Murder by the Coast is a Netflix true-crime documentary that is part-Spanish-part-English. It qualifies as a whodunnit, a case of wrongful conviction, and yet another instance of multiple women being mistreated. Writer-director Tània Balló approaches the murder case(s) objectively, never taking sides or focusing on wild theories surrounding it. The individuals picked for the interviews shed further light on two separate incidents of murder in a very direct, factual manner. Any text that appears within the film is shown first in Spanish, followed by English. This style encapsulates the Spanish-British story overlap in a perfect way. With a run-time of under 90 minutes, Murder by the Coast makes for crisp viewing.
Coming to the incidents themselves, the documentary makes you feel for its central characters and questions the unfair nature of media trials. The trauma inflicted upon the women - ranging from the mothers of the murder victims, the lesbian who was convicted because she easily "fit the profile" (are you serious?), the woman who was attacked and left severely injured by the offender, the ex-wife of the offender - are all showcased without distorting facts or overplaying emotions. I'd have loved to see a short interview of Dolores Vázquez where she could speak against the miscarriage of justice meted out to her. The authorities who allowed Tony Alexander King to commit more murders and the media which resorted to feeding frenzy should both be ashamed of themselves.
