Angeliena (2021)

"Doccie, give it to me straighter than The Fast and Furious Vin Diesel.

When? How? Why? And how long?"

This movie did surprisingly well here compared to IMDb. This made me curious, and since it was leaving Netflix, I decided to give it a chance.

What stands out immediately... a colorful film with an array of colorful characters, a bit like the flag of South Africa. And I actually found a charming, warm, fun film. Fairytale-like, too. And full of delightful one-liners, such as "Man, it's not even Sunday and you're preaching", "And second rule is you do not talk about the Gathering Club. Capisce?", "Now, straight into the camera, and say 'Supercalifragilisticexpialidocious'", "One man's trash is another man's treasure", "Friendship is more important than revenge", "It always seems impossible until it's done", ...

The film is peppered with humor throughout the tragedy. Take, for example, this conversation:

Doctor: "I'll even cross my heart and hope to die."

Angeliena: "That's my job, apparently."

But also deadly serious:

"I'm not scared to die. But I'm not ready yet."

And so another little world trip is completed. Or at least, an attempt is made to do so, as there are quite a few obstacles on that train of thought. It is, in itself, a path that many a film has trodden. But I have not seen a single one convey it with this mix of poignant and encouraging as this one, despite many tears and frustrations over the admittedly heavy and unpleasant events.

There is also a whole subplot involving a very shrewd and egocentric hospital owner, Dr. Mitchell. Notably the place where Angeliena worked as a parking attendant. And how this develops was quite interesting. Kept fairly short and lighthearted, but providing an extra dose of fighting spirit.

Bon voyage, Angeliena. I wish you well on the other side.

Translated from Dutch · View original