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The Devil Never Sleeps

Play trailer Poster for The Devil Never Sleeps 1994 1h 27m Documentary Mystery & Thriller Play Trailer Watchlist
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The Devil Never Sleeps is a "whodunit" documentary about family secrets. Filmmaker Lourdes Portillo received a phone call informing her of the mysterious death of her wealthy Mexican uncle Oscar. Officially ruled a suicide, Portillo's relatives claimed murder, offering several possible suspects including a business partner, a ranch hand, and Oscar's young widow who stood to inherit everything. Traveling to Mexico, Portillo attempts to learn the truth about her powerful uncle. Using interviews, old snapshots and home movies, she finds a complicated web of family secrets, intrigue, rumor and betrayal that makes her enigmatic uncle's murder seem ever more likely, yet ever more obscure. As the Mexican saying goes, "When evil is lurking, the devil never sleeps."

Critics Reviews

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Stephen Holden New York Times Although the concept is promising, the movie's conclusions are too vague and scattered for her spadework to dig up a compelling drama. Dec 15, 2020 Full Review Emanuel Levy Variety The Devil Never Sleeps is mildly entertaining, particularly in the sections that try to make sense of the radically contradictory accounts of the same events or issues given by different members of Oscar's family. Dec 15, 2020 Full Review Desmond Ryan Philadelphia Inquirer [Director Lourdes Portillo] deploys an imaginative range of techniques and allusions to illuminate the investigation. Rated: 3/4 Dec 15, 2020 Full Review Hazel-Dawn Dumpert L.A. Weekly [Lourdes Portillo] manipulates her film intercutting it with Mexican soap operas, projecting interviews onto the frames of sunglasses to point to the melodrama her family mystery has become. The effect is breathtaking. Dec 15, 2020 Full Review Read all reviews
The Devil Never Sleeps

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Movie Info

Synopsis The Devil Never Sleeps is a "whodunit" documentary about family secrets. Filmmaker Lourdes Portillo received a phone call informing her of the mysterious death of her wealthy Mexican uncle Oscar. Officially ruled a suicide, Portillo's relatives claimed murder, offering several possible suspects including a business partner, a ranch hand, and Oscar's young widow who stood to inherit everything. Traveling to Mexico, Portillo attempts to learn the truth about her powerful uncle. Using interviews, old snapshots and home movies, she finds a complicated web of family secrets, intrigue, rumor and betrayal that makes her enigmatic uncle's murder seem ever more likely, yet ever more obscure. As the Mexican saying goes, "When evil is lurking, the devil never sleeps."
Director
Lourdes Portillo
Producer
Lourdes Portillo, Michelle Valladares
Screenwriter
Lourdes Portillo
Genre
Documentary, Mystery & Thriller
Original Language
Spanish
Runtime
1h 27m