It isn't the worst thing I've ever seen, but the characters are written to have the most annoying traits and dialouge imaginable. The girl is so annoying and belligerent that you just wish for him to kill her so she shuts up. I'll give credit for the idea not being repeatedly overdone (In this exact scenario anyway), but I seriously couldn't wait for it to end because of how annoying the characters were. I never expect Netflix originals to be amazing, but this movie was very frustrating to watch. I felt annoyed the entire time. If you do not speak Spanish it is best to watch it with subtitles instead of being dubbed to English. That might have made the characters sound a lot more believable as the dubbing job was very poor.
77 Reviews
An interesting "perfect storm" of all the wrong possibilities . . .
charles0007 January 2019
An interesting "perfect storm" of all the wrong possibilities converging into a single night of evolving chaos.
All things considered, could something like this actually happen in the real world?
Well, maybe . . .
Without explaining any specific details here, the question arises to what extent would someone go to protect their life situation and that of their family, if they found themselves in a circumstance that did not start off with ill intent, but ended up with a very narrow set of options to work with as their situation deteriorates.
If anything, this is something of a character study of clashing worlds, that of the executive family man, and some very poor decisions rendered into an already precarious scenario, mixed together with the irrational angst of teenagers, and in particular, a freaked out girl fueled with a bit of drugs amplifying her already bipolar state of mind.
Not a bad film, certainly not as bad as some of the reviews provided here.
The acting was reasonably well done, and for the most part, the suspension of disbelief was within a range of plausibility.
Would I spend the time to see this again? Probably not, but I'm not lamenting the time spent watching it either.
It at least deserves 5 stars . . .
All things considered, could something like this actually happen in the real world?
Well, maybe . . .
Without explaining any specific details here, the question arises to what extent would someone go to protect their life situation and that of their family, if they found themselves in a circumstance that did not start off with ill intent, but ended up with a very narrow set of options to work with as their situation deteriorates.
If anything, this is something of a character study of clashing worlds, that of the executive family man, and some very poor decisions rendered into an already precarious scenario, mixed together with the irrational angst of teenagers, and in particular, a freaked out girl fueled with a bit of drugs amplifying her already bipolar state of mind.
Not a bad film, certainly not as bad as some of the reviews provided here.
The acting was reasonably well done, and for the most part, the suspension of disbelief was within a range of plausibility.
Would I spend the time to see this again? Probably not, but I'm not lamenting the time spent watching it either.
It at least deserves 5 stars . . .
Wouldn't say it's the perfect thriller, but it got dark really fast :º\
Aktham_Tashtush29 December 2018
So to cut it short the movie mediocre ,, BUT ,, it does have some unpredictability and the events at the second half escalate really quick .. again it is not the perfect thrill/drama mix ,, but it had some unexpected ending "for me" ,, i mean the guy is or was :D a good guy but circumstances would bring the devil out of the angel.
The story is good,, even though the "chasing" looked long, the script was a bit short and direct ,, it had one unnecessary branch though , "the neighbor" i don't think that was related ,
The casting was very good,, the lead "Julián Villagrán" was amazing ,, his facial expressions were just perfection, and the girl "Ester Expósito" was also good ,. over-reacting and all.
Overall, the movie is not amazing piece of art ,, but it was good and it works fine in the thrill genre ,, and this is maybe only the 2nd Spanish movie i watch this year so i wouldn't say i'm disappointed.
The story is good,, even though the "chasing" looked long, the script was a bit short and direct ,, it had one unnecessary branch though , "the neighbor" i don't think that was related ,
The casting was very good,, the lead "Julián Villagrán" was amazing ,, his facial expressions were just perfection, and the girl "Ester Expósito" was also good ,. over-reacting and all.
Overall, the movie is not amazing piece of art ,, but it was good and it works fine in the thrill genre ,, and this is maybe only the 2nd Spanish movie i watch this year so i wouldn't say i'm disappointed.
