User reviews

Answer: You want to watch how it ends, and it catches you just after the first seconds, right until the last.

This movie is a performance in overall consistency, pace and quality. Certainly some of the best in 2022. Using a difficult subject (mental health), in a difficult place (a sanitarium with crazy people), with a difficult duration (2 and 1/2 hours), it manages to create an atmosphere, tensions, twists, attachment and beauty at all times, with charismatic actors handling all characters that you do not want to leave. These a signs of a very well crafted movie, giving a lot of care to details and to the audience, but without any easy writing or gratuitous eye candy.

Watch it, you won't be disappointed (except if you are looking for stereotypical and empty movies).

I watched this with little expectations other than a mix of negative reviews and one about 'a movie for intellectuals.' If you enjoyed Shutter Island, I highly recommend as this is of the same genre, well made, characters develop at a comfortable pace and the crooked lines in the plot are well played, done with thought and til the end.

I look forward to watching this again as I know I will pick up something new with each watch. I didn't recognize any of these actors, but was very impressed by all. Any movie set made to be in an insane asylum can go one of many ways. The characters here were intriguing, make you laugh, cry, and want to be their friends.

Psychological thriller/drama-mystery film directed by Oriol Paulo (the man behind the original versions of Balda/Dobaara/Blurr)

I went into the film not knowing anything about the film, (you should as well; I'll spare the plot here) and halfway in, it had me like "what is the world is going on here?" as it is the case with most of this director's films.

The plot slowly unravels and makes you go "Ooooooohhhh...! Innterestinggg" and the end makes you question everything you've watched. Hella twists and turns throughout!

If you enjoy the joy of looking for answers, this one is surely for you. For the rest of you thriller junkies, this will be worth your time as well.

Another great movie by one of the top Spanish directors nowadays. As his other projects you get a fantastic dosis of suspense and will keep asking questions throught the film. A difficult book to adapt but the director manages to do it perfectly well. Really entertaining movie with quality. Eduard Fernández and Oriol Paulo are always a guarantee for movie lovers.. My advice is not to read a lot about the film. I also recommend checking the director's previous films. This has been the best year in Spanish cinema in a long time. Mistery, good acting and entertainment, enough for me. Turn on the tv and Enjoy...

The movie starts with a bird's-view of a mountainous landscape. A car drives down a road. We know our heroine is going to be alone in this journey.

Alice is a private detective set to investigate the events that lead to the death of the son of her client. Her client does not agree with the final report: suicide. She decides to enter sanatorium where her client's son was institutionalized to conduct her investigations on the source. Once there, who can judge sanity over insanity?

The plot follow two storylines: we see Alice's perspective and investigation, and then we shift into a breakout event that led to the death of one of the sanatorium's patients. The story keeps us hooked until the very end, a great who-and-whydunit story that leaves us guessing until the very end.

The ending is good too, although people who read the book where screenwriters based this movie's story on can argue which ending is the best. I personally think both takes are good.

For a mystery story, it's possible to defend that the movie is too long, dragging a bit. I feel that this is not true; the movie is long, but the story is good. I don't mind being hooked for over 2 hours if the story is good.

At the end, I felt rewarded: the movie delivered. One could debate that there are some really messed up stuff that happens, and that the police seems a bit lost in this whole mess, but you need to remember this story happens in 1979.

If you are a fan of mystery dramas and don't mind the time spent on this movie, God's Crooked Lines is recommendable.

The Mystery concept is on full display in this film, though unfortunately it is not a new, refreshed, or novel mystery. Here we have the typical madhouse film that questions the sanity of the protagonist mixed with the story of the typical crime story without a clear culprit.

But don't get me wrong, this movie is good and entertaining, despite its slow pace and excessively long footage. It is somehow a good mystery that if you plunge into the plot, you will fall into the confusion that the story presents and you will be motivated to unravel this mess with the smell of old parchment. The last plot twist can be felt a little bit forced, but after all, it's expected.

What an amazing mind-blowing psychological thriller making the easily the year's best screenplay flick... Oriol Paulo of "THE INVISIBLE GUEST" has crafted a briiliant screenplay that keeps u guessing with its past and present mode of storytelling... Quite creepy in the beginning 30 mins or so later plunges into deep heart every minute with twist and turns keeping us edge of seat, convincingly told in such a way that one can't predict who is pretending or who is real and does indulge in shocking act often... Barbara Lennie does carry the whole movie single handedly with her smart,manipulative gesture...truly Oscar worthy in every sense... Overall a perfect movie for every movie buffs.

