Content warning: This article includes mentions of sexual assault.
About ten years ago, the #MeToo movement began spreading awareness and empowering the voices of sexual assault survivors. Amid growing discussion about how victims of sexual assault struggle to be believed, many film and TV productions chose to tackle the topic by portraying female survivors as helpless.
But Netflix’s new true crime series released on March 27, “The Predator of Seville,” provides a surprisingly uplifting tale of a survivor’s search for justice.
The docuseries follows the story of Gabrielle Vega who, as a university student on a study abroad program in Spain in 2013, was sexually assaulted by tour guide Manuel Blanco Vela. Blanco Vela ran an excursion company targeted towards American students, which served as an avenue for putting him in regular contact with women in their late teens and early 20s.
The beginning of the show is bleak, to say the least. Vega recalls her story of participating in an excursion to Morocco with friends where Blanco Vela drugged and assaulted her in the girls’ hotel room. She then delves into her life after returning to the United States, where she completely retreated into herself, burdened with trauma and the fear of telling anyone the truth of her travels.
Personal and raw individual interviews of Vega and her mother work together to construct drastically different images of Vega’s life before and after the event.
After years of silence and depression, Vega told her parents about the assault while maintaining a steadfast refusal to report the incident to authorities. After a long period of healing, Vega turned to social media to raise awareness about the dangers of Blanco Vela’s operation.
This is where her story unexpectedly shifted. People began responding to her message with their own stories of survival after being abused by Blanco Vela, particularly after she appeared on a 2018 segment of the “Megyn Kelly TODAY” television program.
The series does a fantastic job of displaying Vega’s strength as she mounted a full-scale investigation into Blanco Vela’s crimes, without the help of authorities, all while respecting the identities of the women she was in contact with.
Interviews with other victims are strategically placed throughout the series, highlighting the impact of Blanco Vela’s crimes on other women while showing Vega — and the audience — that she is not alone in her experience.
The victims recount their own stories as they become part of Vega’s investigation, forming an overwhelming union of survivors. For viewers, this is an incredibly touching moment of pride as they can tangibly recognise the effect of Vega’s efforts and bear witness to the interconnected relief felt by all the women featured.
Although Vega’s years of work and being forced to relive her trauma are appropriately commended onscreen, the series makes clear that this is not just Vega’s story. It is the collective story of the approximately 50 women who came forward — and of other survivors of sexual assault. The series provides proof that their experiences have not taken away from their strength.
The show began filming in the lead up to Blanco Vela’s trial, which Vega managed to effectuate, and included clips of her and her family in the weeks and days before. The audience witnesses the anxiety surrounding Blanco Vela’s defense, with Vega having to relive her trauma yet again and confront the age-old question of whether or not she will be believed.
Thankfully, viewers are invited into the moment when Vega learns of Blanco Vela’s guilty conviction, and Vega’s sense of triumph and relief emulates through the screen. Years of social media deep dives, interactions with news outlets, calls with victims and meetings with the Spanish Ambassador have led to this moment of vindication.
After three episodes of following Vega’s struggles, the audience experiences this vindication with her due to the docuseries’ tact for unpicking the layers of work that she offered to the case. The raw image of her on a zoom call, bursting into tears at the news is sure to stay at the forefront of many minds.
The final interviews are tearjerkers, as other victims express their wish for Vega to finally put this experience to rest. Vega herself closes the series by describing what she wishes to do with the rest of her life — live peacefully and move on.
Millie Barter is a senior staff writer covering RISD.
