Wednesday, March 6, 2019

When Angels Sleep (2018)

Crossing the line

By: JWBM

This Spanish made thriller is essentially about a perfect storm of events leading up to someone getting hurt from one bad choice after another. It doesn't outright lay its cards on the table, but it instead requires you to individually process the situation by leaving room for interpretation to some debatable aspects: from an over-worked society, trying to be everywhere at once for your family, to not accepting responsibility. No one in this film is capable of listening, asking for help, or following the rules. It's like watching a preventable, horrific train wreck from a little thing called stubbornness we often succumb to.

What's different over your typical story is it blurs the lines between good and bad. There is no hero or better person, though there may be a villain in some form of the definition. There may be someone to root for, or nothing they may do may be relatable in the slightest and get on your nerves. It depends on your patience, morals, or stand points to analyze and pick apart the layers. Sure, the police and the courts would have something to say about it, but it's at a gray point where things turn into a tangled mess. It reminds me in some ways of the beginning of "Breaking Bad," though with different people in different circumstances. Specifically where the character initially crosses the line, and then after is locked into creating his own framework that's at a complete 180 from the societal norm for the sake of his family.

The majority of the film takes place in rural areas at night, so attempting to watch this with any shred of light in the room and you may end up squinting. Its mode of action starts to shuffle itself back and forth with driving this way, running that way, or fighting over here. The performances—I'd recommend the Spanish language version over the dubbed—from the two leads gives this a certain divide, where oh-crap-I-messed-up desperation meets I-took-some-scary-drugs panic. Some of the latter was amped up to the extreme to further the narrative. While possibly true to the state of confusion and distortion of reality, it still can come across as about as fun as attempting to argue logic with your aggressive, drunk friend.

While not a perfect execution of its more action oriented scenes or its more complex themes, the film—while also not a pleasant or appeasing experience in the normal sense—is still worth a go if you're looking for a challenging debate between your friends.

Rating: 6/10

Director: Gonzalo Bendala (Asesinos inocentes)
Actors: Julian Villagran, Ester Exposito, Marian Alvarez
Info: IMDB link
Trailer: YouTube link

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