Netflix’s “The Wrath of God”: A Disturbing and Dark Argentine Thriller

Netflix's strategy of offering original content has allowed its subscribers to enjoy productions from various regions of Latin America. Now a Latin movie that has been noticed is coming to the streaming service. It is "The Wrath of God", an Argentine police thriller, whose dark proposal and full of questions has caught and satisfied viewers from all latitudes. Since the premiere of the film on June 15, it has positioned itself at the top of the platform.

"The Wrath of God" is a production that offers an enigmatic and disturbing story, in which we will witness a series of deaths wrapped in an air of uncertainty, since throughout the film the viewer will not be sure if they are product of bad luck or a premeditated and cruel revenge.

The film is directed by the Argentinian Sebastián Schindel, also responsible for titles well received by critics such as “The boss: radiography of a crime” (2014), “The son” (2019) and “Crímenes de familia” (2020) (all of them available on Netflix). As for the cast, it is led by Diego Peretti, Juan Minujín, Macarena Achaga and Mónica Antonópulos.

The film is inspired by the book "The slow death of Luciana B." of the prominent Argentine writer Guillermo Martínez. This is not the first time that a work by this author has been adapted to the cinema, since his novel "Imperceptible Crimes" (published in Spain as "The Oxford Crimes"), had already been brought to the big screen under the direction of Álex de la Iglesia, and the performance of Elijah Wood, John Hurt and Leonor Watling.

Find out everything you need to know about this movie that sweeps Netflix.

Also read: "The Staircase": Why are crimes trending on streaming platforms?

Punishment or chance?

In "The Wrath of God" we are introduced to Kloster, a famous and respected writer who has Luciana Blanco as his assistant. The relationship between them is broken when a situation of harassment by the novelist occurs. During the following 10 years, all of Luciana's relatives will die, each one of them in unusual situations. These deaths began just after the young woman sued the writer for workplace harassment and the tragic death of his wife and daughter occurred. Therefore, the woman is convinced that everything that happened is Kloster's fault, who has hatched a plan to punish her.

To expose the writer and save the lives of her mother and younger sister, the only relatives she has left, Luciana contacts Esteban Rey, a writer and journalist who has lived better days and who for years seems to have had an admiration-hate relationship with Kloster.

Revenge or chance? That is the question that surrounds the entire story of "The Wrath of God." The film has a constant coming and going in time that weaves an interesting narrative. This is one of those movies that like to play with uncertainty. Throughout the entire film, the viewer will not be able to be sure if the misfortunes that have occurred over a decade in the same family are the product of bad luck or a plan plotted with detail and patience.

The various time jumps that the film makes allow the viewer to get new information and approaches to known facts. In this way, the perception of both the characters and what happened fluctuates as the story progresses and we reach an ending that invites us to group the pieces presented.

In short, with this production Netflix offers us an attractive work of mystery and suspense that shows the quality of Argentine filmmakers and that is undoubtedly worth seeing.