When Angels Sleep (2/5)

When Angels Sleep is a new Netflix thriller from Spain [org. title Cuando los ángeles duermen]. It’s a rather dark story based on very unfortunate events. The movie as a whole could have been a lot better! 

When Angels Sleep is a Netflix thriller from Spain, which does have a lot of potential. It’s a pretty basic “It could happen to you” story. Except not really.

A few of the events could definitely happen to anyone, but too much is thrown on top of this. The result is a much more unbelievable story with annoying characters.

Another problem is the fact that none of the characters are likable. This results in the viewer not really caring about the outcome. That’s almost the worst thing a movie could encounter; Total indifference!

It’s not all bad

While the characters are pretty damn annoying and the story becomes increasingly erratic When Angels Sleep does have its good sides. For one, it does have a very high production value.

It looks really good and the actors do deliver very good portrayals.

Again, the problem here is the fact that the characters aren’t very good. More to the point, they are shallow and very one dimensional. We have no reason to really care about any of them. This goes for both the insurance guy, the teenage girls, and the young tough guys. I could not care less.

The only characters, I really care about are those waiting at home. And the fact that the insurance guy has “good people” waiting at home for him, does not make him good or interesting by association. 

Spanish productions tend to be better

I will give When Angels Sleep one bit of defense in regards to storyline and characters; I don’t speak Spanish. This means I’m at the mercy of those who translate the lines for subtitles. Sometimes, these lines didn’t entirely make sense. 

This, in turn, makes me wonder if maybe there are parts of the story that I’m missing out on.

I speak English and Danish while understanding most German, Norwegian, and Swedish. And I know from the subtitles of movies, where I do understand the language, that they can be very wrong.

So, of course, I also have to give this Netflix subtitled When Angels Sleep the benefit of the doubt.

Also, I do tend to love Spanish movies. This is the reason why I am planning to learn Spanish. Because honestly, choosing a dubbed version is never an option for me. Besides, who’s to say the dubbing is any better than the subtitles.

If you love horror and sci-fi and want to watch something in Spanish, you should go for the new Mexican Netflix series Diablero or the sci-fi thriller The Warning [El aviso].

Watch When Angels Sleep on Netflix now!

The original Spanish title for When Angels Sleep is Cuando los ángeles duermen. The thriller was originally released in Spain in September of 2018, but with this Netflix release, many countries get to see it.

The movie was written and directed by Gonzalo Bendala. This is only his second feature film as a director, but he has done quite a few short films in the past. And he has written even more short films.

The short film Días rojos from 2004 won him a few awards. Now he seems to be focusing on feature films and with this Netflix exposure, he’s reached a bigger audience.

When Angels Sleep is out on Netflix in several countries from December 28, 2018.

Yes, this is the same day as the Black Mirror movie event Black Mirror: Bandersnatch, which we’ve reviewed here >

Details

Original title: Cuando los ángeles duermen
Director: Gonzalo Bendala
Cast: Ester Exposito | Sira Alonso de Alarcon | Asia Ortega | Julian Villagran | Daniel Jumillas | Marian Alvarez | Christian Mulas

Plot

A businessman falls asleep at the wheel and hits a woman with his car. His interactions with her frightened friend unleash a string of dark events.