A Widow's Game
| A Widow's Game | |
|---|---|
 Theatrical release poster | |
| Spanish | La viuda negra |
| Directed by | Carlos Sedes |
| Starring | |
| Cinematography | Daniel Sosa |
Production company | Bambú Producciones |
| Distributed by | Netflix |
Release date |
|
Running time | 122 minutes[1] |
| Country | Spain |
| Language | Spanish |
A Widow's Game (Spanish: La viuda negra) is a 2025 Spanish crime drama film directed by Carlos Sedes based on the so-called crime of Patraix. It stars Ivana Baquero, Tristán Ulloa, and Carmen Machi.
Plot
[edit]The plot is based on the murder of the engineer Antonio Navarro Cerdán, stabbed to death in a garage of Patraix (Valencia) on 16 August 2017. The widow, nurse 'Maje', and the latter's lover and workmate Salva Rodrigo are condemned as perpetrators.[2]
A police officer, Eva, is assigned to a homicide case. A man Arturo, whose body is not shown, was discovered in a parking lot, having several stab wounds. It is stated that he was likely taken by surprise by a strong male assaultor. Arturo's wife/widow Maria (referred to as 'Maje' who works at a hospital as a nurse) shows up with some coworker, appearing extremely griefed by the incident. The police quickly suspect Maje and some man as the likely suspects after some investigating. It is shown that Maje cheated on Arturo with a man named Andre before the marriage, yet he forgave her. Maje's friend says that Arturo is very controlling, likely due to this infidelity incident. Eva's coworkers guessed that Maje is a nymphomaniac, but Eva disagrees, thinking she simply wants attention or to control men.
Side note, one of Eva's colleagues is shot in the line of duty when investigating a separate case. This movie holds a tribute to that, based on real events.
After tapping her cellphone, it's revealed that Maje has a double life. Via flashbacks, it's shown that at home/in public, she acts as a poor, innocent wife who is "abused" by her husband. At night, she goes to parties and is very promiscuous, having sex with several people on a regular basis, including a coworker, and some man from a party named Daniel. Due to all this, Arturo obviously gets suspicious of her behavior, which leads to several fights. After seeing a message from Daniel on Maje's phone, Arturo snaps and tells her to leave the house. After this, Maje starts to spiral, telling all the men she's sleeping with that she's being abused, and wishes Arturo was dead.
Eventually, she goes to another man in his 40's sobbing named Salva. She seduces him and asks him if he will kill Arturo for her. It is shown that Salva also works at the hospital, either as another nurse or a doctor, and is married to another nurse/doctor. It is slowly revealed that Maje is an emotional vampire with sociopathic behaviors. She collects men by seducing them to get attention or use them, whether it's because of insecurity, ego, or rebelling from her strict religious background. She starts to manipulate Salva, saying that he doesn't truly understand or love her, trying to probe him into killing Arturo.
Maje shows Salva the parking garage, as well as the parking spot and time Arturo will arrive. Salva tells a couple of his friends about Maje, and how infatutated he is. It's also shown that Salva also has a son. After the murder, Salva starts to spiral emotionally, not sure where Maje fits in his life, if it's all worth it, or if she even loves him. This is made even worse when he realizes Maje is seeing Daniel still, which leads him to step back and take a break from their relationship. Eva manipulates it so that Arturo's family tells Maje that they are close to catching the killer, and know exactly who the culprit is. Her plan works perfectly, as it freaks out Maje, and she calls Salva. When he doesn't pick up, she resorts to pinning it all on Salva, saying he was obsessed with her.
The police slowly piece together all the clues, phone calls, evidence, and more, Eva arrests Salva and Maje, and they are taken to court to be prosecuted for their crimes.
Footage of the real court case the story is based on is played at the end. The film also explains what happened to each character in the real life story, and honors the fallen officer from earlier.
Cast
[edit]- Ivana Baquero as Maje[2]
- Tristán Ulloa as Salva Rodrigo[2]
- Carmen Machi as Eva[2]
- Joel Sánchez as Daniel[3]
- Álex Gadea as Antonio[3]
- Pablo Molinero as Turrientes[3]
- Pepe Ocio as Bernardo[3]
- Ramón Ródenas as Javier Gil[3]
- Amparo Fernández[2]
- Miquel Mars[2]
Production
[edit]The film is a Bambú Producciones production.[2] Daniel Sosa lensed the film.[4] Shooting locations included Valencia.[5]
Release
[edit]Netflix released the film on 30 May 2025.[6]
Reception
[edit]Jose Madrid of El Confidencial rated the film 3½ out of 5 stars, declaring it "accessible and pacey, addictive throughout its two hours and faithful (perhaps too much so) to the real event it portrays".[7]
John Serba of Decider.com declared the film "a slightly-better-than-middling drama, professionally executed from a technical standpoint but a bit thin of screenplay".[8]
See also
[edit]References
[edit]- ^ "A Widow's Game (15)". British Board of Film Classification. 29 May 2025. Retrieved 29 May 2025.
- ^ a b c d e f g Martínez, Elena (10 April 2025). "Primeras imágenes de "La viuda negra", la esperada película de Netflix sobre el crimen de Patraix". Levante-EMV. Prensa Ibérica.
- ^ a b c d e "La viuda negra de Patraix ya tiene fecha de estreno: Quién es quién en la nueva película de Netflix". 7 teleValencia. 14 April 2024.
- ^ "'La Viuda Negra', de Carlos Sedes, llegará a Netflix el próximo 30 de mayo". Camera & Light Mag. 9 April 2025.
- ^ "Tristán Ulloa, Carmen Machi e Ivana Baquero: Netflix pone rostros al crimen de Maje, la viuda negra de Patraix". La Voz de Galicia. 4 December 2024.
- ^ Cazallas, Javier (9 April 2025). "La viuda negra, el nuevo true crime de los guionistas de El caso Asunta, presenta teaser y fecha de estreno en Netflix". HobbyConsolas.
- ^ Madrid, Jose (26 May 2025). "Crítica de 'La viuda negra': un adictivo 'true crime' de pata negra con Carmen Machi". El Confidencial.
- ^ Serba, John (30 May 2025). "Stream It Or Skip It: 'A Widow's Game' on Netflix, a Medium-Salacious Dramatization of a Real-Life Story of Sex and Death". decider.com.