The tragic death of Jean Charles de Menezes at the hands of a Metropolitan Police firearms squad on July 22, 2005, is a case that has long been surrounded by misconceptions and inaccuracies. Many may recall that this innocent Brazilian man, heading to work on an ordinary day, supposedly jumped over the barriers of a Tube station while being pursued by the police. In reality, it was the officers who vaulted the barriers.

When the police stormed the Tube carriage, he was never confronted or told to stop, nor did he “refuse to obey” as later suggested by Metropolitan Police Chief Ian Blair. The tragic outcome, with officers firing their weapons at close range, resulted in his death. It’s worth noting that just two weeks after the July 7 terror attacks in London, there was an additional plot to bomb the city, which fortunately failed.

The drama “Suspect: The Shooting of Jean Charles de Menezes” (available on Disney+) portrays the true events surrounding this incident, expressing an evident frustration at the handling by the Metropolitan Police. The portrayal of high-ranking officials such as Blair and Cressida Dick, who oversaw the operation, prompts questions about their reactions to the depiction. The narrative, penned by Jeff Pope, aims to evoke strong emotions akin to those found in other impactful dramas.

This four-part series seamlessly transitions between elements of a suspenseful thriller, family tragedy, internal police tensions, and courtroom drama, bringing to life the inquests held after the shooting. While ambitious, each aspect of the story is conveyed with precision, and the central moment of de Menezes’s death acts as a shocking reminder of the brutality involved.

The series opens by thrusting viewers into the aftermath of the July 7 bombings—not by showcasing the chaos of the explosions themselves but by illustrating the scene left in the wake of the devastation, with forensic investigators entering a damaged Tube carriage on the Piccadilly line. The horror is palpable, as the lead investigator (Daniel Mays) remarks, “Most of the dead have severe trauma and amputations to their lower limbs and trunks.”

Shortly thereafter, scenes depicting the tense atmosphere of the Tube in the wake of the attacks capture the anxiety felt by Londoners during that time.

While some may feel that too much emphasis is placed on the unsuccessful July 21 bombing plotters, this context is vital for understanding how the police inadvertently followed Jean Charles de Menezes (played by newcomer Edison Alcaide) from a residential complex in South London. From that point, the drama truly grips the audience.

Pope’s script cleverly exposes inconsistencies in the narrative—most notably the absence of CCTV footage from the Tube station where de Menezes was killed—but shines in its portrayal of the secretive discussions held during the investigation; these include conversations among firearms officers both before and after the shooting, and exchanges between Blair (Conleth Hill) and his deputy assistant Brian Paddick (Russell Tovey), who struggle over the timeline regarding when Blair confirmed de Menezes’s innocence following the incident.

Such a narrative naturally requires antagonistic figures, and Blair’s representation may disturb him due to the emphasis on reputation management during the crisis. Emily Mortimer delivers a chilling performance as Dick, exhibiting a cold defiance as she maintains that no police officer acted wrongly during the operation.

The incident involving de Menezes was indeed a catastrophic error. In an age where fiction sometimes reveals uncomfortable truths, this television drama seeks to address the numerous inaccuracies that have lingered in the public consciousness.