20/33
The plot follows little Emma as she sets out on a journey to learn how to communicate with the spirit of a girl named Uxoa, who has been trapped in a hermitage for centuries, so she tries to convince Carol, a skeptical medium, to help her. A tense, scary, melancholic, suffocating fantasy thriller with hints of a ghost story. A supernatural thriller, full of terrible deeds, chills, chills, and plenty of scares; however, somewhat convoluted and inexplicable, the reasons for some of the terrifying events are never properly explained. The film presents a fictional story of a social reality that plagues a small town. It begins with an apparent historical prologue concerning a plague, a chapel where the sick were held, and a regiment of beaked birdmen, but it turns out to be a spectacular recreation of the annual festival in the small town, when the chapel, believed to be haunted by little Usoa, is opened for a short period. The plot follows little Emma (Maia Zaitegi) who sets off on a journey to learn how to communicate with the spirit of a girl named Uxoa, who has been trapped in a hermitage for centuries, so she tries to convince Carol (Belén Rueda), a skeptical and fake medium, but help her. The latter literally has scars from childhood, when her perhaps real-middle mother seemed more interested in the local spirit of a little girl than in her own daughter. It’s a bearable and acceptable film with many not always likeable, deeply human and relatable characters . It’s a haunting film, full of unsettling horror and an ominous atmosphere when menacing creatures appear. A suspenseful, mysterious film full of emotions, tension, chills, red herrings and terrifying plot twists. The mystery begins to unfold step by step, until the surprising finale, resulting in a sentimental ghost story with serious, gloomy overtones in the style of «The Orphanage» or «Pan’s Labyrinth», but with its own, characteristic female touch. It is an attractive drama, the interest of which decreases with the increasing effective excess of a tiresome accumulation of supposedly scary elements. Although «Cerdita» in «La Ermita» focuses on pure terror, there are several things that confirm Pereda as a key figure in the modern horror and fantasy genre. One of them is his frontal entry into genre cinema: she unhesitatingly focuses on fantasy, adding a bit of personal drama. As the material goes on, it diminishes and prevents us from talking about such a gem as «Cerdita». Nevertheless, Pereda manages to make a film more than worthy, although weaker than the previous one. Pereda has a great sense of the Gothic and relishes elements of Spanish horror, although he does not really create horror. It turns out to be a proper and decent film, but nothing special. Stars Belén Rueda giving a good acting performance in her usual style, she is an actress specializing in crime and horror films such as Julia’s Eyes, The Orphanage, You Won’t Sleep, In the Storm, The Pact, Orbita 9 and The Body. In fact, Belén Rueda is the person closest to a horror heroine or «Scream Queen» of Spain. She fits in well with the prodigy Maja Zaitega, who evokes the young Ana Torrent in Cria Cuervos or El espiritu de la colmena (The Spirit of the Hive). The film was professionally directed by Carlota Pereda who is undoubtedly a talented writer and filmmaker. As a female drama with a genre tone, it is a second solid 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 was based on the 2018 Goya Award winner for Best Short Film of the same name, also starring Laura Galán. Rating: 5.5/10.