Abstract

In recent years, we have seen many streaming series that have addressed real crimes that have shocked humanity. The rescue of dense stories has a direct appeal to the consuming public. This article aims to debate the ethical limits of the screenwriter’s choice in order to avoid falling into the appeal of sensationalism, offering as a framework the series “Elisa Matsunaga: Once Upon a Crime” (2021), by Eliza Capai, and “Pacto Brutal: The Murder of Daniela Perez” (2022), by Guto Barra and Tatiana Issa. In terms of theoretical foundation, we will work with “The Rise of True Crime” by Jean Murley (2008), “Modus Operandi” by Carol Moreira and Mabê Bonafé (2022), and “Toward a Theory of True Crime Narratives” by Ian Case Punnett (2018). Starting from the reconstruction of reality for writing, how far can the screenwriter guide the viewer within a trial that is already born in the media with the appeal of conviction?