As other reviewers have indicated this one has a lot of similarities with "Shutter Island", but in contrary to that great movie this one from my point of view crosses the line between creating a meaningful storyline and just creating "smoke and mirrors". For me it's clear that the director has spent more efforts on holding the audience in a constant uncertainty about "what is real and what is imagination" rather than delivering an exciting plot. 3/4 into the movies I realized that I had really no clue what was going on and, even worse, that I didn't really care either! As many other reviewers are mentioning the book it's build on I might consider reading that one.....I might also consider (if I have a day with nothing better to do!) to watch the movie again....just to check that I didn't miss out on anything?

First of all very nice characterizations, I love everybody in the movie. Superb acting. Story was interesting, till end I thought lots of things because in some points, this movie is so similar with some other movies and every time story went different way. So I can say that was good but final... Final was terrible in my opinion. I hate the movies with open ended final. Because I don't wanna think what will happen, neither series nor movies.. This is really sucks. Anyway, till final it was 8 for me but with final I gave 6. Also this is very long movie. Maybe for a negative comment I can say main character has smoked too much. :) I hated this situation too. It is watchable but don't expect too high.

What you see is not what you get, but a story you'll probably want to forget, as it twists and it turns to contrive and distort, psychologically coiled, laboured and contort. You know from the off what makes some people tick, if they're completely insane or just plain lunatic, but inside an asylum you're one of the crowd, and that makes you receptive, to things lost in shrouds.

It's quite an arduously long presentation, that takes you to a place that may leave some in consternation, although you know right at the end, as you tally up connections, that if Agatha or Alfred did it, you'd applaud without objections - although they would have done it a lot better, with more engagement and with a bit more dangle.

Oriol Paulo's films have always been about details and God's Crooked Lines, currently streaming on Netflix, is no different. Anyone who has watched Martin Scorsese's Shutter Island will find certain aspects of the first and second acts to be extremely familar. But the devil is indeed in the smaller, finer details. The protagonist Alice, played to scintillating effect by Bárbara Lennie, is textured in ways you can come to expect in Paulo's films. We're given elaborate visual perspective on how she could be a victim and also how she could be psychologically unstable. We're also told that Alice is extremely intelligent and she presents her case to medical practioners in a very articulate, believable manner.

So, in this 2h 34m slow-burn psychological thriller, turns out the truth is whatever you make it to be (which is also a line uttered by one of the characters). It's all smoke and mirrors, and supposedly intentioned that way because there's a last-minute twist (after quite a few early on) questioning all the darts that struck bullseye up until then. However, there are no two ways about how good the film comes across aurally and visually. Fernando Velázquez's score is pretty solid and Bernat Bosch's cinematography soaks in all that unsettling-yet-beautiful imagery in and around the asylum. I also noticed that the film is based on a 1979 novel by Torcuato Luca de Tena, who actually stayed in a psychiatric institution to conjure up these characters.

There's a warm equation shared between Alice and certain inmates, and Paulo captures them wonderfully. Not only does this serve as a means to forward the plot, but it also offers the protagonist's arc a better chance at closure (even when the final twist derails everything). The art direction and costume departments do a stellar job in making the whole setup work, and the only gripe that most viewers are likely to have is the somewhat stretched run-time.

Loved it - Up until the last second. Unnecessary. Incredible protagonist with a compelling story and mysteries. I really hope they pull off the sequel or sequels. I want it.

I gave it a 10 out of 10 and then the last second happened. I had to bring it down.

I don't understand the need, but am willing to let the writers tell the rest of the story as it comes.

I'm disappointed because now it brings the story back to where we were instead of taking us into the next chapter... I suppose we will see.

Wonderful characters, wonderful weave, incredible production design, incredible acting and directing. Overall a great production. Hollywood, take notes. This is how you create a strong protagonist, one with flaws - flaws we all have.

And this is the problem I have with this movie. The plot doesn'r add up to me. I would not like to make spoilers. Just let me say that Alicia, a detective, seeks to discover the truth about the death of an inmate, Damián García del Olmo. However, the movie goes on an on and that is never clarified. Some dialogues are just vehicles to trick the spectator and I believe that a good thriller shouldn't be using that as a resource to make it look good.

I rated it with 6 stars because the performances are very good, the suspense atmosphere is well created, and you do not know who is lying, until the end; but logic is missing because there are things that are never explained. I believe a good thriller needs logical explanations at the end.

The plot has too many dramaturgic twists to be consistent. In particular, the end appears construed. It feels like a rollercoaster ride. There are too many turns that cannot be tied together into a consistent narrative. This may leave you almost betrayed by the story.

And yet it is entertaining and thought-provoking; so I gave it a five of ten.

But beware: you might feel betrayed at the end.