Ridiculous!
terrylallen29 December 2018
Warning: Spoilers
I've officially just watched two of the stupidest, annoying, over reacting, bad decision making, unlikable, just plain mentally challenged people I've ever seen. Dude riding around chasing a super over dramatic coke head while a dead girl in his back seat that he accidentally hit making the whole damn situation 1000x worst🤣😂
Highly underrated
sbender-6754025 January 2019
Sure, many might say it has an unrealistic plot with stupid decisions and behaviors. But to my opinion people in panic or on drugs react unconventional and paranoid. And so we see a story of two people whose bad decisions bring them more and more into trouble and the spectator is more and more upset, but yeah that is just taken out of reality.
Completely ridiculous premise
christopher-n-robinson28 December 2018
Guy (our potential hero) drives back home fatigued and either hits a young woman at the side of the road or perhaps not. She has a friend who is so stupid she thinks artificial resuscitation by the hero is an attempt at murder. At this point she runs off into the countryside, fearful for her life. Our hero, with a possibly dying passenger in his car, forgets all about getting her to hospital and instead runs all around back roads trying to find the stupid friend. WTF. Why for gods sake??? . Just stupid.
Spanish Giallo Pyscho-Thriller
ntd5005 January 2019
This movie was pretty entertaining and realistic despite what reviewers tend to be claiming. The voice dub was not synced well, but reminded me of old giallo movies. One of the objections that reviews had was there was too much chasing, but I thought it helps showcase his slow transformation as a character. Also, they do act stupidly because he is exhausted and she is on drugs for the first time. Finally, the ending was well thought out and presented. I didn't think it was the best movie, but it is much more intelligent than most reviewers are giving credit.
Would rate it with 0 stars if possible
dbaumann-0460330 December 2018
Worth a watch.
deloudelouvain11 December 2023
Cuando Los Ángeles Duermen (or When Angels Sleep for the English title) is a simple but entertaining Spanish movie about how fast things can turn from rather normal to complete chaos. It's not really a horror movie though, more a drama/thriller. Not a big cast as the whole story is more about two main characters, one that tries to convince the other he's not a bad person, and the other being completely paranoid. Well acted from both of them, as the rest of the small cast. There are no slow moments in this movie, there is some light suspense throughout the entire story and it's shot decently so definitely worth a watch.
Unrealistic Decision Making
gabrielarandom31 December 2018
I can't stand movies where the characters make completely unrealistic choices and this is a prime example. The main character, for no reason, follows a woman whose friend he has hit. Even when she clearly has no interest in being associated with him. No one in their right mind would chase someone as long as he did when they're being as aggressive as she was. Then things just keep getting dumber and dumber to the point that the audience gets irritated, with the whole situation and eventually the ending too. SKIP IT.
What does it take...
teca-arantes5 January 2019
Warning: Spoilers
... to transform a good person into a killer?
How many attempts to correct a horrible situation a person can try before giving it up?
People who criticized the main characters for making bad choices seemly forget that that's exactly what humans do and that is what this film is all about - a problematic and neurotic teenager, a stressed and tired sub-manager (forget the "CEO thing" of the synopsys) having the worst day of his life and a whole lot of expectations gone bad.
Worth watching!
Great start, great ending, flawed characters
tictacti25 October 2022
Warning: Spoilers
I love the idea of this movie, the ending is surprising and a brave motion.
Let me get to the critisicm I have that seems to be shared by others... the main female character "Sylvia" is the most unlikeable and annoying character I have ever seen in a movie where I truly believe the director did not want her to be unlikeable.
I firmly believe we are supposed to empathize with Sylvia, because there's no logical reason for why they emphasized the fact that she was innocent and a first time drug user, other than the fact they felt making her a junkie like her friend would result in people not liking her. I personally think this approach is a little bit insulting. Letting Sylvia be an addict would make more sense than all this happening the first time she gets high. It would explain the scene where her parents are begging her not to leave, a common scene with addicts. It would explain why she had cocain on her. They could use her coming down of the drug and realizing she left it in his car a reason for why she's so frantic and insane.
