Netflix's 'Elize: Shadows of a Woman' revives Brazil's 2012 murder case

Netflix released the dramatized thriller Elize: Shadows of a Woman (also titled Elize: Sombras de uma Mulher) on 22 July 2026. The film retells the notorious 2012 crime in which Elize Matsunaga shot and dismembered her husband, Marcos Kitano Matsunaga, the heir to the Yoki food‑processing empire. Directed by Felipe Vellas and scripted by Raphael Montes and Mariana Torres, the movie stars Lorena Comparato as Elize and Henrique Kimura as Marcos, and was shot in São Paulo, the real‑life setting of the murder. While it faithfully reproduces many factual details – the surveillance‑camera footage of the elevator, the pistols and the disposal of body parts in suitcases – the narrative compresses events and adds fictional dialogue for dramatic effect. The production quickly became one of Netflix’s most‑watched titles in Brazil, sparking renewed public interest in the case, debates about the psychological evaluations performed during the trial, and curiosity about Elize’s daughter, Helena, who remains under the care of her paternal grandparents and is barred from contact with her mother. Media reports confirm that Elize received no payment for the film; her post‑conviction assets stem from the marital estate. The film follows an earlier Netflix documentary series on the same case, offering a new, dramatized perspective on a crime that shocked the nation.