22/12
A tense, scary, melancholic, suffocating fantasy thriller with hints of a ghost story
Follows the child Emma on her journey to learn how to communicate with the spirit of a girl, Uxoa, who has been trapped in a hermitage for centuries, so she tries to convince Carol, a skeptical medium, to help her. A supernatural thriller filled with horrific acts, chills, chills, and plenty of fear; however, some confusing and inexplicable reasons for some of the horrific events are never properly explained. The film presents a fictional story of a social reality that plagues a small town. It opens with a supposed historical prologue involving a plague, a chapel where the sick are locked up, and a regiment of beaked birdmen, but it turns out to be a spectacular reenactment as part of the small town’s annual festival when the chapel, believed to be haunted by little Usoa, is briefly opened.
A tense, mysterious film full of thrills, suspense, chills, confusing clues, terrifying plot twists
It follows little Emma (Maia Zaitegi) on her journey to learn to communicate with the spirit of a girl, Uxoa, who has been trapped in a hermitage for centuries, so she tries to convince Carol (Belén Rueda), a skeptical and fake medium, to help her. The latter has literal scars from her childhood, when her mother, perhaps a real medium, seemed more interested in the spirit of a local little girl than in her own daughter. It is a bearable and acceptable film with many not always likeable, deeply human and believable characters. It is a haunting film that contains an uneasy horror and an ominous atmosphere when menacing creatures appear.
One is his frontal foray into genre cinema: he unflinchingly embraces fantasy, while adding a bit of personal drama
Little by little, the mystery begins to unfold to a surprising conclusion, resulting in a sentimental ghost story with serious, grim undertones in the style of “The Orphanage” or “Pan’s Labyrinth,” but with its own distinctive focus on women. It’s an attractive drama whose interest wanes as the effective excess of its tiresome accumulation of supposedly scary elements increases. While “Cerdita” focuses on the pure terror of “La Ermita,” there are several things that confirm Pereda as a key figure in the modern horror and fantasy genre. It falls flat as the footage progresses, and prevents us from talking about a gem like “Cerdita.” Nevertheless, Pereda manages to make a film that is more than worthy, but inferior to its predecessor.
It turns out to be an adequate and decent film, but not noteworthy
Pereda has a great eye for the Gothic, reveling in the trappings of Spanish horror without really making a horror film. Stars Belén Rueda giving a nice performance in her usual style, she is an expert actress in crime and horror films such as: Julia’s Eyes, The Orphanage, No dormirás, Durante la tormenta, The Pact, Orbita 9 and The Body. In fact, Belén Rueda is the closest thing Spain has to a horror heroine, or “Scream Queen”, she is well matched with prodigy Maja Zaitega, who evokes a young Ana Torrent in Cria Cuervos or El espiritu de la colmena (The Ghost of the Hive). The film was expertly directed by Carlota Pereda, who is clearly a talented writer and filmmaker.
As a female drama with a tone similar to the genre, this is a solid second showcase for 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 takes as its starting point the winner of the Goya Award for Best Short Film of the same name, directed by none other than Carlota Pereda, winner of the Goya Award for Best Short Film in 2018, also starring Laura Galán. Rating: 5.5/10.