For those people who enjoy a good horror movie, with not only a good story but pretty good scares and special effects as well, you will like the Spanish horror movie “Huesera.” It premiered at the Tribeca festival on June 9 2022, but was recently part of the Edmonton International Film Festival, where I watched it.
“Huesera” is a spine chilling indie horror film directed and written by Michelle Garza Cervera. The main character, Valeria, played by Natalia Solian, is a woman who desperately wants a child, but struggles to have one. Through blessings and ceremonies, Valeria’s prayers were answered and she became pregnant. With much joy and happiness with the news of her child, she also felt anxiety, and throughout the film she struggles against sinister threats while trying to put her life back together.
For most viewers, if they have seen the horror films “Rosemary’s Baby” or “Hereditary,” they will find similarities within “Huesera”. It is very much inspired by those movies, as well as the idea of generational witchcraft and supernatural forces. Also similarly to these movies, you’re constantly sitting on the edge of your seat.
When going into this movie, I didn’t really know what to expect. Like most horror lovers, I just wanted there to be a good story and some good jump scares. “Huesera” definitely delivered. It kept me on my feet, clenching my popcorn in one hand and my soda in the other, anticipating the next scary moment.
I really appreciated this movie in many ways; It was easy to follow, there was a good story, great visual effects, excellent acting and overall great production quality. I was worried I wouldn’t understand the plot because it is a Spanish horror film, but it was easy to follow along with the story. The subtitles were integrated into the film without being distracting. The film also did a good job of switching up “traditional” gender roles, because they had Valeria do stuff like carpentry, when in the scene you would have expected it to be her husband. It was just a nice surprise and a cool change from what we’d normally expect.
The acting by Natalia Solian (Valeria) was something to appreciate. I think she did a wonderful job embodying Valeria’s character. In “Hereditary”, I enjoyed Toni Collette’s ability to make viewers feel terrified, especially with her over exaggerated facial expressions. Solian did an excellent job of doing the same–when something bad or scary happened to Valeria, she made the viewers feel immersed in the scene and terrified with her. The character is well written, and her back story helps to understand her more as a person and why these things are happening to her.
While the film has its good moments, it did suffer from a bit of drag. It wasn’t a major downfall in the movie, though there were one or two moments where the extra length didn’t feel needed. This was an indie horror movie, so they didn’t have the biggest budget, and though they definitely used it in every way possible, there were certain scenes that could have used more refinement.
I overall really enjoyed the movie, and would definitely recommend any horror lovers to go watch it! My rating for this movie is 8 Fresh Nuggets out of 10 Nuggets.
Cover photo via variety.com
