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In the ever-expanding universe of streaming content, a new Spanish series arrives not with a whisper but a shriek. “Rage” sets its stage in a hyper-modern Madrid, yet its concerns are timeless, distilled into a potent, high-octane dark comedy. The central idea is simple: what happens when women, pushed past their breaking point by a thousand daily indignities, finally push back?

The show presents an ensemble of female characters whose lives are beginning to fray from the pressures of deceit, professional obsolescence, and profound disrespect. Their deep-seated frustrations erupt in ways that are as shocking as they are bitterly funny.

This is a story about revenge, but one served with such explosive energy and unpredictable consequences that it feels less like a calculated plot and more like a necessary, chaotic exorcism. It captures a distinctly contemporary feeling of being utterly fed up.

The Five Faces of Vengeance

The series presents...

Warner Bros. Discovery has announced the movies, TV shows, and live sports that will be available on the Max (soon to be called HBO Max) streaming service in July. The Max July 2025 lineup includes the feature films Sinners, A24’s On Becoming a Guinea Fowl, Opus, and Death of a Unicorn, and Utopia’s I Love You Forever.

The schedule includes the HBO Original documentaries Billy Joel: And So It Goes and Dear Ms.: A Revolution in Print, as well as the HBO Original series Rage. You can also catch Shark Week beginning on July 20.

Sinners Featured Programming

Films

Sinners (Warner Bros. Film)

Debuts July 4

Trying to leave their troubled lives behind, twin brothers return to their hometown to start again, only to discover that an even greater evil is waiting to welcome them back. The cast includes Michael B. Jordan, Hailee Steinfeld, Miles Caton, Jack O’Connell, Wunmi Mosaku,...

Una ácida sátira social dirigida por Félix Sabroso. © Max

HBO Max ha publicado el primer tráiler de su nueva serie original española Furia, creada, escrita y dirigida por Félix Sabroso (La isla interior).

En Furia, Marga (Carmen Marchi) es una artista esnob. Roberto (Alberto San Juan), su marido, directivo de televisión, está liado con Tina (Claudia Salas), la asistenta y la ha dejado embarazada. Vera (Pilar Castro), amiga de Marga, es una mediática cocinera, que tiene que cerrar su negocio por los achaques de un incisivo crítico. Nat (Candela Peña) es una dependienta de alta moda. Marga y Vera son sus clientas. Nat se ve amenazada cuando la empresa renueva plantilla contratando gente más joven. Adela (Nathalie Poza), la madre de Tina, está en paro y a punto de ser desahuciada, junto a su anciana madre por su cruel casero. Victoria (Cecilia Roth), vecina de Adela y Nat, es una...

"You young people suck!" HBO has revealed the official US trailer for the Spanish series Rage, premiering on Max for streaming starting in July this summer. Originally known as Furia, this will premiere in Spain on the exact same day, too. Five women face extreme situations like extortion, oppression, & manipulation. Their conflicts all intertwine, triggering a butterfly effect, ultimately leading to a shared catharsis. Rage, a series of eight 30-minute episodes, is created and directed by Félix Sabroso. The new series brings together five iconic actresses on screen together for the first time: Carmen Machi, Candela Peña, Cecilia Roth, Nathalie Poza, and Pilar Castro. These five women go to the limit and perpetrate revenge, but not even they are spared in this contemporary satire. Additional cast also includes Claudia Salas, Alberto San Juan, Ana Torrent, Claudia Roset, Mima Riera, Pedro Casablanc, Marilu Marini, Iván Pellicer, Francesc Garrido, Martxelo Rubio and Pepón Nieto,...

The new HBO Original series Rage (also known as “Furia”) will debut globally on the platform with two episodes on Friday, July 11, followed by new episodes weekly.

Created and directed by Félix Sabroso and produced in Spain by Producciones Mandarina, the series brings together five actresses on screen together for the first time: Carmen Machi, Candela Peña, Cecilia Roth, Nathalie Poza, and Pilar Castro.

The cast also includes Claudia Salas, Alberto San Juan, Ana Torrent, Claudia Roset, Mima Riera, Pedro Casablanc, Marilu Marini, Iván Pellicer, Francesc Garrido, Martxelo Rubio, and Pepón Nieto, among others.

Rage is a contemporary portrait of five women: five female characters who lead this surprising, realistic, and intense drama.

