Eddie Redmayne and Jessica Chastain star in Netflix’s Angel of Death, based on the true story book by Charlie Cullen and Amy Loughren.
Charlie Cullen’s case is known by many, especially in the United States. And even if you don’t know the details, you’ve probably heard a story about someone similar: a nurse who abandons the principles he’s sworn to uphold and kills his patient.
This familiarity is what the ‘Angel of Death’ movie has to overcome, and by choosing not to hide what we know – that Charlie Cullen is a murderer – ‘The Angel of Death’ manages to forge a background of authentic suspense that has less to do with his victims and more to do with his friendship with Amy Loughrenthe woman who would be his undoing.
Starring Eddie Redmayne and Jessica Chastain, ‘The Angel of Death’ does not lack convening power. Both actors are familiar with playing real-life people and approach their roles with a sense of duty not only to the real people, but also to the story at hand.
From his first stooped, shuffling steps, it’s clear that Redmayne has chosen a particular vein to play Charlie: that of self-loathing and relative anonymity.. In this role, Redmayne makes use of his particular acting style, a kind of sheepishness that borders on aggressiveness.
It suits the character well, but it’s also hard to sometimes forget that you’re looking at Redmayne himself. He’s less of a chameleon than other actors, but it’s also easy to imagine that the real Charlie Cullen was exactly how Redmayne portrayed him.
Chastain is also one of those actresses who excels in her roles, a quality that makes it more difficult to be drawn into the story. Curiously, the moments when it’s easiest to allow yourself to forget the actors is when Redmayne and Chastain share the scene with a light-hearted camaraderie.. You can feel the friendship building between them, knowing at the same time that it’s only going to end in tears.
‘The Angel of Death’ also eschews the typical “true story” formula of other films like ‘Spotlight,’ in which discovery and understanding of evidence are part of the dramatic development. In ‘The Angel of Death’ the tests are direct and relatively easy to understand: you don’t have to find a needle in a haystack, nor do you have to follow breadcrumbs.
Curiously, the real villain of ‘The angel of death’ is capitalism. Detectives Baldwin and Braun (Nnamdi Asomugha and Noah Emmerich, respectively) take on the hospital boards that have covered up for Cullen time and time again, all to save themselves the financial and reputational ruin that admitting responsibility for him could mean.
Meanwhile, Loughren is hanging by a thread in her job as a night nurse – and in her life – so that she can receive healthcare and finally solve her congestive heart failure.
Cullen’s support of Loughren is ironic in the extreme, and perhaps a film with a clearer vision could have made this deadly irony the backbone of its story. ‘The Angel of Death’ tries to be somewhere between the intimate biographical thriller and the great social commentary, but it does not succeed.
Nevertheless, if you like real crimes and enjoy watching the actors act, ‘The Angel of Death’ is a slow and well-crafted movie. Its most notable feature is the sound design, which draws a parallel between prisons and hospitals, and the way hospital boards become not just jailers, but killers as well.
Source: Fotogramas
Camila Luna is a writer at Gossipify, where she covers the latest movies and television series. With a passion for all things entertainment, Camila brings her unique perspective to her writing and offers readers an inside look at the industry. Camila is a graduate from the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) with a degree in English and is also a avid movie watcher.
