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.
