The visual presentation quickly impresses, boosted by impeccable image quality. The filming locations and set design are swell, and there's strong attention to hair, makeup, costume design, and all the little facets of which films are comprised. Shots and scenes are carefully arranged, capturing all possible detail. And between all these aspects, and swell lighting and camerawork, and the sometimes seemingly artificial rendering of the sky - for all the mindful perfection in what we see, the picture has the ready appearance of fantasy.
That slant is echoed in the music in the movie, above all Brian Heater's dynamic score - shifting in turn from light and airy to brooding and dramatic. And the narrative cements the approach, and affirms it as a very dark fantasy on hand, with an exploration of faith, human nature, and good and evil by way of a distinctly disturbing series of events. Definite flavors of horror peek through the tale alongside disconcerting themes including zealotry, manipulation, domestic violence, wrath, corruption, and more. Particular unsettling, jarring, and at times downright horrifying incidents manifest throughout, sustaining another example of a movie in which the sense of horror is broadly more thematic and conceptual than concrete. At that, still, the horror is part and parcel with the grimly fantastical air the picture adopts.
It's hard to single anyone out among the cast, as I think everyone is outstanding. Every assembled actor demonstrates brilliant range, nuance, and force of personality to bring their characters to life. Filmmaker Juan Diego Escobar Alzate's direction is solid; his screenplay is wonderfully ambitious. The technical craft is solid, and the result of it all is a daring, original film. No especial fault leaps out at me, save for that the feature is difficult to parse at times - this is a movie with Big Ideas to communicate, and for the viewer to ruminate upon. Though not truly limiting our enjoyment, that method does instill a lingering doubt as to whether we're picking up everything that Alzate is laying down, or missing something that would make the movie complete in our vision. It's an unfortunate side effect of the dense type of tale being told that our investment depends entirely on willingness and ability to actively analyze as we're watching, and vice versa.
But, like I said - this is ambitious. And even if it's not wholly perfect in its creation, it's surely engrossing, and disquieting. Nitpicking aside, it's very well made, and a pleasure to watch. It's a blend of genres that works to build a film both curious and surprising, and if one is receptive to the variety - why, if nothing that I've written has been off-putting, or instead entices - then this is well worth seeking out. 'Luz: The flower of evil' is artistic and heavy in the story it imparts, but excellent, and recommended for patient, open-minded fans of drama, fantasy, and horror alike.