The Search

This is one example of a new genre of Mexican Telenovelas that tries to leave its "soapy" past behind and focus on taut, suspenseful plots. What better fodder to use than a real life event among wealthy Lebanese Mexican families, where each member has hidden secrets that slowly unfold across the episodes. It's good if you want to keep up with learning Spanish as the audio is surprisingly clear, and the spoken Spanish is quite easily understood. Unfortunately, the story lacks the necessary continuity and is told in a very "choppy" and disjointed manner, where events occur without adequate explanation. This just creates a lot of confusion for the viewer, as though the plot was not a well thought out one.

The direction is not upto the mark! Its not worth a watch. The actors could have done better but shown dumb to adjust the story. I feel I wasted my time and sleep in this. I would advice not to waste your time!

In an effort to shame the prosecutor and investigation of the death of a 4 year old (a true story), the movie horrendously mocks the handling of situations that in reality must have been tragic. From the comedy music used as background, to the stupidity of the characters, everything about this movie is infuriating. While they "expose" the corruption and incompetence of the Mexican investigative team, they expose their own movie making incompetence, while making a profit at it.

I don't understand why they made the tone of the show as a comedy with the acting, background music. Also the screen splitting, what da..is that? Why do you need it when two ppl are in the same room? Didn't make the show look cooler or whatsoever but annoying. The story is interesting. I really want to know what happened to the girl but this show just ruined itself.

This is a brilliant exposé of a mishandled investigation. It is hard for a north european like myself to judge the veracity of the political maneuverings that may or may not have been behind the 'burial' of the case - although they come over as very authentic - but the mordant social critique is recognizable and applicable world wide. Yes, the series plays like a telenovela, but it does so deliberately in order to open our eyes on how tragedy can, and does, become trivialized through current methods of media coverage and media consumption. The musical score underlines this perfectly. Those who see disrespect towards the victim need to watch again, and listen again, more attentively. The little silent victim nestles at the heart of the project, and the last scene depicts this sparingly but beautifully: we see Paulette's nanny - maybe the only person who truly cared for her - switch off the tv in disgust and exit the room, passing by a table on which there is a photo of Paulette with a lit candle burning in front of it. Far from a mess or a commercial exploitation, for me this series comes close to being a masterpiece.