''El Angel'' () is a 2018 Argentine-Spanish
true crime
True crime is a genre of non-fiction work in which an author examines a crime, including detailing the actions of people associated with and affected by the crime, and investigating the perpetrator's Motive (law), motives. True crime works often ...
film directed by
Luis Ortega. It was screened in the
Un Certain Regard
(; 'A Certain Glance') is a section of the Cannes Film Festival's official selection. It is run at the Debussy, parallel to the competition for the . This section was introduced in 1978 by Gilles Jacob.
The section presents 20 films with unusua ...
section at the
2018 Cannes Film Festival
The 71st annual Cannes Film Festival took place from 8 to 19 May 2018. Australian actress Cate Blanchett served as jury president for the main competition. Japanese filmmaker Hirokazu Kore-eda won the ''Palme d'Or'', the festival's top prize, fo ...
.
It is inspired by the true story of Argentine serial killer
Carlos Robledo Puch. It was selected as the Argentine entry for the
Best Foreign Language Film at the
91st Academy Awards
The 91st Academy Awards ceremony, presented by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (AMPAS), honored the best 2018 in film, films of 2018 and took place on February 24, 2019, at the Dolby Theatre in Hollywood, Los Angeles. During th ...
, but it was not nominated.
Plot
Carlos is a 17-year-old teenager with the face of an angel whom no one can resist. He gets everything he wants. In high school he meets Ramón and together they form a dangerously charming duo. They embark on a path of theft and lies, and quickly killing becomes a way of communicating.
Cast
*
Lorenzo Ferro as
Carlos Robledo Puch
*
Chino Darín as Ramón Peralta
*
Mercedes Morán
Mercedes Beatriz Morán (; born 1955) is an Argentine actress, known for her role in the television miniseries '' Culpables''.
Early life and career
Morán was born in Concarán, San Luis Province in 1955. Her mother was an "ultra-Catholic" r ...
as Ana María Peralta
* Daniel Fanego as José Peralta
*
Luis Gnecco
Luis Enrique Gnecco Dessy (born 12 December 1962) is a Chilean actor.
Besides his work in Chilean telenovelas and films ('' Johnny 100 Pesos'', the Academy Award nominated '' No'', ''El bosque de Karadima'', ''A Fantastic Woman'' and '' Neruda ...
as Héctor Robledo Puch
*
Peter Lanzani
Juan Pedro "Peter" Lanzani (born 24 August 1990) is an Argentine actor and singer and former child model. He is best known for his role on the Cris Morena television series ''Casi Ángeles'' playing Thiago Bedoya Agüero, and as a member of the ...
as Miguel Prieto
*
Cecilia Roth
Cecilia Edith Rotenberg Gutkin (born 8 August 1956), known professionally as Cecilia Roth () is an Argentine actress. She is the winner of two Goya Awards and a European Film Award. She is known for being an " Almodóvar girl" and the "muse" ...
as Aurora Robledo Puch
* Malena Villa as Marisol/Magdalena
Reception
Monica Castillo of RogerEbert.com wrote that director Luis Ortega took liberties with the inspiration story by reimagining Carlos as a gay psychopathic killer, despite a lack of any proof this was true in reality. Castillo complimented lead actor
Lorenzo Ferro's performance as "eerily hollow and effectively scary" but said eventually "the character's eerie coldness leaves the movie feeling shallow." For The Canadian Press, David Friend said Ferro's performance evokes "the demonic cuteness of
Macaulay Culkin
Macaulay Macaulay Culkin Culkin (born Macaulay Carson Culkin; ) is an American actor and musician. Considered one of the most successful child actors of the 1990s, Culkin has received a Golden Globe Award nomination and other accolades. In 200 ...
in ''
The Good Son''."
Kerry Lengel of Arizona Republic said, "Ferro really has created a fascinating screen character. He is, in a word, sexy, and not just for his androgynous beauty but for that supposedly masculine glamour of the daredevil, the outlaw who refuses to play by society’s rules." On
Rotten Tomatoes
Rotten Tomatoes is an American review aggregator, review-aggregation website for film and television. The company was launched in August 1998 by three undergraduate students at the University of California, Berkeley: Senh Duong, Patrick Y. Lee ...
the film has a 73% approval rating from critics based on 56 reviews. The site's critics consensus reads: "As unsettling as it is entertaining, El ángel takes an absorbingly stylish look at the horrific exploits of a real-life serial killer."
See also
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*
References
External links
*
2018 films
2018 crime drama films
2010s serial killer films
2010s biographical films
2010s Spanish-language films
2018 LGBTQ-related films
Argentine LGBTQ-related films
Argentine crime drama films
Argentine biographical films
20th Century Fox films
LGBTQ-related films based on actual events
El Deseo films
2010s Spanish films
2010s Argentine films
Spanish-language crime drama films
Spanish crime drama films
LGBTQ-related crime drama films
Crime drama films based on actual events
Spanish LGBTQ-related films
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