Angel on AllMovie

Swedish jack-of-all-trades Stig Larsson made his directorial bow with 1989's Angel. Belying its title, the film traces a young man's degeneration into crime and murder, laying the blame squarely on drugs -- and, implicitly, society. Larsson took great pains to insure that his leading man would be as accurate in his portrayal as possible. To that end, he arranged for a convicted murderer (Kim Kuusisto) to be briefly released from prison so that he could play the role! Larsson also wrote the script, and appeared in the film as a character named "Stig."