Barreda film debuts on Prime Video reconstructing 1992 crime

The film ‘Barreda’, directed by Daniela Goggi, has premiered on Prime Video, reconstructing the 1992 quadruple femicide committed by dentist Ricardo Barreda in La Plata, Argentina. The production features Luis Machín as Barreda, with Carla Peterson, Mercedes Morán, Maite Lanata, and Margarita Páez portraying the victims: his wife Gladys McDonald, his mother-in-law Elena Arreche, and daughters Cecilia and Adriana Barreda.

Cast members and critics note that the film aims to shift the narrative away from the 1990s social phenomenon that often romanticized or justified Barreda as a victim of circumstance. Instead, the film focuses on the victims and provides a gender perspective on the crime, which occurred at a time when domestic violence and femicide were not widely recognized as such in public discourse.

The film depicts the deterioration of family relations leading up to the massacre, where Barreda used a shotgun to kill the four women before attempting to claim a robbery had occurred.