Monster Chic & Murders: Why The Monster of Florence Makes Real Crime Look Better-Dressed Than the Cops

TL;DR

Like a Martini-sipping serial killer exchanging business cards—elegant, sinister, and insultingly smooth.

Here’s the punchline: The Monster of Florence is cinematic true-crime dressed in its best tux, gliding down a scenic Italian road with the top down. It looks great. It smells expensive. But when the engine revs, sometimes you hear more rumble than the car cares to show.

It’s not perfect. It doesn’t plaster you to the sofa with fear like some other entries in this genre. But it does deliver an atmosphere, a vibe, and a story that leans into criminal glamour rather than hero worship.

It’s not just a crime thriller — it’s a stylish negotiation with evil that wears cufflinks.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jY5je8XJWTo

That Olive Grove Runs on Espresso

Look, I’m not about to give you a scripted “here’s what happens” summary. But since we’re playing nice with facts: this one’s based on the real-life nightmare known as the Monster of Florence murders — eight double murders, seventeen years of terror, the same weapon: a .22 caliber Beretta.

The pacing? Like a Ferrari stuck in first gear. Yes, it moves. But sometimes you’d swear someone forgot to tell the brakes they were optional. Big, heavy scenes of scenery and paranoia dominate. “Is that the killer behind the olive tree?” “No idea — check your drink.”

If you came for a ticking-clock thriller with breakneck chase sequences — you’ll occasionally feel like you’re watching the aesthetic version of waiting for the bar to open. Pretty, sure. But your thirst for bullet-driven momentum? Might just get a watered-down gin-and-tonic instead.

Outlaws in Armani

Here’s where CRIMENET perks up: the bad guys (or bad maybe-people) get the front row. The cops? They’re background noise. Investigators tripping over their shoelaces.

This is criminal underworld glamoured up: Italy’s countryside, mysterious suspects, buried secrets, and the whisper that maybe the monster was among them all along.

Saints, snitches and badge-toting clowns get handed side-kick roles. And you know how I feel — side-kick roles for cops? Perfect. If you’re into hero-worship, go watch one of those eight bajillion “procedurals with conviction” shows. This ain’t it.

Nice Suits, Murky Motives

The acting’s competent. The cast (Marco Bullitta, Valentino Mannias, Francesca Olia) deliver their Italian lines with the required gravitas.

But tell you what: character motivations are thinner than the linen suits in Tuscany in August. The monsters glance sideways. The investigators sigh heavily. The victims? Silhouetted. I kept looking for someone to light a cigarette and drop a shrug.

The performances? Think “actor reading cue-cards next to a ruin.” Stylish, but missing the visceral cough and spit of real fear.

Style Blender Set to “Extra”

Directed by Stefano Sollima (yes, the same guy who brought us gritty crime in Gomorrah) — so expect cinematic ambition.

And it delivers: warm Tuscan copper tones, misty roads, dark forests, limousines of dread. The world looks expensive. Like someone dropped too much cash into the drinks budget for a barrel-chested capability.

But… sometimes it feels like a student film with daddy’s GoPro when the focus should’ve been raw carnage, not museum-lighting and slow-mo glances. In other words: great look, less gut-punch.

Smart Quips, Soft Hits

They’ve had good writers. But sometimes the dialogue leans toward the “I’m so deep I’ll whisper this sentence and walk away” kind.

When you expect gritty, you get poetic hesitation. “The monster might be anyone.” Oh really?  Whisper louder, maybe it’ll land.

Not awful. Never childish. Just… when you’ve seen a dozen crime thrillers where every grunt means something, this one makes you wait for the grunt.

Fetching Evil on Holiday

The crime scenes? Not a rusted warehouse with flickering fluorescents. No. Couples parked in lovers’ lanes, wooded hills outside Florence, the Beretta .22 whispering in the dark.

It’s got that “undercover Lamborghini” feel amongst serial-killer stories. Dirt under the matte paint, but still… a Lamborghini. The world you’re in is gorgeous, horrible and slightly moral-free.

And I sure as hell can appreciate that: saints dead, cops clueless, underworld sipping limoncello. Thank you very much.

Cigarette Ash Meets Espresso Machine

You’ll find the soundtrack subtle. No radio hits distracting you, no “crime-anthem” that wants to punch you in the face. More like a low hum and the tick of a watch.

It’s the perfect late-night dive-bar vibe: you’re alone with your drink, someone’s watching you from the smoke. And the music won’t distract you from the paranoia creeping in. If you like music that yells “this is edgy,” you might feel under-sound-tracked. But if you want mood? You’re covered.

Polished Brutality

There is brutality. Don’t let the moody lighting fool you. The real-life case involved mutilations, couples killed while making out, recurring gun used.

But the show keeps it classy. It’s not yet “heads roll in private, the camera lingers.” It’s more “you know what just happened, you saw the body, here’s the aftermath in long focus.”It’s violence with velvet gloves. If you want raw, blood-splattering, I-can’t-look direct horror, you’ll get teased but not butchered.

System Under Construction, Evil Under Review

If this show had a bumper-sticker it’d read: “The system is dumb, the monster is slick, and you’re just the driver.”

It doesn’t give you a tidy morality play. No hero wraps up the case. No villain gets the final checkmate. It practically sneers at closure. And I respect that. Cops, snitches, righteous crusaders? They’re the background music here. The maybe-monster in Armani gets to carry the scene.

FAQ

Is The Monster of Florence based on a true story? Yes. The miniseries draws from the case of the real-life Monster of Florence: fourteen victims (seven double murders) from 1968 to 1985, couples targeted in secluded spots with the same gun-type.

Is The Monster of Florence worth watching? If you like your true crime polished, suspicious and under-lit with the villain wearing designer loafers — then absolutely. If you want full-tilt gore, hallucinated victims, and no eleganza? Might feel like the criminal held the champagne instead of the cops.

Where can I stream The Monster of Florence? Worldwide on Netflix starting October 22, 2025.

Will the show give answers? Nope. Not definitive ones anyway. The case is notoriously unresolved. The show leans into ambiguity—a crime thriller without the bright lights of “case closed.”

What language is the show in? Italian. With subtitles optional, your choice. We’re not mucking about with English dubs in sun-soaked murder lanes.

Does it focus on the victims? Somewhat, but not only. The lens is angled more at the monster, the context, the system failing. The victims are figures in the story, not the central billboard.