Rosa Peral’s Tapes 2023 Movie Review

The documentary is a look onto Rosa Peral’s side of the story in the “Caso de la Guardia Urbana”.

I watched this documentary after watching the “Burning Body” series. (By the way, the series is also not bad, although this documentary and series represent completely different angles- and also remember the series is largely fictional and dramatized to make it more interesting).

The documentary relies largely on Rosa, her side of the story, making her the victim of prejudice and misogyny. The documentary presents her lawyer, and other people involved in the case, all of whom are on her side. The only one on the “other side” is the prosecutor, and even then, it feels like his testimony is cut off on certain places because he never manages to make a full argument.

While I appreciate deeper insight into her, it just does not make sense to me to make such a short, close-minded, single-way docu on a case like this, where complexity cannot be avoided. There is no mention of how Rosa changed her version of events, of Albert’s side of the story, etc. Again, the series is about her own confessions, but it is extremely misleading to someone who has never heard of this case before.

While they do give some major points that can be discussed, they focus mostly on misogyny towards Rosa and her choices and romantic relationships, questioning why did these need to be discussed. I found this argument particularly absurd, when the story was about a complex love triangle.

The cast, besides the prosecutor and the lawyer of Rosa, is mostly not bringing anything but their biased opinions with best regards towards her. There is barely any shred of trying to be impartial or present the full picture.

So I call this one unconvincing, because I found many unconvincing arguments, unconvincing cast- but necessary, as I found it to be an important piece of a bigger puzzle. It is my recommendation to research separately, do a deeper dig on the story on your own. This docu by itself is not enough.