The Dead Girls – Series Review | Netflix

THE DEAD GIRLS on Netflix is a new crime thriller series from Mexico (org. title: Las muertas). The season has 6 episodes and features lots of dark comedy along with several storytellers. Read our full The Dead Girls series review here!

THE DEAD GIRLS is a new Netflix series from Mexico (org. title: Las muertas). This is a crime and thriller series that also features elements of action and dark comedy. It’s very entertaining and worth checking out.

Each of the six episodes in the season has a runtime of over one hour, so it’s not a quick watch in that sense. However, I never felt the episodes ran on for too long – maybe because we get the story from multiple angles to shake it up.

Continue reading our The Dead Girls series review below. Find all six episodes on Netflix from September 10, 2025.

Mexico in the 1960s

The world we’re introduced to in The Dead Girls is riddled with crime and corruption. People are getting murdered left and right while law enforcement is paid to look the other way.

Not least when murder victims are young women working in one of the many brothels around. In that sense, not much has changed, as it seems to still be the case in most countries.

With The Dead Girls (org. title: Las muertas), we’re following the rise and fall of the sisters Arcángela and Serafina Baladro. In Mexico in the 1960s, the Baladro sisters managed to build an empire of brothels.

Also, they became infamous in history due to their ruthless nature. One that resulted in them becoming actual serial killers in the country, before the term “serial killers” was even used.

Yes, Las muertas is based on a true story

While the Mexican Netflix series The Dead Girls (or Las muertas in Spanish) is a work of fiction, it is based on real events. In that sense, this Netflix series could also be labeled true crime.

Well, as much as most other fictionalized true crime productions anyway.

The Dead Girls (which is based on a novel) fictionalizes the lives of the very real Mexican serial killers known as “Las Poquianchis”. Just like in this Netflix production, Las Poquianchis were four sisters.

Their family name wasn’t Baladro but rather González Valenzuela. You can read up on the real story on Wikipedia, but I recommend doing so after watching the six episodes in the crime thriller series.

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The true crimes were (at least!) as brutal as shown in this series, but what makes it work is the use of dark comedy. Without that, this would have been an extremely dark and sinister watch.

Now, we get to hear the story from multiple angles (not unlike The Girlfriend on Prime Video, which was released the same day), which helps offer several versions of events.

The truth is probably somewhere in the middle of everything, but with all the corruption and lies, it’s hard to know anything for sure. Also, episode 1 especially features many very steamy and unclothed scenes. Just sayin’!

Watch The Dead Girls on Netflix now

The director of this new Mexican Netflix series is Luis Estrada, who previously made the 2010 movie El infierno with a similar vibe. He also wrote the teleplays with Jaime Sampietro. Rodrigo Santos was a collaborating writer.

The series is based on the novel “Las Muertas” by Jorge Ibargüengoitia. Both the novel and this Netflix series fictionalize true crimes that are part of the history of Mexico. From the brothels to the murders and the corruption.

In fact, the element of corruption essentially means that no one can tell for sure what the true story actually is. What we do know is that several people were killed, and four sisters were convicted of many crimes.

For the record, I don’t mean that I think the sisters are innocent. I just want to highlight that it’s difficult to gather exactly what the truth is, which is part of the reason why the use of multiple storytellers and angles is brilliant.

The Dead Girls premieres on Netflix on September 10, 2025.

Details

Director: Luis Estrada
Cast: Paulina Gaitán (Sin nombre), Arcelia Ramírez, Joaquín Cosío, Alfonso Herrera (Sense8, Rebel Moon)