Spain has a long and fruitful tradition of elevating the horror genre and producing works that become enduring classics both at home and abroad.[Rec]JA Bayona’s The Orphanage, and Guillermo del Toro’s Oscar-nominated Pan’s Labyrinth. This year’s San Sebastián Film Festival will be the premiere of Pedro Martín-Calero’s The Wailing, a new nominee on its prestigious list of modern classics.
In the film, three young women, separated by decades and thousands of miles, are terrified by the same spiritual threat that no one can properly see, not even themselves. Its presence is not physical, but appears as a trick of the light. In each case, the same terrifying wail is heard when the women try to confront it.
At a morning press conference ahead of the film’s world premiere on Wednesday night in the main competition in San Sebastian, director Martín Calero, making his feature debut, and co-writer Isabel Peña (The Beast, The Candidate), a highly accomplished screenwriter who frequently works with Rodrigo Sorogoyen, spoke to the international press along with cast members and producers.
Martín Calero explained that the idea for Lament had been swirling around in his head for a while and was based on “an image and a certain idea that was bothering me.” “I shared it with Isabel and we started writing the script together,” he recalled.
The pair say they never set out to create a high-concept film, instead they had the idea to make a “simple” horror film: “Images, sensations, atmosphere and above all a scenario about a young woman in a nightclub who is attacked by a sinister force that represents something out of the ordinary… something that is hard to understand, something deeper,” Martín-Calero explains.
The director says creating something ethereal allows audiences to channel their real-world fears into the film’s otherworldly villains.
“A common theme in horror movies is not believing the victim, and we realized that this is something that’s happening today,” Peña added. “It was terrifying for us as well, and we realized that that theme was there to be communicated.”
Originally intended as a simple film that would touch on themes the co-writers had in mind, the film ultimately took four years of development before shooting began in Madrid. The end result appears to have been worth the effort, however, as local film critics have raved about the movie, favorably comparing it to contemporary art-house horror hits like It Follows, Midsommar and Hereditary.
The film’s commercial credentials are bolstered by lead actor Estelle Exposito, best known for starring in Netflix’s global hit teen drama series Elite. It co-stars France’s Mathilde Olivier (Netflix’s 1899, JJ Abrams’ Overlord) and Argentina’s Malena Villa, who starred in Cannes Un Certain Regard title Angel.
According to the filmmaker, casting Expósito was a real boon to the production: “She has a brutal presence and we wanted to live up to that expectation,” he said, explaining about casting the actress best known for sleazy teen dramas in such a serious role. “It was a pleasure working with her.”
Despite the positive response to “The Wailing,” Martín Calero says he’s in no rush to return to horror films. In fact, he said he’s “not a big fan” of horror movies, but he didn’t rule out directing another thriller.
“The Lament” is being produced by Caballo Films, an up-and-coming Madrid label that has backed the films of Rodrigo Sorogoyen, whose films include “Beasts,” which he co-wrote with Peña and won Spain’s Goya Award for best film last year and France’s César Award for best foreign film.
The San Sebastián premiere is sponsored by Spanish broadcaster RTVE and Prime Video and distributed by Film Factory Entertainment, with Universal Pictures International Spain handling theatrical distribution in the country.
