Verónica (Sandra Escacena) is merely 15 years old, and yet, with her mom (Ana Torrent) working in a bar every day until late at night and sleeping all morning, it's pretty much up to her to take care of her two little sisters (Bruna González, Claudia Placer) and her little brother. Sure she misses her dad, but he has died in an accident and thus won't return. So she does what 15 year old girls would do in this kind of situation, she buys a ouija board and a bunch of magazines on séances, gathers two of her friends (Ángela Fabián, Carla Campra) and summons her dad - during a solar eclipse for maximum effect. But something goes wrong during the séance, and Verónica falls into a trance then faints during the séance, and aftger that episode, she constantly has the feeling there's something threatening her and her siblings, as if there was another presence at home with them. Sometimes she even thinks she sees the creature, which sometimes appears as her father even, but never clearly enough for her to lay her hands on it. That said, she's scared shitless, and it's only thanks to a blind nun dubbed Sister Death (Consuelo Trujillo) at her school that she learns what to do, she has to hold another séance, find the spirit she summoned again, bid him farewell, and this way close the door to that other realm. But suffice to say, things don't go exactly as planned ...

So ok, this film is said to be based on a true story, the first criminal case in Spain (from 1991) that has remained unsolved due to a possible interference of the supernatural - but don't let that scare you away, this is not a "true story"-type movie at all but a rather effective ghost movie that might not exactly re-invent the genre but that's based on a well-written enough story to build up tension, that understands to use all cinematic means at hand (including an impressive soundscape) to create a creepy atmosphere, and that features plenty of scares that are sure to freak you out. And the young ensemble cast does their job extraordinarily well away from all clichées, which certainly doesn't hurt one bit either.

review © by Mike Haberfelner

 

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