AN INVISIBLE VICTIM: THE ELIZA SAMUDIO CASE is a new Netflix true crime documentary. This is a case from Brazil so the production is also Brazilian, but the story is (unfortunately) all too familiar and very universal.

The focus of this documentary is that when someone is murdered and a famous person is accused, then the victim is often forgotten. Instead, it becomes about what the famous person is losing. The runtime of the documentary is 100 minutes.

In 2010, the news of Eliza Samudio disappearing (along with her 4-month-old son) was headline news in Brazil. Mostly because the father of her child, Bruno, was suspected of being involved, and he was a famous soccer goalkeeper.

In Brazil, soccer is practically a religion in its own right and the players are worshipped as Gods. Bruno had clearly loved taking on this role of being God-like and believed he could get away with anything.

Of course, this is due to him having been able to get away with everything already. Until that is, the Eliza Samudio case became big news.

Ultimately, several people (including Bruno) were convicted for the kidnapping and murder of Eliza, but her remains still have not been found. This keeps the case alive and should mean Bruno is still in jail.

Of course, this is the real world, so the justice one would expect (and hope for) isn’t always served.

The main suspect – and convicted killer – Bruno received a rather long sentence but is already out again. Being goalkeeper and captain of Flamengo, a club with the country’s largest fan base, has quite a lot of perks.

Of course, one could also just be a swimmer at Stanford, and get away with a proverbial slap on the wrist in terms of his sentence. And get away with even less. Oh yeah, Brock Turner is never far from my mind, when I hear of these cases.

The whole “Poor man, he has his career and whole life ahead of him” as an excuse to go easy on them is sickening. And far too many people adored Bruno even as he was on trial.

After he is released a new soccer club hires him, naturally (!). However, there is some justice as the sponsors of that soccer club are not on board with supporting a convicted killer.

Yet, we all know that others will!

Watch An Invisible Victim: The Eliza Samudio Case on Netflix now!
The director of An Invisible Victim: The Eliza Samudio Case is Juliana Antunesa. The Netflix documentary was written by Carol Pires and Caroline Cavalcanti Margoni.

We hear testimonies from key individuals involved in the case. Both those who knew Eliza and Bruno. Slowly, but surely, the audience is led into the dark circumstances surrounding Eliza’s death.

And, just as the case, An Invisible Victim: The Eliza Samudio Case is invariably about Bruno as much as Eliza. That’s because the documentary highlights how much people cared about him and saw her as a golddigger.

It will (as it should) make you very angry. Especially the ending with the latest news, though new laws also came about in Brazil after this case.

An Invisible Victim: The Eliza Samudio Case is on Netflix from September 26, 2024.