The Dead Mother
Directed by Juanma Bajo Ulloa
Ismael (Karra Elejalde, Timecrimes) breaks into the house of a fine art restorer and shoots the homeowner dead, leaving her daughter orphaned and traumatized for life. Years later, Ismael is working in a bar where he sees the daughter again. Paranoid that she has recognised him and will report him, he kidnaps her and holds her hostage, demanding that her hospital pay a ransom for her release. As he spends more time with her, a strange bond develops that causes him to delay the ransom request or fulfil his threats of throwing her in front of a train. But he can’t delay forever… A gothic thriller with pitch-black humour that recalls the Coen brothers, Juanma Bajo Ulloa’s sophomore feature won a host of prestigious international awards and was a precursor to the Spanish genre explosion.
A criminal is tormented by the memory of a murder.
Cast: Karra Elejalde, Ana Álvarez, Lio, Silvia Marsó
Member Reviews
Don't watch this if your looking for a horror movie. So by the films own description this is a gothic thriller with pitch-black humor. It's well done and well acted, a bit out there with a mix of twisted personalities. I'm sure it has some deeper meanings other then the obvious one I got out of it. But the important thing again is this is not a horror movie. I liked the film but its out of place and a lot of people are not going to like it because of that. But with that aside I do wonder what the writer had intended as the meaning or take away with the ending. It left me feeling flat, and asking what was the point with all that suffering? I know the girl doesn't care about anything more then getting the chocolate. I guess I missed it or just the feelings your left with at the end is the point, I don't know. It comes off like a french film that points out the meaningless chaos of life. Perhaps you can find deeper meaning in the movie if you watch it.
I have to rate this more harshly than I ever have anything on this site, only because this simply does not belong on Shudder. Though it's beautifully made, and strange, and not a bad film overall, it's just not a horror movie by any imagining. Tonally, it reminds me a lot of Don't Look Now, in the lingering mystery that doesn't go anywhere ultimately satisfying, but the couple at its centre are wholly unlikeable and the story completely unsympathetic. I'd recommend this for fans of quiet, strange, occasionally violent foreign films, but absolutely not for hardcore horror fans.
People who comment on here r so brain dead. Not scary. But tragic and good drama. Sad and unpredictable. And strangely, kind of humorous. Puts you in the mood for some chocolate
terrible
I haven't watched this yet, just came to comment the cover always reminds me of da joker lol