The Wrath of God Parent Guide

Luciana (Macarena Achaga) makes a living taking dictation from wealthy novelist Kloster (Diego Peretti) and struggling journalist Esteban Rey (Juan Minujin). She’s hardworking, skilled, helpful, and best of all, a quick typist. But when Kloster tries to kiss her while she’s working, Luciana realizes that she needs to leave – immediately. Her quick action doesn’t get rid of him: Luciana keeps seeing him around, turning up like a bad penny in the most unlikely places. And wherever Kloster appears, death follows. With most of her family dead in tragic and unlikely accidents, Luciana turns to Esteban, now a more established reporter, and begs him to tell her story and expose Kloster for the monster that he is. Esteban’s problem is that, compelling though the story may be, evidence is in short supply…and Kloster is still on the loose.

Despite the frequently inconsistent quality in Netflix’s selection of foreign films, I usually enjoy watching them. Seeing familiar themes and stories through the lens of a different culture usually ends up highlighting aspects of either the plot or culture that I wouldn’t otherwise have considered. Don’t let that scare you off, though. Ignoring for a moment the fact that this is an Argentinian production, there’s almost nothing here that you wouldn’t find in something grown a little closer to home. Were it not for the fact that the film is entirely in Spanish, this could very easily be an American movie.

The Wrath of God is certainly a familiar thriller, but it still manages to keep things interesting. The production handles tension well, and leaves the audience with enough uncertainty that I wasn’t sure how things were going to wrap up at the end of the story – an experience I don’t get to enjoy very often. While I wasn’t hog wild about the ending, the film did manage to surprise me, and I have to give credit where it’s due. I was also a fan of Diego Peretti’s performance as Kloster, which I can best describe as Christopher Walken on sedatives: all deep-set haunting eyes, without Walken’s characteristic disregard for punctuation.

The plot’s focus on suspicious deaths and suicides are going to make this an unpopular choice with parents, but apart from some drinking and exceptionally brief sexual expletive in the English subtitles, and while it’s always possible I missed something or that they changed something in the English dub, that’s remarkably limited profanity for a thriller. Both established fans and those new to the genre will probably find something fun in this familiar film.