God's Crooked Lines Movie Review: A terrific thriller powered by top-notch performances

Oriol Paulo’s latest twisted thriller, God’s Crooked Lines—unlike recent thrillers that are over-reliant on action set-pieces—has reams and reams of dialogues. Right from when we first set eyes on the protagonist, Alice Gould (Barbara Lennie), the film pulls us into a labyrinth of truth and lies. This intricate web becomes more complex with every minute—and every dialogue precariously perches itself on the thin line between sanity and insanity. 

God’s Crooked Lines is set in an asylum where a private investigator Alicia Gould admits herself to find the reason behind the death of an inmate. She manages to hoodwink the system and enters the asylum by faking a case of extreme paranoia. However, she is forced to prove her sanity to the doctors in the asylum after a trusted aide turns on her. With overwhelming evidence against her, Alice’s desperate measures to find believers in her story is what makes God’s Crooked Lines such an intriguing watch.

Director: Oriol Paulo

Cast: Barbara Lennie, Eduard Fernandez, Loreto Mauleon, Pablo Derqui

Language: Spanish

Streaming on: Netflix

The portrayal of the asylum inmates might be generic to a fault, and should have been left in the 70s era in which the film is set in. However, these characters are still peppered with enough layers to keep us engaged for 150-odd minutes. Based on the book of the same name, God’s Crooked Lines is written by Oriol, Guillem Clua, and Lara Sendim, and the screenplay structure is a big plus. While we are left to grapple with Alice’s struggle to prove her sanity to the world, we are also jumping timelines to see the murder of an inmate and the escape of another. The way these timelines coalesce is a writing masterstroke. 

Invariably, you end up making Shutter Island comparisons, since this too is about a private investigator entering an asylum. Both are period films, book adaptations, and contain brilliant performances. God’s Crooked Lines, however, is definitely its own beast. Barbara Lennie owns the screen whenever she comes into focus. Be it the genial doctor Montserrat Castell (Loreto Mauleon), fellow asylum inmate Igancio (Pablo Derqui), or chief doctor Dr Alvar (Eduard Fernandez), the way she changes tack is a masterclass. 

Like Oriol Paulo’s previous films, nothing is simple, and here too, we wait for the proverbial twist to drop, and the filmmaker doesn’t disappoint. God’s Crooked Lines has a shock ending that isn’t just a simple hoodwink but rather the final piece of a convoluted jigsaw puzzle that never once takes the audience for granted.