Now, don't get me wrong, I understand that seeing your friend get hit by a car would be traumatizing. But NOT to a level at which Sylvia is acting. Gloria wasn't even dead initially, she was just badly injured. We saw Sylvia was behaving completly normally seconds before the crash, then after it happens she starts acting like she dropped a bunch of acid along with the coke.
Why on Earth would ANYONE assume that a complete stranger hit your friend with their vehicle on purpose when she was hitchhiking in the middle of the road in complete darkness? Not to mention German even INSISTS that Sylvia call her parents, he doesn't take her phone initially. Then, to make this even more absurd, growing to the level of Sylvia being an alien and not a well-socialized and at least mildly educated teenager, SHE DOESNT KNOW WHAT CPR IS. So, if we're to believe she doesn't know what CPR is, then I guess seing someone pounding on her friends chest would lead her to assume he was physically assaulting her. So... now we're at a place where Sylvia thinks German attempted to murder them with his vehicle (even though he asked her to call someone for help, hasn't hurt her, and explained that he fell asleep) and now believes he finished the job off by pounding on her chest.
At this point, German has a dead teenager in his car that he killed via vehicular manslaughter, cocaine all over the place, and a witness to the crime that is adamant that she is panicking and going to tell the authorities that he committed intentional homicide, kidnapping, and physical assault. Who knows what the police would believe in this situation. But, you can understand German's frustration.
What follows is seemingly hours of him hunting Sylvia down in an attempt to convince her that he's not trying to kidnap her. I don't know what the goal was here.
And then at some point Sylvia taunts German about knowing his name, and when he finally gets her still enough to explain he just wants her to tell the police he acted in good faith, instead of just lying (because at this point he HAD stalked her and physically assaulted her) and saying okay, she proceeds to refuse and tell him he would be going to jail.
Last complaint that I can think of at the moment, we do not have a good enough understanding of Sylvia and Gloria's friendship to warrant the way Sylvia behaves. While she's running for her life from what she thinks is a derranged serial killer, all she can think to say every time she gets within inches of percieved death is "MURDERER!!!" You would think this guy stabbed her child in front of her or something. She cannot even get a grip long enough to fake being normal. And she's not even panicked, she's just ANGRY. She literally sacrifies her life because she wasn't willing to stop cussing this guy out over how mad she was at him for "murdering" her friend (keep in mind she thinks he killed her with chest compressions.)
I think something that could have been done to make this better would be if Sylvia was injured in the crash as well, and was also drug into the car while unconcious and regains conciousness only to have vague memories of German giving Gloria CPR, but in a foggy head injured state, it looked like some kind of sexual assault. She realizes that she's gravely injured and Gloria is dead and likely assaulted. German and her have some conversation, and the implications of what Sylvia thinks is happening is clear but subtle. At some point German decides to kill Sylvia because he can tell what she is thinking without her having to say it. Maybe he catches a glimpse of a text message she's attempting to secretly write where she indicates she's been beaten and kidnapped and he grabs her phone and smashes it. With this narrative, Sylvia could be attempting to be sweet and kind the whole time while obviously appearing terriried, and this would make her murder MUCH more gut wrenching.
I like the idea of the 2 male friends being in the area and getting blamed for the crime. I like the symbolism of German giving up on being the "nice guy" and getting no where because of it. I like the religous symbolism and the slight "twist" that's thrown in. We're fully expecting Sylvia to survive because once day hits, the angels are back to protect her. But in the world of this movie, we find out that the angels are always sleeping.
The message that karma is not real, God won't protect you, and sometimes you have to do what you have to do to stay on top is a refreshing stark contrast to what we see in most movie cliche's. It's jarring having such a beauitfully unique message completely shat on by a character that was so horribly written, I was routing for a scared child to get brutally murdered in an abandoned murdered countryside.
