The Better Angels

There is a useful directness to The Better Angels, a biographical drama shaped by A.J. Edwards with a firm understanding of its audience. In The Better Angels, Jason Clarke provides the anchor while Diane Kruger introduces a contrasting energy. Without revealing later complications, The Better Angels opens from this situation: The story of Abraham Lincoln's childhood in the harsh wilderness of Indiana and the hardships that shaped him, the tragedy that marked him for ever and the two women who guided him to immortality. The resulting its 1h 35m running time feels most convincing whenever The Better Angels trusts behaviour more than explanation.

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The Better Angels uses its biographical drama framework to consider the distance between a public legacy and the private person behind it. For the character played by Jason Clarke, that idea gives The Better Angels stakes beyond the next immediate obstacle. The recurring pressure of Indiana prevents the theme in The Better Angels from feeling like decoration added after the story. A.J. Edwards makes The Better Angels more thoughtful whenever the implications remain inside action and reaction.

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The Better Angels gains much of its identity from performance led storytelling, a choice that makes the world readable as well as attractive. The contribution of Brothers K Productions allows The Better Angels to combine performance led storytelling with a consistent visual language. Within its United States setting, The Better Angels makes particularly good use of period detail when the story needs to change scale. Sound and editing preserve the personality of The Better Angels by supporting detail instead of announcing every intended response.

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Rather than summarise every event in The Better Angels, it is enough to note how Abraham Lincoln places Indiana under growing pressure. Jason Clarke gives that tension a face, which stops The Better Angels from becoming a mechanical sequence of developments. A.J. Edwards uses the central character to widen the stakes of The Better Angels without losing sight of the original problem. Where an important relationship becomes predictable, The Better Angels recovers interest through the consequences surrounding it.

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The acting in The Better Angels is anchored by Jason Clarke, who treats even functional scenes as opportunities to reveal character. Diane Kruger answers that approach with a different energy, giving The Better Angels welcome friction whenever the pace begins to settle. Around them, Brit Marling helps The Better Angels feel like an ensemble piece rather than a vehicle with decorative support. Under A.J. Edwards, the performances in The Better Angels share a tone even when the writing gives them unequal depth.

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As director of The Better Angels, A.J. Edwards proves engaging in bursts but unable to maintain the same control in the transitions between intimate material and larger demands. A strong scene in The Better Angels often begins with a modest detail before A.J. Edwards lets its meaning expand. For The Better Angels, worthwhile ideas compete with an uneven structure because the central tone remains visible even during busy passages. The weakness in The Better Angels is that the pace alternates between hurry and drift, although A.J. Edwards usually finds the original rhythm again.

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The Better Angels ends as a qualified recommendation, especially for viewers who enjoy biographies built around contradiction rather than worship. What remains from The Better Angels is the relationship between Jason Clarke, performance led storytelling and A.J. Edwards's control of mood. The weakness that the pace alternates between hurry and drift narrows the impact of The Better Angels without cancelling its better work. On balance, The Better Angels gives its intended viewers a distinctive experience rather than a completely anonymous piece of content.