The Wrath of God (2022)

The Wrath of God (2022) Original title: La ira de Dios

Also known as Colère Divine was directed by Sebastián Schindel, Divine Wrath is an Argentinian film in which the concept of divine justice plays a crucial role… even if it is rather poorly exploited.

Luciana was the assistant to a popular writer, Kloster. Why do I say this? Because at some point this film probably had fun pretending it was based on a true story.

An Argentinian thriller that has won over audiences, since in one week it reached number 6 in the Top 10 most watched films on the streaming platform. But then… that doesn’t mean much to me. It’s well known that we often throw ourselves at works that disappoint us. Damsel (2024) is an excellent example.

If Colère Divine has managed to captivate viewers, it’s undoubtedly thanks to the many twists and turns that keep you on the edge of your seat right to the end. The film follows Luciana, played by the charming Macarena Achaga, as she witnesses the deaths, one by one, of those closest to her. Those around her die mysteriously. One by one, they disappear and her family is reduced to nothing. Her ex-employer, an enigmatic writer, watches with horror, but also with apparent guilt. Luciana is obsessed with saving her sister Valentina…

Kloster had once discussed with Luciana the law of retaliation, popular in Roman civilisation. The fall of the story is not unexpected, even if we find it immoral. The manipulation of one leads to the madness of the other. An eye for an eye, a tooth for a tooth in its most terrible interpretation.

The film was released on 15 June 2022. Currently, no renewal announcement has been made regarding the release of Divine Wrath 2 on Netflix. Unfortunately for those who enjoyed the film, it looks like there will be no sequel to Wrath of the Divine. It was in the event of the film really becoming one of the platform’s biggest hits that its creators and producers thought ‘Why not consider a sequel!’. If that had been the case, its release date under the name Anger Divine 2 would have been set for early 2024. However, we suspected that we shouldn’t count on it too much!

Original? No, it’s been compared to a number of other films, including The Game (1997).
Some have even said, ‘A pale imitation of American genre films that play on ancestral fears with an all-powerful villain who stops at nothing, despite the obvious.’

It’s full of implausibilities, the murders aren’t explained and that makes it lose its flavour. It’s entertaining, that’s for sure, but it’s the kind of film that grabs you quickly… but leaves a bitter taste, because when you think about it, you say you’ve just been fooled. A bit like The Voyeurs (2021), for example.

It lacks enlightenment and psychological analysis… while Luciana is going through psychological hell and, all to prove the point of a highly presumptuous rotten pot who is simply devoid of any moral sense whatsoever. Colère Divine passes off the truth as the absence of truth, and thus the perfect domination exercised by a man who claims to elevate himself to the rank of god, when he’s really just a diabolical pervert.

It’s getting hard to find anything to write about netflix thrillers, they’re all so similar, interchangeable and forgettable. Even directed and produced in Argentina, this one doesn’t stand out from the crowd. And, just in case: NO, just because people didn’t understand it doesn’t mean they hated it! This film isn’t nearly as subtle as it makes out to be.

That said, the dialogue is good, the direction is neat and there’s quite a bit of lighting when we see the writer’s face. You often only see one of his eyes, for example. The actors don’t do as badly as they’re said to.

Despite my criticism, I had a good time. It’s just that I would have liked to know so much more.