Eloá the Hostage: Live on TV – Review | Netflix

ELOÁ THE HOSTAGE: LIVE ON TV on Netflix is a new true crime documentary about a grotesque hostage situation with a fatal outcome. Actually, the entire situation leading up to that moment is also wild – as is the aftermath. Read our Eloá the Hostage: Live on TV documentary review here!

ELOÁ THE HOSTAGE: LIVE ON TV is a new Netflix documentary about a kidnapping that took place in October 2008 in Brazil. It turns into a hostage situation lasting more than 100 hours.

It also includes the kidnapper being live on TV doing interviews during negotiations with the police. As a true crime documentary, this isn’t a particularly strong production as it seems to expect a prior familiarity with the crime. That’s never a good starting point.

Continue reading our Eloá the Hostage: Live on TV documentary review below. Find it on Netflix now.

Media frenzy meets police incompetence

The kidnapping of 15-year-old Eloá led to a huge media frenzy. Of course, the fact that she was kidnapped by her 22-year-old ex-boyfriend, Lindemberg Alves, who was friends with Eloá’s brother, only added to the drama og it all.

It all happened in the city of Santo André, São Paulo, and had the nation in a vice grip, with it being broadcast live across multiple television channels. Negotiations with the police were happening simultaneously, but the police did not come out of this well.

With the Eloá the Hostage documentary, we get unreleased excerpts from the diary of teenager Eloá Pimentel. This is one way to allow her to speak, but these words also come from a time in her life when she had no way of knowing how it would evolve.

And ultimately end.

Had she known, I can imagine she would have had some additional commentary that would have been better. Also, while we hear from her family members (parents and two brothers), we never hear from her friend Nayara.

She was the only one present during the final moments of Eloá’s life. She stayed by her side and tried to help, and was then “rewarded” with the police calling her a liar. Something she fought back against.

Grooming and abuse

There are many things that go awry during this true crime case. Mostly, the role of the media and the awful decisions by the police are highlighted.

However, the fact that this all begins when a 20-year-old man takes an interest in a 12-year-old girl years earlier isn’t much of a focus. I feel it should have been.

To me, the fact that it isn’t a big part of this documentary highlights a core problem.

Instead, we hear excerpts from the diary of the victim, who dreams of being engaged to her would-be murderer. A clear sign that she had been groomed into thinking this man was her future, when he would in fact become her end.

At the very least, much of the aftermath ought to have been about this age difference.

Watch Eloá the Hostage: Live on TV on Netflix now

Cris Ghattas is the director of this Netflix documentary, and the runtime of 84 minutes is good. However, it’s definitely best if you know about the case before watching it. Check out details on Wikipedia here.

If you want to really get angry, prepare for the sentencing and how it has changed over the years. Including the update on where the murderer, Lindemberg Alves, is currently being “punished”.

The case may have shaken Brazil when it happened, but they clearly need to be shaken up yet again and demand actual justice for Eloá.

Eloá the Hostage: Live on TV is on Netflix globally on November 12, 2025.

Details

Director: Cris Ghattas
Screenplay: Tainá Muhringer, Ricky Hiraoka