

The interviews are moving, and very revealing, you learn so much from the relatives.

This may have worked better if it had been done in installments, giving focus to the crime, the attacker, the database issues etc.

A good watch, but bard to follow, 6/10.

Lacks focus

[Calicodreamin · 6/10 · 9 September 2021]

An interesting documentary that lacked focus. The interviews were relevant and the topic interesting, it just tried to cover too much in a short time. The investigation, the courtroom, the families, the database, it was all rushed through.

Good but disjointed

[borgolarici · 6/10 · 6 October 2021]

This could have been a great documentary but it lacks the necessary focus: the victims and the killer fade somewhat into background and leave the spotlight to an excessive number of scattered interviews.

I respect the choice of giving a voice to families and survivors, but making a documentary about a serial killer without explaining adequately his MO, genesis and motives, doesn't really cut it.

Amazing but a little too lengthy

[ambisai · 7/10 · 12 September 2021]

It's an amazing documentary which has everything to hold your attention.

Only one thing .....the narrative are stretched too far and could have been received better of the running time / length was shorter.

Foolish French justice system

[kenaustin-47469 · 7/10 · 14 December 2022]

The documentary shows the naivety and blunders of French police and public. I keep having the name Inspector Clouseau entering my head. They have DNA from dead women from the serial killer. The system in France rejects the idea of having DNA samples kept in order to catch or clear suspects, at that time.

When the case goes to court they have the right man and his DNA, and his complete confession to a police officer (which wasn't recorded?) etc Still there was, doubt he would be convicted.

His guilt was then without doubt when the prosecutor tripped him up and he became enraged.

After sentencing, and he only got a 22 year minimum, his lawyers and even the mother of a victim had misguided sympathy for him, saying he would be reformed.

Don't French people know that serial killers don't change. If you let him out he will almost certainly take up where he left.

I was so frustrated by the foolishness I saw.

The story was well presented I must agree.

Good but incomplete

[mls4182 · 8/10 · 14 September 2021]

I've heard this story before. This man was convicted of assaults previously and let go a few times. They leave all that out. If he's been kept incarcerated longer, these crimes might not have been committed.

It is still a good documentary.

Bad Editing

[davidlohr · 5/10 · 10 September 2021]

Interesting interviews but the documentary itself is very shoddy. The editing is so terrible it's nearly unwatchable.

Well Done!

[lornak-18008 · 8/10 · 10 September 2021]

This documentary tells about a serial killer in France back in the 90's. It's the story not only about the murderer, but about the special crime department female detective, the mother of one of the victims, a female reporter who covered the story and the two opposing attorneys once it went to trial-also women.

I found it to be very interesting and would have liked it to be even longer to get even more details. An hour and a half just wasn't enough time to fit the murders, the hunt for the killer and the trial in without missing something. It also covered how important DNA was to the case and discussed France's lack of a database for DNA at that time. I thought the whole thing was well done especially with the time constraints involved.

A good story but bad documentary!

[chakibovic7 · 5/10 · 9 September 2021]

The way the two directors handled the documentary was awful and they could have done better if they only focused on the story and not sexism! You lose interest while watching out of boredom. I'm a huge fan of serial killers documentaries and this is the worst one I have ever seen so far.

extraordinary

[ricewithaspoon · 8/10 · 9 September 2021]

I agree with the other reviewer, could have gone into much more detail, i'd have watched all episodes glued to the screen - I didn't know about this case/these cases which shocked me as I really suck in everything 'forensic psychology'/ crime etc... Nevertheless, it is an extraordinary documentary with original footage and various povs.

Especially the ending rendered the whole thing outstanding in my eyes.

I totally recommend it.

Boring, interesting, very repeating documentary.

[gregorydewaegheneire · 5/10 · 10 September 2021]

A documentary of 90 minutes which felt like 180 minutes.

I'm not stupid, you don't have to repeat countless times the same stuff out of the mouths of different women.

If that was not the case I would have gladly given 8 stars.

Hats off for the brave women in this documentary.

Intense.

[cotk35 · 9/10 · 12 September 2021]

It was said of the women Guy Georges selected that "There was no special physical style. Brunettes, blondes, redheads. Tall and short. Not one was depressed, unemployed, lonely...or down. They were grounded women with ambitions, boyfriends." The one glaring omission in all of this is the fact that ALL of his victims were white.

Dumbed down, puts you to sleep

[christiangordziel · 2/10 · 21 September 2021]

They tried to make this a women thing, which is why it loses focus. I knew from the beginning they would just match DNA by chance. No real contribution, no investigative excellence at all, it appears rather the opposite, they got very lucky. Before catching the guy, they let everyone know about his identity, like true inutils. Terrible to watch.

A interesting documentary about a murderer and the people who brought him to justice

[arnieporter · 8/10 · 18 September 2021]

Besides a look at a criminal investigation, this documentary provides a very insightful look at how the French deal with serious criminal cases and how their humanity shines through even though it so painful for all parties to do so. I don't know if this happens all the time in France but it seems a more humane and socially mature approach to dealing with criminal justice than what is practiced in North America. There is a great message and a lot to be learned here.