Five women who are ready to do anything in the face of extreme situations such as extortion, oppression, deceit, exclusion, or manipulation in a single shared universe articulated around five conflicts that will develop like a butterfly...

Miren Ibarguren, Milena Smit y Rodrigo de la Serna protagonizan la nueva apuesta de Movistar Plus+. © Movistar Plus+

Movistar Plus+ ha publicado el primer tráiler de su nueva serie original Los sin nombre, un thriller dirigido por Pau Freixas (Todos mienten), escrito por Pol Cortecans (Citas Barcelona) y basado en la novela de Ramsey Campbell.

En Los sin nombre, Claudia (Ibarguren) es una mujer que pierde traumáticamente a su hija Ángela solo para descubrir, años después, justo cuando empieza a recuperarse del trauma, que su hija puede seguir viva. «Mamá, soy yo, Ángela. ¡Por favor, ven a buscarme!». Esta es la estremecedora frase que Claudia escucha por teléfono y que le dará esperanzas. Claudia recurrirá entonces a Salazar (de la Serna), el inspector que llevó el caso tras la desaparición, y a Laura (Smit), la joven a la que Ángela, una niña especial con un extraño don, salvó la vida...

Cinco mujeres al límite encabezan esta ácida sátira social dirigida por Félix Sabroso. © Max

HBO Max ha anunciado la fecha de estreno de su nueva serie original española Furia, creada, escrita y dirigida por Félix Sabroso (La isla interior).

En Furia, Marga (Carmen Marchi) es una artista esnob. Roberto (Alberto San Juan), su marido, directivo de televisión, está liado con Tina (Claudia Salas), la asistenta y la ha dejado embarazada. Vera (Pilar Castro), amiga de Marga, es una mediática cocinera, que tiene que cerrar su negocio por los achaques de un incisivo crítico. Nat (Candela Peña) es una dependienta de alta moda. Marga y Vera son sus clientas. Nat se ve amenazada cuando la empresa renueva plantilla contratando gente más joven. Adela (Nathalie Poza), la madre de Tina, está en paro y a punto de ser desahuciada, junto a su anciana madre por su cruel casero. Victoria (Cecilia Roth), vecina de Adela y Nat,...

Miren Ibarguren, Milena Smit y Rodrigo de la Serna protagonizan la nueva apuesta de la plataforma. © Movistar Plus+

Movistar Plus+ ha anunciado la fecha de estreno de su nueva serie original Los sin nombre, un thriller dirigido por Pau Freixas (Todos mienten), escrito por Pol Cortecans (Citas Barcelona) y basado en la novela de Ramsey Campbell.

En Los sin nombre, Claudia (Ibarguren) es una mujer que pierde traumáticamente a su hija Ángela solo para descubrir, años después, justo cuando empieza a recuperarse del trauma, que su hija puede seguir viva. «Mamá, soy yo, Ángela. ¡Por favor, ven a buscarme!». Esta es la estremecedora frase que Claudia escucha por teléfono y que le dará esperanzas. Claudia recurrirá entonces a Salazar (de la Serna), el inspector que llevó el caso tras la desaparición, y a Laura (Smit), la joven a la que Ángela, una niña especial con un extraño don, salvó la...

Alejandro Amenábar is undoubtedly one of my favorite working filmmakers. The Others is my second favorite ghost story ever made (behind The Orphanage), and I sobbed like a baby during The Sea Inside. I even like Agora and Regression, even if I’m the only person who thinks the latter is worth watching. It’s Emma Watson and cult nonsense, okay? Check it out. It doesn’t make a single lick of sense, but we were one of the few outlets to give the film a positive review.

Amenábar regularly dabbles in genre, and he actually got his start with one of this generation’s most chilling thrillers. The film was recently added to Shudder, and it’s probably one you haven’t heard of before. Horror films have always been fascinated with the myth of snuff films (check out Vacancy and Red Rooms to see why), and Amenábar’s...

The theaters might be full of trash, but the January physical media world is thriving. Each month The A.V. Club does our part to keep you up to date on the best of what’s coming out on Blu-ray and 4K Uhd, which is especially important as streaming services become...

Backed by Mediaset España and Movistar Plus+, Cadiz’s South International Series Festival made an inaugural splash last year, showcasing some of Spain’s biggest series of the season.

In 2024, the Andalusia-based event has moved to a post-Mipcom stop-over berth, and with France as the guest country, attendance could well scale up.

