First let me state that I'm Christian, and I saw this film expecting it to be very good, since the theme itself is quite risky to deal about. The cult to "La Santa Muerte" is quickly gaining followers all around Mexico City. However, this cult is completely anti-biblical, since Death was actually Jesus' enemy (which He defeated, by the way).
Using a style strikingly similar to Iñarritu's "Amores Perros", the film tells three separate stories that usually cross roads but don't ever interact. However, the director pays attention to only one, about a girl with a terminal disease and her parents struggling to cure her. A second subplot, regarding an unfortunate man, is seen at the same time, but finishes quite quickly. Then, a third one appears out of nowhere with no coherent explanation. This one is about a man cheating on his wife, and the other woman does anything to be with the man. All this stories are linked by the cult on "La Santa Muerte". So, using this movie as a vehicle for a biblical message, director Paco Del Toro tries to spread the word to Mexican ignorants that dealing with "La Santa Muerte" is dangerous and not what it seems.
The problem: The film sucks.
I don't know where did Paco Del Toro get the idea that having a couple fighting, scratching and hitting going completely hysterical is an example of great acting. He tried this on "Cicatrices", and both times it looks fake and over the top. Overall, the acting is bad. But maybe the worst thing of all was the script. Nothing happens. Seriously, nothing remotely interesting happens. And the dialogs were so unrealistic, you even think the movie was dubbed in Argentina. "Esto es un atropello!" (this is an outrage in Spanish) is an expression not even old Mexican people say in their daily life. And, give me a break with the evangelical message. It couldn't sound more rehearsed. Not even the least experienced preachers would quote the bible so falsely.
Apparently, Del Toro thought of making this into a horror movie, but there isn't no horror at all. The only scene where you think something scary's gonna happen is the classic "it was nothing after all", and it was completely useless for the whole plot. The score is repetitive and exasperating, because, like in the film, nothing really happens.
The problem about Christian movies is that they're used only as a vehicle for an evangelical message, and there's really no concern for other details, far more important than it, movie-wise. Worst among this are Christian Mexican films. However, I did enjoy Del Toro's film "Punto y Aparte", since it had a controversial message and dealt with it in a very bold and forward move, yet, it worked pretty well. In "Cicatrices", the message and the impact was weaker, and the movie wasn't good. In "La Santa Muerte", the idea was incredibly bold, and was backed up by many Christian organizations, this resulting in all the hype and publicity it received prior to its release. So you might expect it to have an eye opening message and share the revealing truth to the world about this enslaving cult. But, when seeing the final product, you just end up with a bad taste, especially the cheesy end sequence (I mean, I believe in God, and that He can resurrect anyone from the dead, but the scene where the light shines from above the little girl and she revives is just lame, LAME!).
The movie will only be appealing to those who haven't seen one in their entire life. I plea to all Christian producers to stop making crappy films directed only to ignorant audiences, for cultured critics will ravage them, one after the next. Christian film-making can be better, you just need to see real talent and take lots of risks.
As a Christian, I can't recommend "La Santa Muerte" to anybody, because it will only scare them away from Christ, and they will find refuge in the same cult the film tried to speak against. It actually fails in its message, because it can only be understood by people who already know that the cult is demonic. This makes it a film with a very narrow fandom.
I liked the way to cross the stories. That's what kept me from giving the movie a 1. But, as much as I'd hate to admit it, the movie sucks.
Using a style strikingly similar to Iñarritu's "Amores Perros", the film tells three separate stories that usually cross roads but don't ever interact. However, the director pays attention to only one, about a girl with a terminal disease and her parents struggling to cure her. A second subplot, regarding an unfortunate man, is seen at the same time, but finishes quite quickly. Then, a third one appears out of nowhere with no coherent explanation. This one is about a man cheating on his wife, and the other woman does anything to be with the man. All this stories are linked by the cult on "La Santa Muerte". So, using this movie as a vehicle for a biblical message, director Paco Del Toro tries to spread the word to Mexican ignorants that dealing with "La Santa Muerte" is dangerous and not what it seems.
The problem: The film sucks.
I don't know where did Paco Del Toro get the idea that having a couple fighting, scratching and hitting going completely hysterical is an example of great acting. He tried this on "Cicatrices", and both times it looks fake and over the top. Overall, the acting is bad. But maybe the worst thing of all was the script. Nothing happens. Seriously, nothing remotely interesting happens. And the dialogs were so unrealistic, you even think the movie was dubbed in Argentina. "Esto es un atropello!" (this is an outrage in Spanish) is an expression not even old Mexican people say in their daily life. And, give me a break with the evangelical message. It couldn't sound more rehearsed. Not even the least experienced preachers would quote the bible so falsely.
Apparently, Del Toro thought of making this into a horror movie, but there isn't no horror at all. The only scene where you think something scary's gonna happen is the classic "it was nothing after all", and it was completely useless for the whole plot. The score is repetitive and exasperating, because, like in the film, nothing really happens.
The problem about Christian movies is that they're used only as a vehicle for an evangelical message, and there's really no concern for other details, far more important than it, movie-wise. Worst among this are Christian Mexican films. However, I did enjoy Del Toro's film "Punto y Aparte", since it had a controversial message and dealt with it in a very bold and forward move, yet, it worked pretty well. In "Cicatrices", the message and the impact was weaker, and the movie wasn't good. In "La Santa Muerte", the idea was incredibly bold, and was backed up by many Christian organizations, this resulting in all the hype and publicity it received prior to its release. So you might expect it to have an eye opening message and share the revealing truth to the world about this enslaving cult. But, when seeing the final product, you just end up with a bad taste, especially the cheesy end sequence (I mean, I believe in God, and that He can resurrect anyone from the dead, but the scene where the light shines from above the little girl and she revives is just lame, LAME!).
The movie will only be appealing to those who haven't seen one in their entire life. I plea to all Christian producers to stop making crappy films directed only to ignorant audiences, for cultured critics will ravage them, one after the next. Christian film-making can be better, you just need to see real talent and take lots of risks.
As a Christian, I can't recommend "La Santa Muerte" to anybody, because it will only scare them away from Christ, and they will find refuge in the same cult the film tried to speak against. It actually fails in its message, because it can only be understood by people who already know that the cult is demonic. This makes it a film with a very narrow fandom.
I liked the way to cross the stories. That's what kept me from giving the movie a 1. But, as much as I'd hate to admit it, the movie sucks.