A Kidnapping Scandal: The Florance Cassez Affair (2022) is the latest Netflix Documentary Series that sheds a light on one of the most controversial cases in Mexican history, which evaluates the role of a French woman, Florance Cassez, in the infamous kidnapping scandal back in 2006.
Rooted in the crime history of Mexico, the investigation for the case goes as far as back the early 2000s with political context relevant to the mishappening in the country during that period. The scandalous event of 2006 changed everything for the country when it came to light which ultimately bred tensions on an international scale between France and Mexico regarding the question of the innocence of Florance Cassez’s character. While the country was suffering from one of the most horrific crime rates, the kidnapping industry transformed into a much bigger problem going from only targeting the rich households to just about anybody from the middle class, the general public no longer felt safe and a change was needed.
The uncovering of the kidnapping scandal saw the arrest of Israel Vallarta, the supposed mastermind of the ploy, and his ex-girlfriend Florance Cassez, a mysterious French woman, who denies the accusations of being involved in the kidnapping ring, as opposed to Israel who pleaded guilty of the involvement on national television. But the question remains was Cassez guilty, or was she not?
The series shows the extensive research of the subject matter important to the case in a very detailed format, giving a walkthrough of the investigation from different POVs that puts things together to develop various hypotheses to eventually reach a single hypothesis about the case. Potentially covering the biggest debacle of Mexican history, the shock of the failure of the administration doesn’t go unnoticed as the series takes its time to provide the full behind-the-curtain scenes of the sensitive political scenario which looms as a building block for what happens to flash forward in the future. It doesn’t refrain from withholding any information as it gives a complete outlook of what the crisis was, and how shocking it was from the theory. It also doesn’t shy away from imparting information through various means and makes the objective very clear from the first episode that the most important thing here is to follow the timelines correctly while fact-checking itself about the compromised institution.
To add to the confusion, it presents the various recorded information from the records gathered via different means only to result in contradictory information that sometimes just doesn’t add up. While it seems like a pretty simple open and shut case, I can assure you it’s not. I was impressed by the high-profile individuals it managed to garner for its interviews that saw the truth in the pile of lies, along with individuals who had an idea of what was happening. The testimonials that sometimes were enacted to avoid confusion were also appreciable.
In all honesty, it was a pretty decent experience that reminds you of the Nat Geographic documentaries in the older days. It is committed to reaching the truth and is worth a look if you are interested in Mexico’s history.
Final Score – [7/10]
Reviewed by - Devyansh Anand
Follow @AnandDevy on Twitter