''The Open Body'' () is a 2022

Gothic Gothic or Gothics may refer to: People and languages *Goths or Gothic people, a Germanic people **Gothic language, an extinct East Germanic language spoken by the Goths **Gothic alphabet, an alphabet used to write the Gothic language ** Gothic ( ...

folk horror Folk horror is a subgenre of horror film and horror fiction that uses elements of folklore to invoke fear and foreboding. Typical elements include a rural setting, isolation, and themes of superstition, folk religion, paganism, Human sacrifice, sa ...

drama Drama is the specific Mode (literature), mode of fiction Mimesis, represented in performance: a Play (theatre), play, opera, mime, ballet, etc., performed in a theatre, or on Radio drama, radio or television.Elam (1980, 98). Considered as a g ...

film directed by from a screenplay by Huerta and Daniel D. García, based on the story "Lobosandaus" by

Xosé Luís Méndez Ferrín Xosé Luís Méndez Ferrín (Ourense, 7 August 1938) is a Galician writer and poet and is widely considered the highest representative of contemporary Galician literature. A doctor in philology, he studied philosophy at the University of Santia ...

. It stars

Tamar Novas Tamar Novas Pita (born 3 October 1986) is a Spanish actor. Biography Tamar Novas Pita was born in Santiago de Compostela, Galicia (Spain), Galicia, on 3 October 1986. He was cast for a minor role in José Luis Cuerda's ''Butterfly's Tongue'' ...

alongside

María Vázquez María Vázquez (born 19 March 1979) is a Spanish actress from Galicia. Biography Born in Vigo on 19 March 1979, she was raised however in between the provinces of Ourense and Lugo. She appeared as a child in '' Sempre Xonxa''. Upon completing ...

and Victória Guerra. It was primarily shot in Galician and Portuguese.

Plot

Set in 1909, the plot follows Miguel, a teacher destined to the fictional Galician village of Lobosandaus, in the border between Spain and Portugal. After his arrival to the village, he meets with Obdulia, a woman seemingly possessed by the spirit of her sister-in-law Dorinda's former (male) lover. Miguel, a man of reason, begins to question himself about the

supernatural Supernatural phenomena or entities are those beyond the Scientific law, laws of nature. The term is derived from Medieval Latin , from Latin 'above, beyond, outside of' + 'nature'. Although the corollary term "nature" has had multiple meanin ...

Cast

Production

The screenplay was written by Ángeles Huerta and Daniel D. García, based on

's story "Lobosandaus" (from the book ''Arraianos''). The film is a Spanish-Portuguese co-production by OlloVivo (Galicia), Fasten Films (Catalonia), and Cinemate (Portugal), with support of and ICAA. Shooting locations included

Muíños Muiños is a municipality in the province of Ourense, in the autonomous community of Galicia, Spain. It belongs to the comarca A ''comarca'' (, , , ) is a traditional region or local administrative division found in Portugal, Spain, and some o ...

, Lobeira, and Calvos de Randín (all in the Spanish

province of Ourense Ourense (; ) is a province of Spain, in the southeastern part of the autonomous community of Galicia. It is bordered by the provinces of Pontevedra to the west, Lugo to the north, León and Zamora, (which both belong to Castile and León) to ...

) and the Portuguese villages of

Tourém Tourém is a village and parish (freguesia) in the municipality of Montalegre in the far north of Portugal. The main part of the territory of the parish stretches as a small peninsula of Portuguese land within Spanish territory. The northern extre ...

and Pitões (both in

Montalegre Montalegre (), officially the Town of Montalegre (), is a municipality in northern Portugal, located in the district of Vila Real, along the border with Spain. The population in 2011 was 10,537, in an area of 805.46 km². History Early con ...

). It was primarily shot in Galician and Portuguese, also featuring dialogue in

Spanish Spanish might refer to: * Items from or related to Spain: **Spaniards are a nation and ethnic group indigenous to Spain **Spanish language, spoken in Spain and many countries in the Americas **Spanish cuisine **Spanish history **Spanish culture ...

