Every weekend, there’s at least one new show added to Netflix that seems like a can’t-miss binge-watch.
This weekend, it’s No One Saw Us Leave, a gripping true story of a wealthy Jewish family that is thrown into chaos when the patriarch takes his children abroad and leaves the mother behind after discovering her alleged affair.
The series is an affecting portrait of love lost and a family in personal turmoil. But is it entirely fictional or based on fact?
Watch With Us answers that question and argues why it’s one of Netflix’s best shows on right now.
Is ‘No One Saw Us Leave’ Based on a True Story?
Yes. No One Saw Us Leave is based on author Tamara Trottner‘s 2020 autobiography of the same name. It details the ordeal she experienced as a child in her wealthy Jewish-Mexican family, when she and her brother were taken from their mother by their father. The first line of the book is as follows: “I have just turned five. This is the last day of my childhood.”
The autobiography details this parental kidnapping, in which her father relocated them multiple times to different countries around the world over the span of three years, all to keep them from their mother. No One Saw Us Leave chronicles a crime, yes, but it isn’t exactly what you’d called “true crime.” It’s a little more complicated than that, a bit more nuanced. It’s a human, character-driven story.
‘No One Saw Us Leave’ Explores Several Complex Themes
No One Saw Us Leave isn’t just thrills and child abduction for the macabre fascination of it all — it’s also a deeply complicated look at several themes about motherhood, memory, class dynamics and patriarchal power. When Valeria Goldberg (Tessa Ia) missteps in her marriage, her husband Leo (Emiliano Zurita) begins scheming to get his children away from her. The son of an influential businessman, Leo’s family wants nothing more than to ruin his wife’s reputation and ostracize her from her community.
It’s an interesting look at a wealthy woman’s place during the 1960s, and how societal pressures, expectations, desire to be the perfect mother and fear of stigma ultimately lead Valeria to do what she does and instantly fall out of favor among her elite, insular community. One false move, one faltering in the facade of perfection, and the rich will instantly cannibalize each other.
The Plot is a Globe-Trotting Thrill Ride
When Leo takes his children away from Valeria, they move to numerous countries around the globe over the span of multiple years — and so Valeria follows suit. Alongside the characters, viewers are transported to several countries like South Africa, France and Israel as Leo stays on the move and Valeria follows him.
Shortly after Valeria realizes that her children are gone, she hires a former Mossad agent and current private investigator named Elías to help her track them down. Thus, we travel the world with Valeria, Leo and the kids in a tragic game of cat-and-mouse. In the meantime, Valeria also battles with Leo’s family back in Mexico, who are doing everything they can to destroy their daughter-in-law’s reputation.
The Five-Episode Arc Keeps Things Tight and Concise
Emiliano Zurita in No One Saw Us Leave Netflix
Sometimes, limited true crime series can suffer from going overboard on the episodes, stretching out a relatively short plot longer than it needs to be, padding out overwrought character moments and contrived storytelling. And while No One Saw Us Leave adds some shoehorned melodrama to make a real story even better suited for the screen, the restrained nature of the season length makes for a taut, tight narrative.
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The episodes don’t just feature the present chase between Valeria and Leo, but include numerous flashbacks to uncover the fraught couple’s arranged marriage and its slow unraveling. Context is needed for the series’ predicament to hold the necessary amount of complexity and emotional weight, but No One Saw Us Leave never overdoes it. Doling out just the right amount of information, stakes and suspense to keep the plotting at just the right pace, all leading to an immensely satisfying conclusion.