Somehow related to this, in the Rosenhan experiment the validity of psychiatric diagnosis was tested. It was conducted by a Stanford University professor, and published by the journal "Science" under the title "On Being Sane in Insane Places" in 1973. The alleged "patients" simulated hallucinations to enter psychiatric clinics. They acted normally afterwards. The great majority of those persons were diagnosed to mentally sick by the mental hospitals.

The sweet mess it is. I missed that depth and suspense that I usually find in European movies.

This movie started quite well actually: excellent dialogues, plus, it seemed that the psychological development of the characters would be solid (slow burn). Anyhow, the plot starts melting rapidly, it becomes boring. I don't want to spoil this for you, but, if you ask me, this movie is overrated and there are plenty of excellent Spanish movies. Watch this only if you are having very long weekend. Sorry, I wish I had something nicer to say about this drama/thriller. It may be that I expect too much from spanish movies, because, in general, I find them spicy and intriguing.

Exciting thriller plenty of suspense , thrills, twists, turns and a complex intrigue. Alice Gould (Bárbara Lennie) is an eye private who claims to suffer from paranoia and is admitted to a psychiatric hospital to investigate the mysterious death of a patient. So she checks into a psychiatric hospital feigning paranoia with the goal of collecting evidence for the case she is working on. Alicia is interrogated by Dr. Ruipérez (Federico Aguado), who reads a letter by Dr. Donadío (Lluís Soler). Donadío states that Alice has a penchant for telling lies and make them sound very convincing. Dr Alvar (Eduard Fernandez) is the head of the institution and is on vacation. However, the reality of the psychiatric center will make her question her own sanity. An unknown and moving world will open before her eyes. There Alice gets acquainted with Ignacio Urquieta (Pablo Derqui) and the twins (Rómulo (Samuel Soler) and Remo (Samuel Soler)) as well as the Gnome (Luis Sacristán), a sexual molester protected by the Elephant Man (Francisco Javier Pastor)

This slick thriller in154 minutes titled ¨Los Renglones Torcidos De Dios¨(international title: The Crooked Lines of God) contains tension , drama , mystery , plot twists , shocks , including some scares and surprises with twisted sequences especially in its final part , in a unexpected denouement , near of the end . With a narrative puzzle, full of flashbacks and plenty of twists, in which you never know if the story told is true or an invention of Alice's mind. The film masterfully maintains the intrigue and continuous suspense until a surprising ending that will leave you speechless. The main question of the film is to determine the following: Is Alice a real detective or does she really suffer from a mental illness? . Oriol Paulo turns this new cinematic adaptation based on the acclaimed novel by Torcuato Luca de Tena "Los Renglones Torcidos de Dios (The Crooked Lines of God)" in a decent film, well worth seeing it. This rendition of the Torcuato Luca de Tena's novel is become into an intricate psychological thriller in which Bárbara Lennie gives a competent interpretation as the protagonist Alice Gould; she's a contradictory and suspicious woman checking into a psychiatric ward to investigate a homicide. The film received six Goya Award nominations, including Best Actress Bárbara Lennie. Along with her , the always notable Eduard Fernández and other good supporting actors such as Pablo Derqui, Javier Beltrán, Federico Aguado, Adelfa Calvo, Lluís Soler.

The fim packs a suspenseful and stirring musical score by Fernando Velazquez . And an evocative and colorful cinematography by Bernat Bosch. The film was well financed by various producers , such as Miguel Angel Faura, Mercedes Gamero , Magda Gargallo, Rosa Pérez, Núria Valls; all of them have produced a lot of successes in the new Spanish cinema . Being professionally written and directed by Oriol Paulo who formerly realized short movies as McGuffin , Tapes and Eve. As a scriptwriter, he wrote screenplays for small screen films such as Ecos (2006) and Codi 60 (2011), but is best known for his work in series such as Absolute majority (2004) and The color of the cuitat (2004-09) and wrote the successful ¨The Julia's eyes¨, alongside Guillem Morales, produced by Guillermo del Toro.. In 2012 he wrote and directed his first feature, ¨The Body¨. Paulo nominated for Best New Director at the Goya Awards and won the Best Film Award at the Fantastic Film Festival in Paris for The Body. In 2016 he wrote the script of ¨Boy Missing¨, directed by Mar Tarragona. In 2017 Paulo wrote and directed the world hit ¨The Invisible Guest¨ with Mario Casas, Barbara Lennie and José Coronado as protagonists. From 2016 onwards, Oriol Paulo works as the writer and director of the television series ¨Night and Day¨. The movie will appeal to suspense and Bárbara Lennie fans . Rating : 7/10. Good , better than average . It's well worthwhile seeing and contains some really thrilling scenes and attractive images .