Review: In ‘The Monster of Florence’, ambiguity is the only truth

One of the most striking motifs in The Monster of Florence is a top-angle view of vehicles snaking along roads after sundown. The single shaft of light making its way towards darkness – the Italian series on Netflix similarly seeks to illuminate the mysteries surrounding one of Italy’s most notorious serial killers.

This quest comes with the knowledge that the murkiness may never be cleared. The limited series isn’t about finding the man who, between 1968 and 1985, murdered at least eight couples while they were having sex in their vehicles. The victims were shot by the same weapon. All the women were mutilated.

The perpetrator was neither caught nor properly identified. The Monster of Florence, directed by reputed Italian filmmaker Stefano Sollima and written by him and Leonardo Fasoli, takes refuge in the Rashomon effect. The show lines up several suspects, replays the same incident from various angles, and shifts perspectives between the characters.

In 1985, after hearing about the latest murder, magistrate Silvia (Liliana Bottone) remarks that the perpetrator has to be a misogynist. Silvia and her team revisit older cases, correctly surmising that the brutal slayings have a longer trail than is apparent.

The slayings are rooted in a quadrangular relationship. The brothers Salvatore (Valentino Mannias) and Francesco (Giacomo...

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