Let me get to the critisicm I have that seems to be shared by others... the main female character "Sylvia" is the most unlikeable and annoying character I have ever seen in a movie where I truly believe the director did not want her to be unlikeable.
I firmly believe we are supposed to empathize with Sylvia, because there's no logical reason for why they emphasized the fact that she was innocent and a first time drug user, other than the fact they felt making her a junkie like her friend would result in people not liking her. I personally think this approach is a little bit insulting. Letting Sylvia be an addict would make more sense than all this happening the first time she gets high. It would explain the scene where her parents are begging her not to leave, a common scene with addicts. It would explain why she had cocain on her. They could use her coming down of the drug and realizing she left it in his car a reason for why she's so frantic and insane.
Now, don't get me wrong, I understand that seeing your friend get hit by a car would be traumatizing. But NOT to a level at which Sylvia is acting. Gloria wasn't even dead initially, she was just badly injured. We saw Sylvia was behaving completly normally seconds before the crash, then after it happens she starts acting like she dropped a bunch of acid along with the coke.
Why on Earth would ANYONE assume that a complete stranger hit your friend with their vehicle on purpose when she was hitchhiking in the middle of the road in complete darkness? Not to mention German even INSISTS that Sylvia call her parents, he doesn't take her phone initially. Then, to make this even more absurd, growing to the level of Sylvia being an alien and not a well-socialized and at least mildly educated teenager, SHE DOESNT KNOW WHAT CPR IS. So, if we're to believe she doesn't know what CPR is, then I guess seing someone pounding on her friends chest would lead her to assume he was physically assaulting her. So... now we're at a place where Sylvia thinks German attempted to murder them with his vehicle (even though he asked her to call someone for help, hasn't hurt her, and explained that he fell asleep) and now believes he finished the job off by pounding on her chest.
At this point, German has a dead teenager in his car that he killed via vehicular manslaughter, cocaine all over the place, and a witness to the crime that is adamant that she is panicking and going to tell the authorities that he committed intentional homicide, kidnapping, and physical assault. Who knows what the police would believe in this situation. But, you can understand German's frustration.
What follows is seemingly hours of him hunting Sylvia down in an attempt to convince her that he's not trying to kidnap her. I don't know what the goal was here.
And then at some point Sylvia taunts German about knowing his name, and when he finally gets her still enough to explain he just wants her to tell the police he acted in good faith, instead of just lying (because at this point he HAD stalked her and physically assaulted her) and saying okay, she proceeds to refuse and tell him he would be going to jail.
Last complaint that I can think of at the moment, we do not have a good enough understanding of Sylvia and Gloria's friendship to warrant the way Sylvia behaves. While she's running for her life from what she thinks is a derranged serial killer, all she can think to say every time she gets within inches of percieved death is "MURDERER!!!" You would think this guy stabbed her child in front of her or something. She cannot even get a grip long enough to fake being normal. And she's not even panicked, she's just ANGRY. She literally sacrifies her life because she wasn't willing to stop cussing this guy out over how mad she was at him for "murdering" her friend (keep in mind she thinks he killed her with chest compressions.)
I think something that could have been done to make this better would be if Sylvia was injured in the crash as well, and was also drug into the car while unconcious and regains conciousness only to have vague memories of German giving Gloria CPR, but in a foggy head injured state, it looked like some kind of sexual assault. She realizes that she's gravely injured and Gloria is dead and likely assaulted. German and her have some conversation, and the implications of what Sylvia thinks is happening is clear but subtle. At some point German decides to kill Sylvia because he can tell what she is thinking without her having to say it. Maybe he catches a glimpse of a text message she's attempting to secretly write where she indicates she's been beaten and kidnapped and he grabs her phone and smashes it. With this narrative, Sylvia could be attempting to be sweet and kind the whole time while obviously appearing terriried, and this would make her murder MUCH more gut wrenching.
