Esperanza Roy Movies

A homicide detective with a hangover discovers that he may be his own prime suspect in this twisting Spanish thriller in the tradition of Intacto and Abre los Ojos. After awakening in an unfamiliar house with a pounding headache, homicide detective Javier arrives at work only to be assigned a murder investigation on the same street where the mysterious house is located. When all clues point to Javier as the perpetrator of the crime, the perplexed detective slowly establishes a bizarre relationship with the victim's grieving family while simultaneously attempting to figure out how a mysterious femme fatale with a penchant for blackmail might fit into the deadly puzzle. ~ Jason Buchanan, Rovi

Director Antonio Simon and writer Lino Braxe based this period mystery on a '40s screenplay by Luis Buñuel and Jose Rubia Braxe. In northern Spain, Wenceslao Corredoira (Francisco Rabal) negotiates property at Galicia with engineer Oscar Marsal (Nancho Novo). Wenceslao's sister is a bitter widow (Esperanza Roy) who lives in the estate's Gothic mansion, with the usual household of reclusive residents lurking about amid high strangeness, rainstorms, lightning, mysterious harp music, and sex in the stables. Flashbacks reveal the sister's history, and Oscar sets out to find the answer to the house's enigmatic events. Shown at the 1997 Valladolid film Festival. ~ Bhob Stewart, Rovi

This is the fascinating study of a woman in early colonial-era Spain who suffers from the usual grievance of women of that period -- a profound lack of choices. On reaching maturity, she has exactly two: get married to someone of her family's choosing, or become a nun. However, noblewoman Catalina de Erauso was not happy with those choices to begin with, though she chooses the nun option, and after the nun she has fallen in love with dies, she escapes the convent dressed as a man. Then she enters the Spanish military, travels to the New World, and fends off advances from women who find "him" irresistible. Since this is an era when women's cross-dressing can result in charges of heresy or the death penalty, what happens next is truly amazing. When she is finally revealed as a woman, the King of Spain asks to meet with her. Instead of killing her, he grants her a pension, the rank of lieutenant in the Spanish army, and gives her lifelong permission to dress as a man. It may appear to viewers that two different women play Catalina. This is correct: one plays her when dressed as a woman, and Esperanza Roy plays her in male attire. ~ Clarke Fountain, Rovi

In this thriller, a woman searches for an estranged relative. Trouble ensues when the traveler stops at a tiny Spanish roadhouse owned by two twisted sisters. ~ Sandra Brennan, Rovi

Matilde (Esperanza Roy) is a former prostitute married to Tom (Robert Parker), an African-American pilot stationed in Madrid. Flashbacks show how the couple met, fell in love and married. She deals with the guilt of her past life, while Tom deals with the fact he may soon be sent back to Vietnam where he has seen friends of all colors die. Tom resents working for a government who expects duty and honor from black soldiers while race relations at home and abroad are strained and rampant with prejudice. The couple battles with fallout over their racially mixed marriage as the sword of Damocles hangs over Tom's head, always ready to fall and send him to Vietnam ~ Dan Pavlides, Rovi