Luis Ortego brings us his marvelously captured tale of Argentina crime sensation Carlos Puch in El Angel, the biopic that never really feels like a biopic. El Angel does more than simply check off key moments to the tale of the “the Angel of Death”, it explores the ideas of adolescence and innocence in a quasi-coming of age tale through the eyes of Carlos. This is attained through a cerebral script, impeccable camera work, and a breakout performance for the ages by Lorenzo Ferro, who plays Carlos Puch himself. Now, an entire article could be written on Ferro, the performance is that commanding, but in short, Lorenzo represents everything beautiful about connecting with an incredible actor in world cinema. His eyes capture the innocence of a young man spiraling out of control, while his infectious charisma presents us with a sociopath beyond reason. Furthermore, the production around it sports impeccable art design, capturing the saturation and colour of the 70s in every inch of the frame, and a soundtrack that brings an undeniable level of precision to each scene.

International treasures like this are why festivals exists.