HBO Max announces documentary series Poeta Canibal

HBO Max is releasing a three-episode documentary series titled “Poeta Caníbal,” scheduled to premiere on October 29. The production revisits the controversial criminal case of José Luis Calva Zepeda, a man known in Mexico as the “Cannibal Poet.”

Calva Zepeda, who worked as a taxi driver, poet, and actor in Mexico City, was arrested in 2007 following the death of his partner, Alejandra Galeana. Investigations at the time uncovered evidence of violence and mutilation. While he was suspected of being a serial killer involved in the deaths of multiple women, he died by suicide in 2007 while awaiting trial.

The series utilizes archival police and forensic records, judicial files, and a previously incomplete 2007 interview conducted by journalist Luis Brito. It features new testimonies from individuals close to the case, including Calva Zepeda’s sister, Claudia Calva Zepeda, as well as criminologists and forensic specialists to analyze his patterns of behavior and the institutional failures surrounding the investigation.