Too many movies put one through a filmgoers’ version of Elizabeth Kübler Ross’s “Stages of Grief” while you’re watching them.

You go from “This might be good” to “This COULD be OK,” and then “It’s not half bad” to “It might rally at the end” and wind up at “What were they thinking?”

“Caged Wings,” which had the far more poetic title “Mi soledad tiene alas” in Spain (It’s in Spanish with English subtitles, not yet dubbed) — “My Loneliness Has Wings” — is such a film. It begins with promise, immerses us in a milieu, sets up possible romance, big dreams and ugly challenges, but staggers into potholes and stumbles into formulaic pandering on its way towards utter disappointment.

Actor turned director Mario Casas conceived his writing/directing debut as a star vehicle for younger brother Óscar Casas, who plays a graffiti artist with “The Next Banksy” street-art aspirations. The casting and the story kind of works up until things let you know this isn’t working out.

“Dan” lives with and dotes on his aged grandmother by day. But at night, he’s out “tagging,” almost always with his confederates, grocery cashier Vio, short for Violetta (Candela González) and vain, hotheaded hustler/playa Reno (Farid Bechara).

But this “Jules et Jim” trio has other after hours activities. They like clubbing, have a favorite Barcelona dance bar, and they finance it all with smash and grab robberies that involve car theft and motoring off with other people’s scooters in the bargain.

Vio may be sweet on Dan, but he’s an artist with dreams of joining a street-art commune in Berlin. When somebody asks, he refers to her as his “sister.” So that might be a non-starter.

But it all goes to hell in a hurry anyway, when Granny dies and Dan’s psychotic goon of a father (Farncisco Boira) gets out of prison. These kids are all from rough childhoods and learned their values honestly. But honestly, when Dan’s old man gets out and ransacks Granny’s apartment to steal Dan’s loot, Dan has no real option but fleeing.

“From now on, I’m in charge,” the hardened, tattoo-covered ex-con announces.

The three 20ish friends never use the phrase “one last job,” but that’s the vibe we get from this smash-and-grab they go for — just a way for Dan, maybe Vio as well, to finance their escape to Berlin. It doesn’t go as planned because in the movies, heists almost never do if the plot demands it.

The street-tough artist plot is a worn one, but the young audience for a film like this wouldn’t mind that. The execution — meandering middle acts, the predictable plot turns and naked pandering in the finale — should give anybody pause, no matter how young and cool and good-looking their anti-heroes seem to be.

Casas the director puts Casas the sibling/actor through a few looks. The inspired artiste is about as convincing as the shy, confused Romeo. The kid is handsome, without a lot of screen presence.

The cause-and-effect of Dan’s temperament is so obvious we don’t need Vio to react to his beating of a bodega owner who abuses his little boy by shouting “Do you see yourself” in the kid being beaten?

Yeah. He does.

And that’s not the worst of it.

But as I said, “Caged Wings” starts with promise, gives us a taste of Barcelona’s rough life — a tiny taste — before a wish fulfillment fantasy kicks in and we see glimpse the regret we know we’ll suffer after wasting our time with this.

Rating: TV-MA, violence, drug use, sex, profanity

Cast: Óscar Casas, Candela González, Farid Bechara and Francisco Boira

Credits: Directed by Mario Casas, scripted by Mario Casas and Déborah François. A Warner Brothers/Netflix release.

Running time: 1:42