El Angel
20th Century Fox | Release Date: November 9, 2018 CRITIC SCORE DISTRIBUTION
61
METASCORE
Generally favorable reviews based on 13 Critic Reviews
Positive:
7
Mixed:
6
Negative:
0
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Critic Reviews

Critic scorePublicationBy date
91
UproxxVince ManciniOct 1, 2018
The Angel is funny as hell, outrageous without feeling sensational, visually beautiful, and immensely enjoyable as unpredictable eye candy. It’s one of those movies that’s so fun that it ends up feeling much shorter than it actually is. Read full review
80
Screen DailyAllan HunterMay 14, 2018
This is stylish, commercial storytelling that marks a big leap forward for Ortega and should put Lorenzo Ferro on the map. Read full review
75
Slant MagazineDiego SemereneNov 7, 2018
El Angel‘s greatest accomplishment is in the way it charges the relationships between characters with so much eroticism but never grants us the right to watch desire — other than desire for violence — actually unfold. Read full review
70
Arizona RepublicKerry LengelDec 5, 2018
Ortega wants us to see that allure, feel that lust. But to do it, he has to turn fact into fiction. Read full review
70
Los Angeles TimesKatie WalshNov 8, 2018
El Angel doesn’t offer any concrete answers, and though it paints a vivid portrait of this real-life devil, the fact is that ultimately, we end up seduced by him as well. Read full review
65
Vanity FairRichard LawsonMay 14, 2018
The movie is compelling in the moment, but seems irresponsible with any afterthought. Read full review
63
RogerEbert.comMonica CastilloNov 9, 2018
Although the film’s premise is based on a true story, Luis Ortega’s El Angel is not a faithful biopic. Somehow, the facts are darker than their fictional counterparts. Read full review
60
L.A. WeeklyAlan ScherstuhlNov 8, 2018
El Angel is a crime spree as improvised reverie, one with a subject who is as quick to give away his loot as the director is to make the subtext explicit. Read full review
60
The Hollywood ReporterStephen DaltonMay 14, 2018
While Angel brings little new to the lexicon of serial killer biopics, it hits the target as an effortlessly palatable aesthetic experience, more shiny period pageant than probing character study. Read full review
60
VarietyJessica KiangMay 14, 2018
Ortega shows more interest in the how than the why. He mines the scenes of violence for black comedy, rendering the bloodletting anticlimactic and the victims largely irrelevant, and Ferro’s baby-faced, bright eyed disingenuity suits that agenda perfectly. Read full review
50
Chicago TribuneMichael PhillipsJan 10, 2019
A sleekly fashioned true-crime story without much on its mind. Read full review
50
The New York TimesBen KenigsbergNov 8, 2018
Carlitos’s sole reason for living is moving from one transgression to the next. The same might be said of the movie, which superficially probes his amorality while exploiting it for slick thrills. Read full review
50
The Film StageEthan VestbySep 8, 2018
Unfortunately, the film’s tone and form veer far closer to Scorsese imitation. Read full review
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