Fallen: The Search Of A Broken Angel

Fallen: The Search Of A Broken Angel is the feature-length directorial debut of Alex Kruz. Alongside writing and directing duties, the filmmaker also narrates the experimental drama. Given the title, it should come as no surprise that angels, demons, Lucifer, and other religious ideologies come into play. Does Kruz make his heady take on the purpose of life palatable to all audiences, or is it just something the director can appreciate?

Sam (Christalo Castro) is a layabout who hustles people in the park via chess. He bides his time jumping from one woman’s place to another, never committing to any of them but giving them what they want at the moment. However, a pregnancy scare, on top of some problems with the law, sends the man on a journey of self-discovery. Sam uses what little money he has to travel to Sedona as he keeps dreaming of a woman there. Upon arriving, Sam makes a startling discovery.

All the while, Kristina (Serena Profaci) is an artist who keeps drawing Sam despite having never met him. She, too, begins to search for the places her sketches say he’ll be it. What is the connection between Sam and Kristina? Is there a true meaning behind it all, or is it all just random happenstance?

Fallen: The Search Of A Broken Angelis whipsmart, though a little too much to take in at times. Kruz seems to stuff his movie with just about every idea he has on the world, religion, romance, and the connections between people. But he does not traditionally structure the flick. As such, some scenes have little to no context until much later on. This means a moment here, or there is unintentionally confusing until the credits start rolling.

“…travel[s] to Sedona as he keeps dreaming of a woman there. Upon arriving, Sam makes a startling discovery.”

With that said, the narrative is intriguing. How Lucifer and extraterrestrials come into play is highly original, as is Sam’s journey to self-discovery. This is helped by Castro’s performance. He plays frustrated and confused well and seems generally in awe of what he witnesses along the way. Profaci is also quite good and is easy to root for.

Unfortunately, some of the other cast members aren’t as good. Stefanie Bloom plays Donatello, one in a long line of females Sam uses. Every line Bloom says feels stiff and awkward. Given her prominence in the first 20 to 30 minutes of this 71-minute motion picture, the actor drags down the production and takes viewers out of the moment.

But Fallen: The Search Of A Broken Angel largely works due to the visual imagination on display. Kruz crams the frames with lens flare, galaxies, magical auras (for lack of a better term), and ancient pictograms. It’s fascinating to look at, and somehow the director makes these images and the story make as much sense together as possible. Yes, cheap CGI is obvious, but it is used in a way that works with everything else on the screen.

Fallen: The Search Of A Broken Angelis a flawed but ambitious start to a filmmaking journey. Alex Kruz proves he understands how to take far-out concepts and make them accessible to anyone who might stumble upon his movie. The cinematography and visuals add a great sense of atmosphere, and the lead actor is quite good. Yes, some restructuring would make the plot flow better, and some of the actors needed more rehearsal/prep time. Still, there’s a lot to appreciate and recommend about this debut film.