This is a film about the good and the bad, child neglect, illness, wrong angels, fallen angels, faith, fear, trust, self-worth vulnerability and childhood in general. I intentionally didn't include sins in this list. Angels can fall for various different reasons, including bad luck. The film uses a lot of christian metaphor. But I wouldn't call it religious as a whole.
Two sisters of roughly 9 and 5 years, a father who works a lot and a mother who cries a lot make up this poor family. The two children are amongst themselves most of the time. The older sister, Angela, takes the lead during everything they do together. She uses religious rituals to hold on to sanity and innocence, to banish the devil and to entice good angels to make her mother happy again. At home they encounter various chances of enriching their collection of traumas. During their one-day adventure of running away after their mother is hospitalised, they meet very different people for short amounts of time. In some cases you wish they had had more time to become better friends; in another case you can't believe their luck that cut their encounter short. In the end, though, they only have each other - and their trust in god.
This movie plays with the feelings of the viewer. It builds up empathy quickly, then slowly destroys any good thing that may be carried by it. It pokes at your heart, pushes it around, only gently enough to keep you watching until the end.
I think I like this film because it takes the innocent view of a child from a broken family and really uses its potential to create sad moments that this setting allows for. The ending of course is also one that leaves an impression if you're emotionally invested in the characters. Although I didn't consciously see it that way while watching, the film contrasts the careless freedom that child-like innocence can offer with harsh and dangerous reality of life. The children escape their worrisome environment, mentally and then also physically, which allows them to live this freedom that we expect children to have. But it is not in the frame of a save home.