Spain has hosted major TV markets for years now, including Conecta Fiction each summer and Iberseries & Platino Industria, which unspooled in Madrid last week. South sets itself apart by being a true festival in the vein of Canneseries or the Monte-Carlo Television Festival in France. While there will be plenty of roundtables, networking, and B2B get-togethers at South, the event’s main objective is to showcase some of the best new and new-ish series from around the world.

“From the very beginning, the idea was to create something different from what was already being done in Spain,...

After a limited theatrical release, Lee Daniels' new supernatural horror film The Deliverance has finally landed on Netflix. Inspired by the terrifying Ammons haunting case, the R-rated movie stars Golden Globe Award-winning actress Andra Day as a struggling single mother who finds herself and her kids fighting for their lives against an ancient demonic force residing in their Pittsburgh home.

Joining Day in the horror flick are Glenn Close, Aunjanue Ellis-Taylor, Mo'Nique, Caleb McLaughlin, Anthony B. Jenkins, Demi Singleton, Omar Epps, Miss Lawrence, Tasha Smith, and others. I'm sure after watching this new movie, you'll be in the mood to want to watch something similar. Of course, you can always count on us at Netflix Life to help you out.

Below, we shared a list of seven scary exorcism movies that are streaming right now on Netflix.

The Conjuring (2013)Director: James WanWriter(s): Chad Hayes and Carey W. HayesCast: Vera Farmiga,...

Close Your Eyes marks a stunning return to cinema for revered Spanish auteur Vctor Erice after a long three-decade absence. A brilliantly structured and deeply personal mystery is slowly unveiled like a master's paintbrush on a canvas of thoughtful artistic expression. Erice's elegantly crafted protagonist sorts through the pieces of his broken life to solve a puzzle that instigated his melancholic decline. Love, loss, and reconciliation are addressed on a profound journey of understanding. The two-hour and 50-minute runtime requires a degree of patience sometimes lost on modern audiences, but this story shouldn't be rushed.

A Mysterious Disappearance in the Movie World

Close Your Eyes (2023) 4.5/5 DramaMysteryInternational

Julio Arenas, a famous actor, disappears during the filming of a movie. Although his body is never found, the police conclude that he has suffered an accident at the seaside. Years later, this kind of mystery comes back to the news.

Release Date August 23, 2024Director Victor EriceCast Manolo Solo,...

The first 20 minutes of Close Your Eyes are better than almost every other movie this year, and they’re merely the memories of its main character—a ghost story written in celluloid. This prelude details a call to adventure, a request to seek out a dying rich man’s daughter...

Some five decades separate director Victor Erice’s debut film, The Spirit of the Beehive (1973), and his latest, Close Your Eyes. In between these twin professional highlights, there are two other features — El Sur (1983), a work haunted by the fact that filming was halted before a key scene was shot, and the brilliant documentary Dream of Light (1992) — as well as a half dozen or so shorts and anthology contributions, video installations and several potential projects snuffed out before they could start. That first movie, however, had already secured the Spanish...

"I lost my best friend, but I also lost my movie." Film Movement has revealed the official US trailer for an exceptionally great Spanish indie film titled Close Your Eyes, the first feature film in more than 30 years from an acclaimed Spanish filmmaker named Víctor Erice (The Spirit of the Beehive). It first premiered last year at the 2023 Cannes Film Festival, though only out of competition despite being such a strong film that many said should've been in competition. After playing at festivals all over the world all last year, FM will debut Close Your Eyes in limited US theaters end of August to start. A reflective culmination of Erice's career in film, Close Your Eyes is a haunting meditation on memory, absence, and the enduring resonance of the moving image. A Spanish actor disappears during the filming of a movie. Although he is never found, the police believe he went off a cliff.

Famed Spanish filmmaker Victor Erice has finally returned with his first solo directorial feature film in 30 years. In those intervening decades, he only made one other film, co-directed with the late Abbas Kiarostami. Now, Erice is back and making a meta statement with mystery feature “Close Your Eyes.”

The “El Sur” and “The Spirit of the Beehive” helmer directs this reflective career culmination that is set in contemporary Madrid. Watch the trailer below.