The dubbing

[doalvarez2002 · 4/10 · 14 September 2021]

How can Netflix dub this French documentary into different languages and not realize that the first thing that they must do is lower the volume of the original language so that any other languages being used on top is audible enough and therefore comprehensible? There are parts that you cannot pick up what is being said in English because the original version is so loud that it drowns out the English narration and subtitles have to be used if you want to understand what they are talking about.

Not only does this happen in this documentary, but also in lots of other ones that I have watched on Netflix.

And to make things worse, subtitles do not coincide with the what is being said in the language you have chosen to watch the material. Netflix should be more professional when it comes to subtitles. If they decide to translate a film, TV series, documentaries etc into different languages, the least they could do is transcribe the dubbed versions word for word, and use them for the subtitles, so that what is being said in the language of choice coincides with what you are reading in the subtitles of such language.

It is a total disaster that can be put right if Netflix had the decency to do things in a more professional manner.

A Serial Killer

[jtprint · 10/10 · 10 September 2021]

The documentary is about a serial killer, in France, during the 90s, who murdered several young women, it really left me a feeling of sadness and pain at the same time, it is a documentary in my opinion, well done, I understand that things were not left unfinished, they gave many details of what happened, during the investigations of who had been the murderer, the trial, the feelings of the families with the murder of these young women. I also felt a lot of empathy with these young women, full of life, projects, futures, very impressive.

Most boring serial killer documentary

[Lokroep · 2/10 · 22 September 2021]

Even fast forwarding this docu was boring. It exists almost fully out of group of female researchers looking for the killing of their daughters. Emotionally and interesting for them but not for many viewers.

Well done true crime documentary

[josantoddi · 10/10 · 9 September 2021]

Extremely well done documentary on a French serial killer of young women in Paris. It struck me how much the victims resembled each other. To me, they could all have been sisters.

People like this killer walk among us & aren't always easy to spot. Teach your daughters to be cautious.

Read a detailed article on the case, by Paul Webster, in The Guardian. Contains many details not included in the film.

Leaving out the main story

[alex_with_a_P · 5/10 · 27 July 2023]

I have to say that I was pleasantly surprised to see a Netflix documentary that doesn't consist of eight parts and overstay it's welcome. I think they did an okay job of telling us about the victims, but they kind of gloss over the culprit. We never get to know what drove him to this crimes, what exactly made him tick. To be fair, I don't want to get to know who the killer is as a person, he could stay anonymous for all I care, but more of a psychologic profile is the least you should get out of a doc about a serial killer. So I had to do my own digging and lo and behold, there was a whole lot of important information that the documentary left out. It's the absolute failure of the justice system and the police force. We don't get nothing from the doc on that regard which makes me wonder if the filmmakers left that part out intentionally in order to secure cooperation and interviews from the police.

But it did the real story a disservice. The neglect of woman being sexually assaulted and killed seemed to be not a high priorr9back then in France and the killer got out several times with a slap on his wrist for attempted murder. If the Wikipedia entry is more interesting than your movie, you should re-evaluate and check for sensationalism.

Not only did the killer get out of prison several times for good behaviour, got his sentenced reduced to less than half or got a 'prison vacation' , but he also comitted murders during those breaks. He escaped during police custody. This case screams of police negligence at the highest order, for which several women had to pay the highest price. A scandal in real life and a scandal for releasing this unfinished film. Does Netflix not even fact-check their documentaries?

An amazing documentary

[pamelatak · 9/10 · 7 August 2022]

They tried very hard to give the victims their voice. The families too. The section of the documentary dealing with the trail was most telling. The prosecuting attorney does an excellent job of questioning him directing the outcome very skillfully. I would have liked more on the fact that this case and trail led to the creation of a DNA database in France. The fact that this was a serial killer only became clear after many killings were done and just by chance, DNA was matched in several of the cases. Something that is not mentioned in the documentary but I believe he most likely committed more murders but they were not connected to his case from lack of DNA evidence and also lack of ease of checking for similar cases in other places in France because recorders were not computerized yet.

Another point that is fascinating is that all the important roles were held by women in this case. Something very rare I believe.

I would very much like to know what has happened to him at this time. Is he still in jail?

Compelling story but bad doc

[tommygorman-07488 · 5/10 · 9 April 2023]

The story is completely engrossing, but it glosses over the crimes committed. I recommend the doc but it's slightly boring. It would be much more captivating if the victim's backstories were told and the crimes committed.

This doc just says the name of the victims and their injuries. This creates boredom and disinterest in the viewer. These crimes were horrific; tell us how terrible these crimes were and the victims that were involved. There is no detail. Doc 5/10; story 10/10.

I agree with most of the reviews. It's a good watch but not outstanding. You're not going to end this documentary and say "wow, best doc I've ever watched."

hate the voice over

[sophiai · 9/10 · 7 November 2021]

I wish netflix would quit the voice overs. Very distracting. Otherwise very good docu. Not much else to add. I prefer to hear the original language. Great to see women lawyers/ detectives from a french perspective.

A damaged soul , with no life insight.

[visionandyouth · 9/10 · 11 April 2022]

One of the finest documentary to date. Very tragical ,and complex. It tears your soul apart. A detective story like no other. And I urge you to watch this, and see how hate, and wrath, can be ousted from us all.