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The Face of an Angel is a thriller which asks why are we fascinated by murder? Inspired by the killing of British student Meredith Kercher in Italy, it looks beyond the salacious headlines to explore both the media and the public’s obsession with violent stories, whether fictional or real.
Thomas Lang (Daniel Brühl) is a film director who is offered the chance to adapt a book by American journalist Simone Ford (Kate Beckinsale), which recounts the controversial trial of American student Jessica Fuller (Genevieve Gaunt) for the murder of her flatmate Elizabeth Pryce (Sai Bennett). To help with his research, Simone takes Thomas to Siena, where he is disturbed by the media frenzy that has developed around the case.
After visiting the crime scene, Thomas, who is separated from his wife and daughter, begins to question not only the motives of the people around him, from the financiers of the film to the press corps, but also his own. As Thomas descends into his own personal torment, he is rescued by his friendship with a young, guileless British student, Melanie (Cara Delevingne).Through Melanie he begins to realise that he no longer wants to make a film about violence and guilt – he wants to make a film about love and innocence. He wants to make a film that will honour the victim, that will focus on the life, the love and the happiness that have been taken from her.
Personally, I wasn’t sold on The Face of an Angel from the trailer, even with Michael Winterbottom in the director’s chair, but when it’s released in UK cinemas on March 27th, perhaps it’ll answer the question I have every day when I open the paper: What is the point of Cara Delevingne?
Check out the trailer below and click on the pictures above for the full-size versions, the lower one showing Delevingne and Brühl:
Reviewer of movies, videogames and music since 1994. Aortic valve operation survivor from the same year. Running DVDfever.co.uk since 2000. Nobel Peace Prize winner 2021.