🎥 Overview
The Belgian-French film Angel (2016), directed by Harry Cleven, is considered to be both a romantic fantasy and a work of art. The film’s intricate visual storytelling and emotional sensitivity captures the essence of love in its beauty and tragedy. At the core of the film is a magical concept. What would it mean if someone was born entirely invisible? Would they be capable of love? Would there be someone to love them?
Angel is the complete opposite of the vigorous feasts for the eyes found in mainstream fantasy cinema. The film chooses to approach the subject matter with a quiet and subtle lens that is steeped in artistry, relying on imagination, metaphor, and intimate storytelling, presenting a story to the audience that is felt rather than seen.
🧠 Plot Summary: The Blind Girl and the Invisible Boy
The plot begins with Louise, gentle and beautiful, yet mysterious, feminine, and soft in stature. After the unexplained vanishing of her magician lover, she is committed to a psychiatric asylum. Louise mysteriously becomes a mother shortly thereafter, giving birth to a complete invisibility, a child she names Angel.
To ensure that her son is shielded from a world that will never comprehend and accept his reality, Louise raises him in isolation, masking the peculiar condition he lives with. Loved by his mother, Angel grows up cloistered in darkness, while the world beyond remains oblivious.
Everything shifts when Angel crosses paths with a young girl, Madeleine, who has been blind since birth. For the very first time, Angel senses that he is being perceived—not with eyes, but with the depth of the heart. The two cultivate a profound connection that blossoms into deep friendship and, eventually, a gentle, otherworldly love. In Angel’s case; invisibility is never an obstacle for Madeleine because he has always existed in her world.
But after undergoing a life-changing surgery meant to restore her sight, the ultimate challenge awaits. What lies in the balance after opening her eyes to a void where she previously felt everything? Will love persist in the absence of the ‘normal’ illusion when shattered?
🎭 Main Cast and Performances
Elina Löwensohn as Louise – A performance of a lifetime, showing the inner struggle of a fiercely protective mother. Her quiet strength creates the emotional weight of the movie.
Fleur Geffrier as Madeleine (Adult) – As the adult version of the heroine, Geffrier stunningly portrays a person trapped in a whirlpool of memories and reality.
Maya Dory as Madeleine (Teenager) – An award-winning performance that captured innocence and deep emotion during the middle section of the story.
Hannah Boudreau as Madeleine (Child) – The youngest version of Madeleine, who captures the curiosity and warmth that kindle the story’s most prominent relationship.
François Vincentelli as Angel’s Father / The Magician – He ominously watches over the movie as the potential recipient of Angel’s mystical traits, further complicating the magical component of the storytelling.
🎞️ Visual Style and Direction
Harry Cleven directs Angel with an ethereal touch. The film’s cinematography pays attention to light, shadow, reflections, and even absence, exploring Angel’s invisibility in ways that feel effortless and graceful rather than gimmicky.
The use of natural lighting makes scenes appear dreamy, creating a soft color palette that evokes intimacy, reminiscent of fairy tales. The metaphor of invisibility reflects the parts of our identity that we long to be accepted for, without being overemphasized.
Choices by the cinematographer and production designer blended minimalism and painterly aesthetics. The special effects and camera techniques are subtle yet skillful, creating a simple and believable illusion that lets the film’s emotional impact take center stage.
🌌 Themes Explored
🧑🤝🧑 Love Beyond the Physical
At its core, this is a love story. Love that goes beyond sight, presence, touch, and (rational) logic. It is an attempt to confront what it truly means to “see” someone, or, in other words, ‘knowing and accepting someone.’
🌫️ Invisibility as Identity
When we say invisibility, it is both something that can be touched and something metaphorical. For Angel, her invisibility reveals so much about how people feel unacknowledged and neglected by the world. Unacknowledged Reality. Lonliness imposed by difference. Connecting that brings validation.
👁️ Perception vs. Reality
Madeleine’s journey from blind to sight is an essence of a journey that questions, ‘does seeing literally means believing?’ or ‘is love better comprehended without sight?’
The truth behind the perception and reality is intertwined in that journey.
🧙♂️ Magic as Metaphor
From the father who is a magician, to the inexplicable condition of Angel, magical realism is employed to address profound human sentiments: grief, emotional isolation, yearning, and even the audacity to love.
🏆 Awards and Recognition
In festival film circles, Angel was praised for the originality and subtle emotional performance of the film. It received three nominations at the eighth Magritte Awards for:
Most Promising Actress – Awarded to Maya Dory,
Best Cinematography – Nominated,
Best Production Design – Nominated
Being regarded for imaginative character-driven story devoid of expensive special effects along with remarkable acting, highlighted the film.
📌 Should You Watch Angel (2016)?
Sure, if you’re on the hunt for a romantic drama which features a charming plot, captivating characters, and a concept that handles the notion of invisibility in a unique and powerful way.
Watch it if:
✔ You liked films such as The Shape of Water, Amelie, or Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind
✔ You appreciate stories that are emotionally driven and unfold slowly
✔ You have an affinity for the magical realism/SURREALIST genre
✔ You love romance oriented around characters with an element of fantasy
Skip it if:
❌ You prefer plots that are fast-paced or told in a conventional way
❌ You are looking for a clear explanation of fantastical elements
❌ You are in search of action, suspense, or intense conflict
🔚 Bottom Line
Angel (Mon Ange) is charmingly tender in its portrayal about invisible love and the quiet courage to deeply feel when the world makes one invisible. It is one of the quiet achievements of modern European cinema. Like many stories that invoke the need to be tightly grasped and experienced rather than simply observed, Angel evokes the same feeling.