In a Glass Cage

1987

1h 52m

Mystery & Thriller

List

67%

Tomatometer

9 Reviews

74%

Audience Score

1,000+ Ratings

Years after committing atrocities as a torturer of interned children during the Holocaust, Nazi doctor and certified pedophile Klaus (Günter Meisner) continues to murder little boys. After a gruesomely botched suicide attempt leaves Klaus imprisoned in an iron lung, he gives up his sickening pastime. But when a mysterious teenager named Angelo (David Sust) arrives at his home claiming to be a nurse, Klaus happily hires the boy as his new attendant -- a decision he soon regrets.

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Sam Adams

Los Angeles Times

As creepy as they come, leaving a lingering chill that only time can warm

Rated: B+

Jul 10, 2011

Full Review

Elliott Stein

Village Voice

Villaronga's unsettling lyrical nightmare hasn't aged a bit; it stays in the mind long after more bloodthirsty recent horror flicks have faded away.

Feb 7, 2006

Full Review

Jonathan Rosenbaum

Chicago Reader

May not be for everyone, but it is certainly disturbing, powerful, and accomplished in what it sets out to do.

Oct 16, 2001

Full Review

Joe Lipsett

Bloody Disgusting

In A Glass Cage is distinctly uninterested in offering easy or comforting answers...the ambiguity is part of its strength

May 24, 2020

Full Review

Adam Lippe

Examiner.com

It's actually worse that Villaronga is such a terrific filmmaker, as he's able to hold our throats that much tighter, not allowing us to even sip from our inner iron lungs.

Jul 1, 2011

Full Review

Emanuel Levy

EmanuelLevy.Com

Rated: 2/5

Jul 31, 2005

Full Review

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Alfred K

This is a dark creepy movie that keeps you on the edge of your seat. The acting by everyone is excellent & the plot is suspenseful. The movie is a reminder that the evil of one person is far reaching & not easy to extinguish.

Rated 5 out of 5 stars

04/24/23

Full Review

Audience Member

A boy hanging, beaten and bloody. A man jumps off a roof. Somebody else is there - we follow the camera's eye, feel his breathing. It's a pretty intense start. Horrible things revealed about the man's past -now confined to an iron lung. Disturbing imagery - twisted eroticism; a bleak, dark game. Music supports the eerie feel, accompanied by the heavy breathing that dominates the soundtrack. There is no let up, no redemption.

Rated 5 out of 5 stars

01/26/23

Full Review

Audience Member

idk; i get it. the subject matter is incredibly disturbing & you knew that it was going to be right out of the gate. that very first scene definitely set a precedent. however, i'm not sure i'd put this on the same list as other disturbing titles, which i'll choose to not name. they never show anything, they only talk about it. so, yes - still disturbing subject matter & depending on how active your imagination is, could really get to you. but IMO this wasn't that good/bad (however you want to look at it).

Rated 2 out of 5 stars

01/20/23

Full Review

Nikolai H

Deeply unsettling... a thought-provoking portrayal of obsession and cycles of abuse. It's a moody slow burn that gets under your skin. Very well done and featuring some truly chilling performances. Although I really wish we saw a bit more backstory for Angelo... his behavior isn't terribly well explained and he feels slightly flat as a result. It also feels longer than necessary, and combined with the constant overbearing grim mood it's a bit challenging to get through in one sitting. I've heard this described as "extreme horror" and I don't think it is exactly, but it is incredibly disturbing and its portrayal of child abuse can make this hard to watch. The horror feels very real even when the show descends into an almost dream-like state. Ultimately a pretty depressing watch.

Rated 4 out of 5 stars

08/03/17

Full Review

Audience Member

The cruel and compelling images of In a Glass Cage will affect viewers differently. I was constantly reminded of the sadistic and depraved behavior of Nazi doctors, their twisted compulsion to document their actions, and the cancerous legacy they left to a world forced to grapple with them. In A Glass Cage imagines a scenario where a boy victimized by such a Nazi doctor suffers some sort of PTSD and becomes a monster himself. Presented in the style of a grim thriller, the film ultimately crumbles under the weight of the subject matter it depicts. Theses kinds of films are valuable mainly as a way to remind society of man's capacity for evil.

Rated 3.5 out of 5 stars

02/01/23

Full Review

Audience Member

It's very rare that you see a movie which is able to shock and disgust you, but is also impossible to look away from. Such is the case with In a Glass Cage, a story of cold, calculating retribution. Creating a dark, bleak, foreboding atmosphere, our lead characters exist within a world where the past is inescapable, and can hold a grudge longer than any mortal being. We follow Angelo, a haunting performance by David Sust, as he aims to exact a slow and cruel revenge on the man that left an indelible mark upon his pre-teen years. The first half builds up the tension and discomfort, and the second half sees it being unleashed full force upon the man in the eponymous cage. The music is simplistic and chilling, and the repetitive clunking of the Iron Lung represents the grinding clock of wasted time, ticking down the seconds of the family's hollow existence. It does grow quite monotonous in the third act, and will likely have you checking your watch more and more often, but what will hold your attention is the creepy central performance, which grows increasingly more disturbed but never goes over the top, holding back until the character can fulfil his plan. It's a film that examines isolation, regret, war atrocities, euthanasia and how the horrors experienced during childhood can follow through to adulthood, often with disastrous consequences.

Rated 4.5 out of 5 stars

02/26/23

Full Review

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Agustí Villaronga

Director

Günter Meisner

Klaus

David Sust

Angelo

Marisa Paredes

Griselda

Gisela Echevarria

Rena

Imma Colomer

Maid

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Synopsis

Years after committing atrocities as a torturer of interned children during the Holocaust, Nazi doctor and certified pedophile Klaus (Günter Meisner) continues to murder little boys. After a gruesomely botched suicide attempt leaves Klaus imprisoned in an iron lung, he gives up his sickening pastime. But when a mysterious teenager named Angelo (David Sust) arrives at his home claiming to be a nurse, Klaus happily hires the boy as his new attendant -- a decision he soon regrets.

Director: Agustí Villaronga
Screenwriter: Agustí Villaronga
Genre: Mystery & Thriller
Original Language: Spanish
Release Date (Streaming): Jul 26, 2020
Runtime: 1h 52m

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