The Paramedic 2020

Ángel Hernández Mario Casas is a paramedic who lives with his girlfriend Vane Déborah François. From the start, he comes across as unempathetic toward patients, stealing valuables from them and passing the best items to a local fence. At home, his demeanor toward Vane is possessive and controlling, and the couple struggle to start a family. Ángel bluntly blames Vane for their infertility, even suggesting her problems are psychosomatic. He later undergoes a fertility test himself and learns that his sperm count is low, but he keeps this to himself, masking his own insecurity with a brittle, controlling calm.

One day, while transporting an injured patient to the hospital, the ambulance—driven by his colleague Ricardo Guillermo Pfening—is involved in a serious accident. The crash leaves Ángel paralyzed from the waist down, forcing him into a wheelchair. The sudden shift in mobility too often shifts the balance of a relationship, and Ángel immediately blames Ricardo, unable to forgive the man. The disability intensifies the strain between Ángel and Vane, and he becomes increasingly paranoid that she is unfaithful. His behavior grows harsher: he taunts, berates, and gaslights her, all while he covertly surveils her.

Vane works nights at a call center, and Ángel installs spyware on her phone to monitor her every move. Through that spyware, he overhears a friend of Vane telling her that Ángel is abusive and that she should leave him. When Vane returns home that day, Ángel has cooked her favorite meal and appears contrite about his past conduct, even as the underlying power dynamics remain volatile. They attempt intimacy, but Ángel’s new physical sensation—his inability to feel anything—blocks their connection. While Vane showers, she discovers on Ángel’s laptop that he has been spying on her all along. Disgusted, she packs a bag and leaves for good.

Months pass, but Ángel remains fixated on Vane. He stalks her, and eventually he sees her sharing a kiss with Ricardo, whom she has begun dating. Later, he watches as the pair shop for baby items and realizes she is pregnant with Ricardo’s child. Ángel confronts Vane in the street, telling her that he has boxed up the rest of her belongings and asking if she wants to come collect them. When they return to the apartment, Ángel injects Vane, leaving her unconscious. She wakes to find herself gagged and tied to a bed. He uses her phone to send a message to Ricardo, claiming she does not want to have the baby and begging him not to contact her. Ricardo later tries to locate Vane, uneasy because he suspects the message was forged.

Ángel escalates his abduction by injecting Vane with an epidural to temporarily cripple her legs, and he presents her with an engagement ring—stolen from a former patient—and speaks of their future together and raising their baby. Vane attempts to escape, but he overpowers her. An elderly neighbor, drawn by Vane’s screams, comes to investigate. When the neighbor threatens to call the police, Ángel stabs him to death and pays his fence-contact to dispose of the body. Ángel then goes to Ricardo’s house and murders him as well, severing the last link to any potential help for Vane.

A few days later, the police arrive at Ángel’s apartment, informing him that they are investigating Ricardo’s death and Vane’s disappearance. Ángel manages to convince them that he knows nothing about either case, maintaining his facade of innocence. Vane, meanwhile, manages to escape while Ángel is away from the apartment. With limited mobility but a strong will, she drags herself down the building’s staircase, narrowly avoiding capture as the lift stops on a landing. Ángel exits the elevator, and the two struggle, ending with Vane stabbing him with a screwdriver. He tumbles down several flights of stairs, left incapacitated and unable to speak.

In the final scene, Ángel lies in a hospital bed, now completely paralyzed and connected to a breathing tube. Vane appears, fully recovered, visibly pregnant, and with a calm, unsettling smile. She tells the helpless Ángel that from now on she will be the one taking care of him. Her fate for him is left open, leaving the audience to ponder the cost of control, abuse, and the long shadow it casts over trust and autonomy.