El Angel (Spanish: El ángel) is a 2018 Argentine-Spanish true crime film directed by Luis Ortega.[3][4] It was screened in the Un Certain Regard section at the 2018 Cannes Film Festival.[5][6] 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, but it was not nominated.[7][8]

El Angel
Film poster
SpanishEl ángel
Directed byLuis Ortega
Written byLuis Ortega
Produced by
Starring
CinematographyJulián Apezteguia
Edited byGuillermo Gatti
Production
companies
Distributed by
Release dates
  • 11 May 2018 (2018-05-11) (Cannes)
  • 9 August 2018 (2018-08-09) (Argentina)
Running time
118 minutes
Countries
  • Argentina
  • Spain
LanguageSpanish
Box office$5.6 million[1][2]

Plot

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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

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Reception

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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."[9] For The Canadian Press, David Friend said Ferro's performance evokes "the demonic cuteness of Macaulay Culkin in The Good Son."[10]

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."[11] On Rotten Tomatoes 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."[12]

See also

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References

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  1. ^ "El Angel". Box Office Mojo. Retrieved 28 September 2018.
  2. ^ "El Angel". The Numbers. Retrieved 21 November 2018.
  3. ^ "Cannes Film Review: 'El Angel'". Variety. 12 May 2018. Retrieved 26 August 2018.
  4. ^ "Luis Ortega thriller 'The Angel' finds French home". ScreenDaily. Retrieved 26 August 2018.
  5. ^ "The 2018 Official Selection". Cannes. 12 April 2018. Retrieved 12 April 2018.
  6. ^ "Cannes Lineup Includes New Films From Spike Lee, Jean-Luc Godard". Variety. 12 April 2018. Retrieved 12 April 2018.
  7. ^ "Premios Oscar: El ángel representará a la Argentina". La Nacion. 26 September 2018. Archived from the original on 31 December 2018. Retrieved 26 September 2018.
  8. ^ Laing, Jamie (26 September 2018). "Argentina Selects Luis Ortega's 'El Angel' for Foreign Language Oscar Submission". Variety. Retrieved 26 September 2018.
  9. ^ Castillo, Monica. "El Angel Movie Review & Film Summary (2018)". RogerEbert.com. Retrieved 7 August 2019.
  10. ^ Friend, David (15 September 2018). "Five movies you might've missed: Smaller standout Toronto film festival picks". CTV/The Canadian Press. Retrieved 8 August 2019.
  11. ^ Lengel, Kerry (5 December 2018). "'El Ángel' review: A notorious serial killer becomes a glamorous enigma". The Arizona Republic. Retrieved 10 June 2024.
  12. ^ "The Angel". Rotten Tomatoes. Fandango. Retrieved 10 June 2024.
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