I like the idea of the 2 male friends being in the area and getting blamed for the crime. I like the symbolism of German giving up on being the "nice guy" and getting no where because of it. I like the religous symbolism and the slight "twist" that's thrown in. We're fully expecting Sylvia to survive because once day hits, the angels are back to protect her. But in the world of this movie, we find out that the angels are always sleeping.
The message that karma is not real, God won't protect you, and sometimes you have to do what you have to do to stay on top is a refreshing stark contrast to what we see in most movie cliche's. It's jarring having such a beauitfully unique message completely shat on by a character that was so horribly written, I was routing for a scared child to get brutally murdered in an abandoned murdered countryside.
Really annoying
edlc19703 January 2019
Warning: Spoilers
This movie makes no sense at all, and it is annoying to an extrem.
For instance, everytime German finds the girl he is chasing, then she hits him and kicks him and stabs him over and over again, and yet he keeps pursuing her and the same things happen, until the girl is finally so fatiqued, that he gets her. And everytime he cathes her, then he tries to explain, that he hit her friend with his car due to a accident. It makes no sense at all.
But the most annoying thing is, the gril think he is a murdere, and therefore tries to get away from him, but she har a cellphone. Why doesnt she just calll the police?? Instead she uses her cellphone as a flashlight??
Then in the near end of this annoying movie, he strangels the girl. But after choking her several minutes, and you think she is dead, then she wakes up, and he is forced to drown her??
If you like getting annoyed, then this movie is just for you
For instance, everytime German finds the girl he is chasing, then she hits him and kicks him and stabs him over and over again, and yet he keeps pursuing her and the same things happen, until the girl is finally so fatiqued, that he gets her. And everytime he cathes her, then he tries to explain, that he hit her friend with his car due to a accident. It makes no sense at all.
But the most annoying thing is, the gril think he is a murdere, and therefore tries to get away from him, but she har a cellphone. Why doesnt she just calll the police?? Instead she uses her cellphone as a flashlight??
Then in the near end of this annoying movie, he strangels the girl. But after choking her several minutes, and you think she is dead, then she wakes up, and he is forced to drown her??
If you like getting annoyed, then this movie is just for you
Who is the villain?
Pnkprinses3098 January 2019
Warning: Spoilers
Are....we supposed to feel bad for the girl? Cause seriously, I hate her. She is not only stupid but full of herself. Not to mention she stole all of his stuff and attempted armed robbery of his car (remember the knife?)
Yes, the guy made mistakes but I feel bad for him. Genuinely. This psychopathic brat (who thinks he is a killer and doesn't know what CPR is) is out to kill him or destroy him when he was already being ruined by his boss and overbearing wife. Not to mention this coke addict leaves her drugs in his car to get all over him.
This movie gave me a headache.
Yes, the guy made mistakes but I feel bad for him. Genuinely. This psychopathic brat (who thinks he is a killer and doesn't know what CPR is) is out to kill him or destroy him when he was already being ruined by his boss and overbearing wife. Not to mention this coke addict leaves her drugs in his car to get all over him.
This movie gave me a headache.
Annoying
laurenxreck31 July 2019
Plain Stupid
bruraposa3 January 2019
Warning: Spoilers
It's a 90 and something minutes long movie about a stupid guy chasing a stupid histeric teenager.
All the characters make stupid decisions in all situations. Not just stupid, but unrealistic stupid. I refuse to accept that somewhere there is a living being who would do anything this movie shows.
A tired guy (with a cheating and over dramatic wife on the phone) decides to take the road anyways to get back home in time for his daughter's birthday. He hits two girls. One of which is badly injured and dies on the car. The other is an over reacting histeric teenager that thinks resuscitation is killing. She is like The Flash: runs like hell without getting tired. She also complains a lot, about just everything, just because.
