Appropriately titled, Netflix’s latest true crime docuseries “The Disappearance of Madeleine McCann” tells the story of, well, the disappearance of the young child named Madeleine McCann that captured the hearts and minds of people all over the world in 2007. And judging by the trailer, this is probably the latest in a long stretch of docuseries that will become discussed by millions of armchair Netflix detectives for months to come.
By this point, when a trailer for a new Netflix true crime series is released, you know what to expect. And ‘Madeleine McCann’ doesn’t break the mold. There’s plenty of intrigue, hints at red herrings and police corruption, and a feeling that “Now, they can finally solve it!” This familiar structure doesn’t necessarily mean that the new docuseries is going to be bad. Actually, more times than not, if you’re a true crime aficionado, then Netflix doesn’t steer you into something terrible. For all their faults, and these sorts of docuseries have plenty, the streaming service’s true crime output typically presents some compelling hours of television.
For those not aware of the crime at the center of this new series, Madeleine McCann is a young girl that was on holiday with her family in Portugal. While on a resort, she disappears with no trace. From there, the picture of the girl that is presented to the public goes viral and the search for the little child becomes a worldwide phenomenon.
And as you might expect with these sorts of missing children stories, blame gets aimed at various folks including child predators, random strangers, and, of course, the parents. If you remember the JonBenet Ramsey case, then think of the Madeleine McCann story as the more recent, global equivalent.
“The Disappearance of Madeleine McCann” arrives on Netflix on March 15.