Over the past few days, I have watched 4 projects that were “based on a true story.” The first one on the list was Monster: The Ed Gein Story. There was little to no truth in that whole affair. It was an overproduced and overacted piece of fanfiction that portrayed a mass murderer as a victim, and it was boring as hell. Then there was True Hauntings, which featured 2 narratives: Eerie Hall and This House Murdered Me. Neither of them had anything of substance. It just seemed like a shallow attempt at earning some money and fame by rambling on about a hollow “ghost story” for the umpteenth time because that “supernatural” encounter was the most important thing that had happened in the lives of these people. After that I came across Good News, a hyper-stylized and incredibly hilarious retelling of the hijacking of Flight 351. Given how it lambasted capitalists, communists, South Koreans, the Japanese, North Koreans, and the US, it felt incredibly relevant. And most importantly, it delivered an immersive viewing experience. The last entry on the list was No One Saw Us Leave, and to be honest, it made me question everything about this trend of adapting a “true story.”
Adapted from Tamara Trottner’s novel of the same name by Maria Camila Arias, with the episodes being directed by Lucia Puenzo, Samuel Kishi, and Nicolas Puenzo, the miniseries followed Tamara and Isaac as they were flown out of Mexico by their dad, Leo. Why? Because he didn’t want the kids to be around their “crazy” mother, Valeria. This leads to an international chase, with Leo and the kids hopping from one country to another, and Valeria trying to track them down with the help of her father’s associate, Elias, and her brother-in-law, Carlos. Eventually, it becomes clear that Valeria isn’t actually crazy, and Leo isn’t trying to “save” the kids from her. Valeria started an extramarital relationship with Carlos back in the day. After learning about that, Leo decided to take the kids far away from her, probably so that she can truly feel the painful consequences of her actions. But when this drastic strategy puts Leo on Interpol’s “wanted” list, he begins to question if he has done the right thing. On top of all that, Leo and Valeria’s weird conflict obviously begins to take a toll on Tamara and Isaac’s mental well-being. However, since Tamara has said that this whole ordeal served as fuel for her novel, I guess it’s all fine.
Look, I am going to be honest, after watching No One Saw Us Leave, I have spent a lot of time trying to figure out what the point of this miniseries was. And the journey that I went on wasn’t a fruitful or thought-provoking one. Instead, it was incredibly frustrating, because the more I thought about it, the more I realized that Tamara’s story was utterly meaningless. It wasn’t a hate letter or a love letter to Valeria. It wasn’t a hate letter or a love letter to Leo. It neither lambasted nor thanked the parents of Valeria and Leo for actually putting this whole circus in motion by getting them married. It wanted to critique extramarital affairs, but then it began celebrating that hideous act as well. After all that tripe, it took a swipe at being a courtroom drama, but that just concluded way too prematurely. And it seemed like the writers were under the impression that what they had shown so far would be enough to help viewers understand how all of this had inspired Tamara to be a writer.
I am assuming that the intent behind making No One Saw Us Leave was to send a message about not having children if you can’t be responsible parents—or something along those lines—and then it became an aimless globetrotting adventure with nothing of value to say. Credit where credit is due, the miniseries was visually stunning. For example, when they got to Italy, there were a bunch of nighttime sequences that were lit to perfection. Nowadays, everyone is aiming so religiously towards realism that they just don’t care if things on the screen, especially during scenes set at night, are visible or not. Thankfully, the crew of the show didn’t go down that route, and opted for unmotivated lighting setups to make the frames aesthetically pleasing. I liked the variety of lenses that were used to try and accentuate the emotions of the scenes. The attention to detail when it came to historical accuracy via production design, art direction, costume design, and the hair and makeup was decent. As for the storytelling—and I’m talking about editing, camerawork, pacing, sound design, and score—it was a total dud. I am extremely sure that as soon as I am done writing this review, I won’t be able to recall a single thing about it.
The performances from the entire cast of No One Saw Us Leave were not impactful at all. Tessa Ia and Emiliano Zurita had to shoulder a major chunk of the weight of the miniseries. They were doing a lot, but maybe due to the writing or interpretation of Tamara’s parents, none of it really stuck. Natasha Dupeyron, Juan Manuel Bernal, Flavio Medina, Gustavo Bassani, Caro Darman, Mariana Di Girolamo, Karina Gidi, Lisa Owen, and all the other supporting actors were there to collect their paycheck and hit the hay. And, I mean, good for them if they are okay with not being remembered. Which brings me back to the topic of adapting a “true story.” I think the fundamental question one must ask before writing their story is whether or not their journey will be memorable for the general public just because it was memorable for them. If you are unsure about the answer to that question, then your story is not ready to be put out there in front of the public. There are countless other tales of revolution, resilience, and radicalism that deserve the light of day. Stop taking up that space to air your parents’ dirty laundry.
