Vatican Girl Season 1 Review – Netflix true-crime series is one big mystery box

Episode Guide

Part 1 Part 2
Part 3
Part 4

Emanuela Orlandi was a Vatican teenager who mysteriously vanished while returning home from a flute class on June 22, 1983. There were 0.2 square miles of countryside, high walls lining the perimeter, and gates that were shut at night The mystery quickly grew.

The Pope delivered a major address during St Peter’s Square after, suggesting that he was aware Emanuela was abducted (given that he spoke the same language spoke) and a bizarre American calling in an Italian accent confessed to having Emanuela in captivity and gave the family until the 20th of July to bring their daughter returned. To do this they had to negotiate an arrest and release for Ali Agar, a far-right Turkish terrorist who attempted to murder the Pope.

Deadline day is upon us, Ali is not released and the case goes unsolved. Then, in 2022, Netflix’s crime squad is returning with a new investigation to unravel. Similar to it was with the Madeline McCann case that gripped the globe, Emanuela Orlandi’s disappearance is one of mysteries and finger-pointing, but with there are no answers definitively.

If you enjoyed Netflix’s The Disappearance of Madeleine McCann, then chances are you’ll enjoy this as well. Like that docu-series there’s no clear answer however, there are diverse rabbit holes to investigate. Each one lends itself to a variety of theories, some more convincing than others.

For instance, is devoted to investigating an alleged possibility of a lead for a possible lead in Luxembourg… which does not lead anywhere. The third episode changes its approach instead and delves into the tale of an individual who steps forward to claim to have kidnapped Emanuela 10 years after the incident. The fourth and last segments will then examine the consequences of the “Vatileaks” scandal.

Each chapter does excellently to keep you watching and curious to find out just how deep the rabbit hole can go. The style is stylish to many of these as well, which is great because, in the end, every episode clocks at close to 1 hour in length, and you’ll see a lot of padding that is used to extend the run time.

It’s actually another thing this movie shares with It’s a similarity to the Disappearance of Madeline McCann. There’s plenty to be reduced and cut until you could easily have transformed this into a trilogy and eased many of the problems.

Vatican Girl certainly isn’t a good docu-series, but there’s plenty to get your teeth into should you be patient. It’s definitely not an easy series to watch, considering how much padding it offers and the fact that there’s an intriguing series that is at the core of this.