Montserrat Carulla
Pan's Labyrinth director Guillermo del Toro produces director Juan Antonio Bayona's gothic frightener about a long-abandoned orphanage with a particularly troubling past. As a child, young orphan Laura spent her formative years being cared for by the staff of a large orphanage located by the Spanish seaside. Those were some of the happiest years of Laura's life, and now, 30 years later, the former charge returns to the dilapidated institution with her husband, Carlos, and their seven-year-old son, Simon, to reopen the orphanage as a facility for disabled children. However, something ominous haunts the darkened hallways of this silent, stately manor. When Simon's behavior begins to grow increasingly bizarre and malicious, Laura and Carlos start to suspect that the mysterious surroundings have awoken something ominous in the young boy's imagination. It's not long before Laura, too, is drawn into this disturbing web and the repressed memories of the past come flooding back in a terrifying torrent of tension and deeply disturbing revelations. With opening day drawing near and their situation growing increasingly grim by the hour, Carlos attempts to write off Simon's bizarre behavior as a desperate bid to get more attention from his distracted parents. Laura isn't so easily convinced of this theory, though, and soon embarks on a desperate quest to unearth the terrible secret that lurks in the old house, waiting for just the right moment to inflict devastating damage on both her and her family. ~ Jason Buchanan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Geraldine Chaplin, Belén Rueda, (more)
Her boyfriend slain while sleeping as Alberto Fujimori's "civil dictatorship" falters on its last legs, a privileged schoolteacher and a world-weary tabloid journalist attempt to avenge the politically motivated murder in director Francisco José Lombardi's searing political thriller. Guido Pazos (Dario Abad) was an honest judge, so when Gabriela (Melania Urbina) learns that reporter Angelina (Magdyel Ugaz) has buckled to demands that she spin the death as the result of a gay romance gone wrong the grieving girlfriend confronts the cynical writer. Now, as Gabriela and Angelina delve ever deeper into the mystery, Gabriela hatches a detailed plan to murder shadowy criminal Montesinos - the man she holds directly responsible for Guido's death. After acquiring some particularly sensitive false documents and entering into a torrid romance with the one person who could grant her a private audience with the powerful Montesinos, the vengeful Gabriela begins working at a hotel catering exclusively to military and government officials while biding her time and waiting to make the big kill. ~ Jason Buchanan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Melania Urbina, Magdyel Ugaz, (more)
Javier Domingo's dark comedy Mala Uva tells the tale of a retired professional killer who must come out of retirement, but attempts to keep his real profession hidden from his loved ones. ~ Perry Seibert, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Sancho Gracia, Agata Lys, (more)








