All the World Is Sleeping

Trailer—All the World Is Sleeping

All the World is Sleeping is a film that I didn't even know existed until it came up under my recommendations after watching the awful Max Payne film...I don't know why it was recommended, considering the only thing these two films have remotely in common is themes surrounding drug addictions, but this is definitely a better movie than Max Payne. The story follows a woman named Chara (Melissa Barrera), who is a struggling single mother who struggles with an addiction to magic smoke, which ends up leading her to lose custody of her daughter after she ODs. What follows is a rollercoaster of her falling and rising repeatedly so she can hopefully overcome her addiction and maybe someday regain custody of her daughter. I don't want to say I disliked the story because I loved it when I saw it the first time...in a totally separate movie. It's pretty difficult for me to review this film because while it is well-made, beautifully shot, and superbly acted, it's the writing that hurts this film the most. This story of, "a poor person with a drug addiction is losing herself, her family, her friends, and she has to overcome her struggles to retake control of her life", has been done in many other movies many times before. The problem isn't even that this movie doesn't do anything original about its story; the problem is that it seems to believe this is the first kind of movie with this kind of story to tell. It seems to think it's a very deep, complex, and important story. I'm not denying that it is important, but if you sit back and evaluate the film, the story is actually pretty razor-thin, and despite this film being a character study, Chaca has no depth beyond being a woman struggling with addiction who wants to overcome it to see her daughter again. There are no layers to her character. Because of this, I didn't really feel any emotional connection with her at all. I'm sure this would hit really hard for women who relate and connect with her in some way, but as someone who has not experienced the kind of turmoil she has, the movie attempts to make you feel a connection with her, but it doesn't quite get there. On the upside, the acting is absolutely magnificent. Despite having a character with less than five traits, Barrera gives an absolutely stunning performance, making Chaca feel like a realistic, complex character with genuine emotions. Barrera is one of the finest young actresses in all of Mexico, and she deserves more global recognition. Jackie Cruz and Jorge Garcia are also fantastic as Chaca's junkie buddy Toaster and Chaca's drug counsellor Nick, respectfully. I could go on, but I don't know what else to say about All the World Is Sleeping. It's a decent film for what it is, and it attempts to tell an honest, no-holds-barred presentation of the lives of women in New Mexico who have struggled with addiction and, to an extent, it succeeds, but what really holds it back is its writing; it's overwritten and very pretentious. While the actors are amazing in their roles, particularly Barrera, and the shots of New Mexico are beautiful, there was so little depth and so few layers to its story and characters, I was ready for this movie to end 30 minutes earlier than it actually did.

All the World is Sleeping

People with no morals and values attempting to push their empty dead no future life style as passable to the public. Movie attempts to make you feel sorry for a horrible person. No thanks. If you make bad choices then live a bad life. Nobody owes you a damn thing, especially pity. This isn't an ode to overcoming obstacles or being a good person. It's an excuses orchestra for the worst of society. Your life is so hard and woe is you who has a bad parent. That means you can make all the bad decisions you want and blame your choices on her. That's what they want you to believe. It's a movie to create more useless slaves.

Chama (Melissa Barrera) is struggling. She is struggling to get a job. She is struggling to be a single mom to her young daughter. Most of all, she is struggling with drug addiction. She is struggling to not follow her mother's footsteps. With her drug buddy Toaster (Jackie Cruz), she descends into darkness and finds help from drug counsellor Nick (Jorge Garcia). This story is not terribly new. This is perfectly fine. Barrera is a beautiful Mexican actress who is doing the down and dirty acting here. The main drawback is the running time. It's too long for the amount of plot. The story is pretty simple. The character study is also rather simple. Hurley does add a bit of interest just when the movie is stalling out. The movie is too long by at least fifteen minutes.

Not an easy watch, but an important one. There are many films that tackle drug addiction, which makes sense because most of our homes or homes of friends or loved ones, struggle with addiction. This film takes on the subject matter in a way that feels more cerebral. The scenes unfold like a collision of memories (some positive, some traumatic) that tell the present story of Chama (played by powerhouse Melissa Barrera). She's struggling to keep her life together not only for herself but for her young daughter. To complicate matters are the memories of her mother (the wonderful Lisandra Tena) and her best friend (Jackie Cruz in an electric performance). This film was at times subtle but often in your face. It stays consistently unique and powerful, in a way that lingers on your mind for days afterward.

Not your typical addiction drama based on a true story, this is deeper and artfully done. Depicting what it is REALLY like inside a women's mind who is in crippling addiction with almost no resources. This captured a different authentic view to the struggle, hopelessness and up hill daily battle it takes to get out of a situation that you had little to no fault being in, in the first place. This is not the usual outcome for most but there is hope for a blessed few that can find the strength within and beat the odds. Truth and hope are two of the hardest things to grasp when getting clean. The feeling of unworthiness, nothingness and loneliness were visceral thorough-out this movie. Anyone that has addiction touching their life in any way shape or form (at this point in the epidemic that should be everyone) sit down watch this movie and keep it at the core of the way you filter your thinking about addicts and most specifically female addicts.