Release

Filmax Filmax International is a Spanish motion picture production company and film distributor based in Barcelona, and one of Spain's largest integrated film and television groups. It produced the ''REC'' horror series, and owns the Nirvana Films and ...

acquired international rights to the film. ''The Open Body''s festival run included screenings at the Lisbon International Horror Film Festival (MOTELX), the Ourense International Film Festival, the 67th

Valladolid International Film Festival The Valladolid International Film Festival, popularly known as Seminci (short for ; ), is a film festival held annually in Valladolid, Spain. First held in 1956 as ('Valladolid Religious Film Week'), the Seminci is one of the longest-standing fi ...

(Seminci), and the 60th

Gijón International Film Festival The Gijón International Film Festival ( or ''FICXixón'') is an annual film festival held in Gijón, a city in northwest Spain. The festival is mainly concentrated on independent and auteur cinema. Gijón's International Short Film Competition ...

. It was released theatrically in Spain on 9 December 2022.

Reception

Pablo Vázquez of ''

Fotogramas ''Fotogramas'' is a Spanish digital and print film magazine which has been in circulation since 1946. It is one of the early film magazines in Spain. History Founded in Barcelona, it was first published on 15 November 1946 by Antonio Nadal-Rodó ...

'' rated the film 3 out of 5 stars, highlighting Novas (in his best performance to date) as the film's standout while citing's the film's "somewhat cumbersome" narration as a negative point. of ''

Cinemanía ''Cinemanía'' is a monthly film magazine based in Madrid, Spain Spain, or the Kingdom of Spain, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe with territories in North Africa. Featuring the Punta de Tarifa, southernmost po ...

'' rated the film 3½ stars, summing it up as "an honest search for the ghost of the evil dreamed". Miguel Anxo Fernández of ''

La Voz de Galicia ''La Voz de Galicia'' () is a Spanish daily newspaper owned by the Corporación Voz de Galicia. ''La Voz'' is the newspaper with the highest circulation in Galicia and the eighth-highest circulation of the general-interest daily newspaper in Spa ...

'' deemed ''The Open Body'' to be "an honest, brave and well-finished film, destined to last", confirming Ángeles Huerta as "a solvent and welcome director" in the scope of fiction.

Accolades

, - , rowspan = "16" align = "center" , 2021 , , rowspan = "16" , 21st

Mestre Mateo Awards The Mestre Mateo Awards, known in Galician as ''Premios Mestre Mateo'', are the main film awards in Galicia, celebrated annually. The awards were established in 2002 by the Galician Academy of Audiovisual as a continuation and expansion of the C ...

, , colspan = "2" , Best Film , , , , rowspan = "16" , , - , Best Director , , Ángeles Huerta , , , - , Best Screenplay , , Ángeles Huerta, Daniel D. García , , , - , Best Actor , , Tamar Novas , , , - , rowspan = "2" , Best Actress , , María Vázquez , , , - , Victoria Guerra , , , - , Best Supporting Actress , , Elena Seijo , , , - , Best Supporting Actor , , Federico Pérez Rey , , , - , Best Cinematography , , Gina Ferrer , , , - , Best Editing , , Sandra Sánchez , , , - , Best Original Score , , Mercedes Peón , , , - , Best Production Supervision , , Tamara Soto Mato , , , - , Best Art Direction , , Antonio Pereira , , , - , Best Sound , , Diego Staub, Jordi Rossinyol , , , - , Best Costume Design , , Teresa Sousa , , , - , Best Makeup and Hairstyles , , Raquel Fidalgo, Noé Montes, María Barreiro , ,

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Open Body, The 2022 drama films 2022 films 2022 horror films 2020s horror drama films 2020s Portuguese-language films 2020s Spanish films 2020s Portuguese films 2020s Spanish-language films 2020s supernatural horror films Films about educators Films based on short fiction Films set in 1909 Films set in Galicia (Spain) Films shot in Galicia (Spain) Films shot in Portugal Folk horror films Galician-language films Gothic horror films Portuguese horror films Spanish horror drama films Spanish supernatural horror films