Netflix always switches up its catalog with new additions and departures, and this past week brought several anticipated new projects to the service. The television side of Netflix especially got a boost thanks to The Asset, Nobody Wants This season 2, a new episode of WWE’s Monday Night Raw, and more, but another project based on the dark true story of a serial killer especially commanded attention, and it’s got an impressive Rotten Tomatoes to complement its debut showing.
The project in question is The Monster of Florence, which is based on a real-life serial killer known as Il Mostro. Il Mostro is responsible for 16 murders in Florence, Italy, and the case has never been closed or solved. The Monster of Florence miniseries gives viewers a look into what happened and insight into the investigation, and this week the series was a clear hit, earning the 3rd spot in the Top TV Shows on Netflix with 604 (via FlixPatrol).
The Monster of Florence had some substantial competition too, with only The Asset (777) and Nobody Wants This season 2 (712) edging it out. The miniseries was way ahead of the next on the list though, coming in ahead of Boots (471), The Diplomat (355), One-Punch Man (237), Monster: The Ed Gein Story (236), Mob War: Philadelphia vs. the Mafia (201), WWE Raw (161), and Old Money (119), who rounded out the Netflix TV Top Ten.
The Monster of Florence currently holds a 62% on Rotten Tomatoes, with reviews highlighting the story’s several twists, the intensity felt throughout, and the non-linear presentation of what really happened. Granted, the latter also drew a number of critiques, so while the method is divisive, it clearly had an impact and sets this particular series apart from others of its ilk.
The series is directed by Stefano Sollima, who spoke with THR Roma previously about how he adapted the series directly from testimonies and procedural documents from the case, with the goal of making the series as accurate as possible.
“We reconstructed to the millimeter the crime scenes, the angle of the shots, the location of the cars and the killer,” Sollima said. “And in some cases there were things that didn’t fit with the official versions.”
Sollima went on to say that presenting the truth was the ultimate goal. “Our whole purpose, our maximum effort, was trying to reconstruct a historical reality,” Sollima said. “We have tried to tell all the truths, reconstructing a country, its habits and systems, its hypocrisies that have so hindered the solution of the case.”
The Monster of Florence is now streaming on Netflix.
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