The Wailing

In present-day Madrid, the life of well-adjusted university student Andrea (Ester Expósito) gradually descends into chaos when, after indirectly witnessing a shocking act of violence, she begins to suspect that she’s being targeted by an apparently malevolent supernatural entity, which manifests as a shadowy figure that lurks in dark corners and can only be seen through a camera’s lens. Meanwhile, she’s plagued by the sound of a woman’s agonized shrieks and sobbing pleas, assaulting her senses like a rogue radio transmission whenever she’s in the vicinity of a certain apartment building that looms menacingly over her daily routine. Inspired by the genre fiction of Argentinian novelist Mariana Enríquez, first-time feature director Pedro Martín-Calero and his co-writer Isabel Peña expertly navigate a nonlinear chronology that amplifies the emotional force and symbolic heft of their central themes, shifting gears in the second act to follow an introverted film student in Argentina 20 years prior (Malena Villa) who, along with her unwitting muse (Mathilde Olliver), might have been stalked by, and fallen prey to, the same unspeakable evil. A Film Movement release.