The Day I Met El Chapo: The Kate Del Castillo Story (2017) User Reviews

Fascinating but naive

[paul2001sw-1 · 7/10 · 27 June 2020]

Journalists sometimes take big risks to get big stories, and even sup with the devil to boot. When Kate del Castillo met murderous drug baron El Chapo, she found herself caught between two country's governments, Chapo's gang, a hostile press and the dubious intentions of her own partner in the expedition (who was also briefly her lover). It sounds like a story made for T.V. even before you factor in that Kate was no journalist, but a soap opera star, and her partner was Hollywood legend Sean Penn. In this series, Kate explains what happened, and justifies her actions. She comes across as more than a little naive and lacking in self-awareness; it's still a bizarre story in which she was arguably more sinned against than sinning. What the documentary lacks is real context; you wouldn't get a sense of quite how many people have died on El Chapo's orders from watching it. It's interesting nonetheless to see the contrast between his gang's outrageous feats (like breaking him out of prison) and the boss's completely mundane physical presence. But a more detached telling of events would have been more informative.

shameless plug for her tequila and new show

[halbarr-71820 · 6/10 · 9 December 2017]

Let me say that it is fairly informative the first 2 episodes, but the last is just awful. Coming in I did not know much at all about her involvement with him, what I knew was general gossip. Frankly I did not care either, good riddance I say, drug lords and drug users are the scum of the earth. Well anyway, she is the producer of this "documentary" so I wasn't expecting any great revelations, but I was wrong. I learned she's a slick talker and would make a typical politician. Netflix is getting pretty lame with all their "original" content and this was a hell of an opportunity to promote her tequila and the new series. I used to respect her and find her hot, now she's just a Hollywood b-lister vying for attention. And sean penn, I don't even know who that guy is, but I can tell he's a deuche. Guess we'll never know the truth

Mildly enjoyable

[miramulgund · 7/10 · 15 January 2021]

I heard about the Kate del Castillo story a few years ago, and I've been confused/curious about it ever since. This documentary certainly answered all my questions and showed how much the Mexican government unfairly persecuted her. Yeah, this is a shameless plug for her tequila and her new show, but it was definitely interesting to learn about the El Chapo story from her point of view.

Boring

[ersbel · 3 February 2018]

Boring. i am sure that the people who feel for the issue might be interested, but anything beyond that why bother? a long list of self appointed experts giving their useless impressions and only a few telling their stories. a *he said, she said*.

SOMEONE SAID THEY PUT HER IN A HIGH-RISK POSITION?

[Guanche48 · 7/10 · 14 October 2021]

The whole story is told from Kate's perspective only, so we can't be sure that everything she says is entirely true. That she met El Chapo, okay. The rest is all a bit strange, so to speak, but what do you expect from a country that has grown up with soap operas?

It seemed to me an entertaining story and not very long, something different from normal.

They put HER in a high-risk position? She did all herself!! And to be completely fair I do like the message she's sending! NO MORE MANLY MACHO MAN WORLD ANY MORE! AND NO MORE CORRUPTION OF THE POWERFUL MANLY MACHO MEN!

A Risk-taker Knew the Dangers

[benhli-32271 · 9/10 · 23 May 2022]

A few minutes into the documentary about Kate Del Castillo's life meeting El Chapo, you hear her sister, Veronica (a journalist in Mexico) saying, "I pinned my sister against the wall...like she's got a death wish." Here in the States we enjoy certain freedoms of what we can and can't say. Some Countries you can't do that in and MExico is one of them. Yes, they violated her human rights, but making a comparison of how corrupt the Government is to someone like El Chapo isn't exactly smart. I've seen a number of Kate's movies/shows, and she's not a terrible actress, nor a terrible human being. She's made mistakes like we all do. I wouldn't go bad-mouthing someone simply for not liking their work, or thinking they put themselves in danger. It's true that Sean Penn isn't the best man in the world when it comes to offering protection, and he didn't extend it to Kate Del Castillo: in that extent he did put her life at risk, but the real reason she was in danger was the fact El Chapo fell for her. She didn't realize her comments would inflame someone as dangerous as he is. And still is. I feel like her sister does, hopefully she sees how badly she came to death from her own government and won't do that again. I'm glad she's a fighter and stands up for her rights. We all should. But maybe there's a better way to fight a corrupt governmental system without putting ourselves in a bad situation we can't get out of. The only spoiler is where her sister keeps her from harm as chidlren.

LOL Hilariously boring!

[paulistef · 2/10 · 9 January 2019]

I'd never ever heard of this aging Mexican telenovela actress until the whole circus with the drug guy and the weirdo Penn. Spotted this amateur "documentary" (infomercial...) while browsing for the Narcos series. It took me about 20 minutes of viewing to realize that this is a self-promoting outlet from a non-existent D-list actress who's seeking attention instead of curing her bad ADHD and personality disorders. Completely irrelevant. I still intend to watch the other 2 episodes when I have time, but that'll probably only comfort my disdain for this desperate woman. The world is made worse by people like herself, selfie factories, the Kardashians, Sean Penn, Guzmán, preachy Hollywood liberals, Instagram "models", wannabe edgy TikToking children, etc... Severe narcissists are truly a pain. smh