35/11

A tense, scary, melancholic, suffocating fantasy thriller with hints of a ghost story

Line of Events

It follows a child named Emma on her journey to learn how to communicate with the spirit of a girl named Uxoa, who has been trapped in a hermitage for centuries, and so she tries to convince Carol, a skeptical medium, to help her… A supernatural thriller full of terrifying actions, excitement, chills and plenty of horror; However, a bit confusing and inexplicable, the reason for some of the spooky events is never well explained. The film depicts a fictional story of the social reality that plagues a small town. It begins with a seemingly historical prologue that involves a plague, a chapel where the sick were imprisoned, and a regiment of birdmen, but it turns out to be a festive recreation of the small town’s annual festival when the chapel, believed to be haunted by little Usoa, opens for a short time. It follows a child named Emma (Maia Zaitegi) on her journey to learn how to communicate with the spirit of a girl named Uxoa, who has been trapped in a hermitage for centuries, and so she tries to convince Carol (Belén Rueda), a skeptical and fake medium, to help her.

A tense, mysterious film full of excitement, suspense, chills, red herrings, scary twists

She literally has scars from her childhood, when her perhaps real middle mother seemed more interested in the spirit of a local girl than her own daughter. This is a decent and acceptable film with a number of not always sympathetic, deeply human and relatable protagonists. . This is a scary film that contains unsettling horror and an ominous atmosphere when menacing creatures appear. The mystery gradually begins to unravel, leading to a surprising finale that becomes a sentimental ghost story with a serious, brooding undertone in the style of ̈Orphanagë or ̈Pan’s Labyrintḧ, but with a distinctly female focus.

Despite this, Pereda manages to make a more than decent film, but worse than the previous one

It’s an attractive drama whose interest wanes as the effective glut of its tiresome accumulation of supposedly terrifying elements increases. While ̈Cerdita ̈in ̈La Ermita focuses on pure terror, there are several things that confirm Peredo as a key figure in the contemporary horror and fantasy genre. One of them is his frontal entry into genre cinema: he bets on fantasy without hesitation and adds personal drama. As the shots go on, he blows himself up and prevents us from talking about gems like 'Cerdita' . Pereda has a great feel for the Gothic, relishing elements of Spanish horror, while not really making a horror film.

la colmena (The Spirit of the Beehive)

It turns out to be an adequate and decent film, but not remarkable. Star Belén Rueda gives a nice performance in her usual style, she is an expert in mystery and horror films, such as: Julie’s Eyes , The Orphanage , You Won’t Sleep , During the Storm , The Pact , Orbit 9 and The Body . In fact, Belén Rueda is the closest thing Spain has to a horror heroine or “Scream Queen”, she fits well with the child prodigy Maia Zaitegi, who evokes the young Ana Torrent in Cria Cuervos or El espiritu de. The film was professionally directed by Carlota Pereda who is clearly a talented writer and filmmaker. As a female drama with genre-like tones, this is the second solid showcase of Pereda’s talent.

Won 2023: Sitges Film Festival: Official Feature Film Section (out of competition) and 2023: Goya Awards (Spain): Nomination for Best Special Effects

Her first film was the much better ¨Cerdita¨, which is based on the Goya winner for Best Short Film of the same name in 2018 and also starred Laura Galán. Rating: 5.5/10.