There is a scene in which she is in the front seat and her badly injured friend is laid down on the back seat. She doesn't even take a look, talks to her or show any sign of being worried. Then the friend dies and suddenly she is screaming her friend's name and naming the driver a murderer.
Have I said stupid?
You go through it just hoping the guy kills that chick already so she can stop screaming.
Oh, and the movie tries to sound smart having a Nietzsche reference or something.
Summary: bad acting, stupid plot, zero character development (unless you think getting dumber is a development), unrealistic and unreasonable decision making.
Plain stupid.
Stupid/annoying
minecraftboss-428016 January 2019
Warning: Spoilers
He keeps chasing her and he explains then she runs then he chases her and explains then kills her like no action and he tells her he Has a family and he wont harm her then she runs like omg just stop running away and a stupid ending
Good film
gianmarcoronconi22 July 2021
Warning: Spoilers
In my opinion this film is a good film, very interesting and particular that manages to make you almost cheer for the murderer and you can never make you understand the truth until the end where the desire to return to your family takes over and stop cheer for the killer. However, this film tries to have a profound morality, but it does not succeed and this makes it heavy and unwary.
I would give this zero stars if I could
MisterButts29 December 2018
Warning: Spoilers
Lame, bland, stupid movie. Lead character is very stupid that makes very stupid decisions. Any rational person who just hit someone on the side of the road would call 911 and wait for emergency services. Or try his best to get them to a hospital instead of chasing around an irrational idiot on the country back roads. The teenage girl was so stupid too. Just a terrible movie. Wish I had read the reviews before wasting my time on this garbage.
When Insurance Companies Hire Moronic Employees ...
Sherparsa15 January 2019
... and the said moronic employees are so scared of their neurotically controlling wives as well as so worried about losing their jobs in a hectic and superstitious religious-at-the-very-core life the very nature of the business and megalomaniac bosses impose upon them then unbelievably immoral things could happen to them, or worse, they would commit unimaginably nasty crimes that would haunt their miserable lives forever ...
if that's the underlying message of this quite well-made little movie, then its makers have done their thing so successfully!
if that's the underlying message of this quite well-made little movie, then its makers have done their thing so successfully!
Worst movie ever!
jdrobbins-963105 January 2019
This was the worst movie (logically and acting) I have ever seen in my entire life. Who in their right mind chases someone all night in the woods that clearly doesn't want to be chased? If there was poor reception, how did wife make a call to husband when dispatch was closer in distance? Why didnt the main guy use the girls phone to find nearest hospital or call 911/police versus harassing the annoying character lost in the woods? Her voice and acting was so irritating.
I don't usually review movies...but I had to defend this.
bhardwajsaurabh-7430518 July 2019
This was a nail biting thriller. It was superbly acted and finely executed. It takes you on a ride along with a common man in a terribly uncommon situation....it explores human emotions and decision making in this extent of frustratingly bizarre situation. I loved it.
His daughter's birthdays are never going to be the same.
bola_de_pu14 April 2019
The film had a lot of potential, but it gets lost in a little extended script and lack of coherence. Silvia's performance is not very convincing, although Germán's role is exceptional. The film extends a lot, in unlikely follow-up sequences, but it's not a bad movie, only that it's badly executed. However, the film serves to show us the stupid things that human beings do and how naive we can be. Only one thing, did the wife always know the truth? Bizarre ending, disturbing and striking. I recommend the movie only if you have the ability to look beyond the stupid things that humans do.
My goodness
juliekirk-2358829 December 2018
Where can I even begin? This movie was just plain bad. Nothing but the lead character, German, chasing a girl around in the middle of the night trying to prove that he isn't a bad guy. They are both as stupid as the plot of the movie.
Total b movie.
Poor attention to details
fcerezo-989504 January 2019
In this time and age when so many before me had grown up pointing out mistakes between scenes it is embarrassing to see something as critical as the front right lamp of the car that got smashed coming out of the JUGUETERÍA to be fully functional in the highway. That made the trip to bed for me. Good night!
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