Killer Ratings
“Mesmerizing”
When it comes to true-crime series, the more bizarre and perplexing, the better. And few have fit that bill quite as ably as Killer Ratings, a jaw-dropping new non-fiction effort with a story that would barely be believable as a tawdry B-movie, much less as reality, if not for the conclusive evidence that it actually took place.
Bogado skillfully navigates his narrative’s twists and turns, and provides virtually equal time to both sides of the Souza debate… That balanced approach is the real key to the series’ success, as it underscores one of the fundamental lessons of this ordeal: in an environment in which corruption is endemic, and everyone’s motivations are thus potentially suspect, the truth is nearly impossible to ascertain.
Nick Schager, Daily Beast
“Astonishing”
Suppose that, in a future season of Line of Duty, the reveal turned out to be that the organised crime syndicate had been using hitmen to kill drug dealers in a conspiracy with a Crimewatch presenter to raise ratings for the show. Social media would surely be filled with shark-jumping memes. Yet it is possible that such an absurd sequence of events happened for real in Brazil. This strange tale is the subject of Killer Ratings, an astonishing documentary series that has just dropped on Netflix…
Some argue that British TV is over-regulated, but Killer Ratings, a jaw-dropping story compellingly told, may make us thankful that barriers are in place to prevent broadcasters with delusions of becoming politician, cop, judge or jury from doing so.
Mark Lawson, The Guardian
“Unmissable”
The story of Wallace Souza in Killer Reviews falls squarely in “you couldn’t make it up” territory. But as the old saying goes, truth is stranger – and in the case against Souza, deadlier – than fiction. A rampant bed of drug trafficking and all its associated crime, Manaus, a city surrounded by the Amazon rainforest of Brazil, was (and still is) an extremely dangerous place to live…
The investigation into Souza turns up evidence that, on the face of it, proves his corruption. A-ha! He’s guilty! Then something else comes to light that makes you wonder if maybe he isn’t and he’s exactly what he claims to be – the innocent victim of persecution by his political enemies.
That’s the sign of a good docuseries – how well it keeps you engaged. And Killer Ratings does as you swing back and forth from “lock him up and throw away the key” to sympathising with him.
Terri George, Stream or Skip it
