A Heart-Wrenching Tale of Betrayal and BROKEN TRUST

Created by: Ramón Campos, Gema R. Neira, Jon de la Cuesta, David Orea Arribas
Directed by: Carlos Sedes, Jacobo Martínez
Network: Netflix
No. of episodes: 6
Original languages: Spanish and Galician

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This six-part Netflix drama, inspired by true events, delivers a gripping mix of betrayal, drama, and an agonizing question: can you truly love a child you didn’t give birth to? “The Asunta Case” dives deep into the complex dynamics of parental love, trust, and the dark corridors of human behavior.

When Asunta was adopted as an infant, her new parents, Rosario Porta, a lawyer, and Alfonso Basterra, a journalist, were ecstatic, ready to give her the world. They brought Asunta to their home in Santiago, Spain, in 2001. Twelve years later, tragedy strikes—a dead body is discovered on a roadside in the middle of the night. On identification, it’s Asunta, miles away from her house. What went wrong?

The drama unfolds through a chilling portrayal of lies, deceit, and the relentless pursuit to uncover the truth.

On the night of September 21, 2012, around 10 PM, Rosario and Alfonso made their way to the police station to report their daughter Asunta missing. They insisted the police start the investigation immediately, as Asunta would never leave the house unaccompanied.

The police accompanied them to their house to look for Asunta. In a strange sequence of events, Alfonso broke free from their walk and ran to the apartment. Upon questioning later, he said he thought Asunta might have fallen on the stairs, as they usually bet each other on who could climb the stairs first.

It was a strange explanation the police tucked away at the time. Meanwhile, in Montua, Teo, Detectives Cristina and Javier went to check a dead body found on the side of the road. When they learned about Rosario filing a missing report for her daughter, they went to her house to request them to identify the body.

Filled with overwhelming pain and denial, Alfonso and Rosario were still processing the news, crying for justice and the loss of their only sunshine in this wretched world.

But in a matter of what in the series seems like minutes, we see the police dragging the parents of the victim to their farmhouse in Teo, two miles from where the body was found.

This scene is crucial, portraying tension and intensity as the actors play their roles to the finest. Javier, a detective, is empathetic towards the parents yet observant, looking for evidence and clues as Rosario opens her house. Rosario, a grieving mother, looks dazed and out of her depth. Alfonso is aloof, cold, and isolated even at this stage. What he is thinking and feeling is all bottled inside. As an audience, we only see his stoic face and assume he is the kind of man who believes in hiding his pain.

Rosario lets Javier in and excuses herself to go to the washroom and climb the stairs. Javier, looking around the house to find some trace of Asunta, notices a washroom on the ground floor and runs to stop Rosario. It could only be a police instinct to question every action of an individual. When Rosario explains that the washroom on the ground floor doesn’t work and that’s why she was going upstairs, Javier doesn’t really believe her and asks her to step aside. As she does, Javier notices the same orange twine which was found at the murder scene.

One moment, one instinct, and Rosario becomes their prime suspect. What follows is a long battle between the police, trying to investigate in a new direction, and Judge Malvar, who leads and requests the police to arrest Rosario and later Alfonso as well.

The drama skillfully interweaves past and present scenarios, shuffling between both smoothly. The confounding events and unanswered questions keep viewers gripped, and police or not, by the end of the series, you will be drawing your own conclusions.

One must take a moment to state that while the facts, evidence, and witnesses point to Rosario and Alfonso as the culprits behind their adopted daughter’s death, the series also highlights that not everything is black and white.

The series delves into themes of parental love, trust, and betrayal. It questions the boundaries of parental love and explores whether true affection can exist in the absence of a biological bond. The narrative skillfully interweaves past and present, keeping viewers engaged with its confounding events and unanswered questions.

In addition to following the victim and the culprits, the series introduces us to the lives of Judge Malvar, who is taking care of his father, Cristina and her husband, and Javier, who lives with his wife and granddaughter. The varying degrees at which each character juggles through the day, trying to pick themselves up and share their story, is moving.

Candela Peña’s portrayal of Rosario is hauntingly effective, capturing the nuances of a mother accused of an unimaginable crime. The supporting cast, including the empathetic Detective Javier, adds depth to the storyline, making the series a compelling watch.

However, it does take you away from Asunta. Little to nothing has been told about her. Apart from her relationship with her parents, we are kept in the dark about who Asunta was and what she might have wanted.

It could be because there isn’t much said about the 12-year-old, but in a film based on her, they had the reach to people apart from her parents to get to know her and shed some light.

The direction by Carlos Sedes and Jacobo Martínez is tight and engaging, ensuring a seamless flow between past and present. The writing is sharp, and the production values are high, contributing to the show’s overall impact.

“The Asunta Case” is a must-watch for fans of true crime documentaries and psychological thrillers. It leaves viewers with lingering questions about the nature of parental love and the murky depths of human behavior. In a world where “all children deserve parents, but not all parents deserve children,” this series challenges viewers to rethink their notions of family and trust.

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