“Close Your Eyes” follows aging filmmaker Miguel Garay (Manolo Solo) who is called upon to recount his memories of working on his final and still unfinished film titled “The Farewell Gaze.” During its production, the lead actor and Miguel’s close friend Julio Arenas (José Coronado) disappeared without a trace, leaving in his wake a mystery that would haunt the lives of everyone associated with the film. Miguel never directed another project, instead living a quiet life...

It is seen as one of the greatest films ever, with the most hypnotic child performance in history. So what has Víctor Erice been doing in the half century since Beehive? As his new film Close Your Eyes hits screens, the Spanish legend reveals all

In 1972, when Ana Torrent was six years old, a man came to her school and asked her to be in his film. “He had a beard,” she recalls now, from her home in Madrid. “And I told him I didn’t like men with beards.” The director said his film was about Frankenstein’s monster and asked if she was familiar with that character. “I replied, ‘I’ve heard about him but I haven’t yet been introduced.’ That’s when he thought, ‘She’s the one.’”

The director was Víctor Erice and the film was The Spirit of the Beehive. Made at the end...

Netflix's Iron Reign is a thrilling Spanish crime series with a talented cast that brings the story of crime lord Joaquin Manchado to life. Set at the Port of Barcelona, the show is filled with drama, violence, and betrayal, making it a must-watch for fans of crime shows. With exceptional performances from actors like Eduard Fernández, Chino Darín, and Jaime Lorente, Iron Reign has earned a spot on Netflix's Top 10 TV shows list.

Netflix's crime series Iron Reign features a talented cast of actors, all of whom come together to tell the story of a crime lord, Joaquin Manchado. The Spanish thriller TV series, which stars Eduard Fernández, Chino Darín, and Jaime Lorente, among others, premiered on Netflix on March 15, 2024, and features eight episodes stuffed full of drama, violence, and betrayal. Set at the Port of Barcelona, it's the cast of Spanish talent that makes Iron Regein such an exciting watch,...

Víctor Erice’s “Close Your Eyes,” Andrew Haigh’s “All of Us Strangers” and Justine Triet’s “Anatomy of a Fall” dominated this year’s 21st Ics Awards, winning the top prizes.

“Close Your Eyes,” which picked up best picture and best director, revolves around the mysterious disappearance of a Spanish actor during the filming of a movie. Although his body is never found, the police concludes that he has suffered an accident on the edge of a cliff. Many years later, the cold case resurfaces.

Justine Triet’s “Anatomy of a Fall” won three awards, including best actress for Sandra Hüller, original screenplay for Triet and Arthur Harari, and editing for Laurent Sénéchal. The movie is nominated for five Oscars, seven BAFTA’s and 11 Cesar Awards.

The romantic fantasy “All of Us Strangers,” meanwhile, won four prizes, including best actor for Andrew Scott, supporting actor for Jamie Bell, adapted screenplay for Haigh,...

Ja Bayona’s Society Of The Snow was the big winner at Spain’s Goya awards on Saturday night (February 10), scooping 12 prizes including best film and director to become the third-most garlanded film in Goya history.

Justine Triet’s Anatomy Of A Fall, was named best European film, and Pablo Berger’s Robot Dreams won the prizes for best adapted screenplay and feature animation.

20,000 Species Of Bees, the feature debut of Estibaliz Urresola Solaguren, received three Goyas for best new director and original screenplay for Solaguren, and best supporting actress for Ane Gabarain. The 15 nominations for Bees were the...

“20.000 especies de abejas”, “La sociedad de la nieve”, “Saben Aquell” y “Cerrar los Ojos” encabezan las nominaciones a los premios Goya 2024.

El pasado jueves se anunciaron los nominados de la próxima edición de los prestigiosos Premios Goya, el destacado evento anual que celebra lo mejor del cine español. La gala de los Goya 2024 se celebrará el 10 de febrero en Valladolid, con la actriz y cantante Ana Belén y por Los Javis como presentadores. Aquí os dejamos con la lista de los nominados de esta edición:

Mejor PELÍCULA

20.000 especies de abejas

Cerrar los ojos

La sociedad de la nieve

Saben aquell

Un amor

Mejor DIRECCIÓN

Víctor Erice, Cerrar los ojos

Elena Martín, Creatura

J.A. Bayona, La sociedad de la nieve

David Trueba, Saben aquell

Isabel Coixet, Un amor

Mejor PELÍCULA Europea

Aftersun (Reino Unido)

Anatomía de una caída (Francia)

Las ocho montañas (Italia)

Safe Place (Croacia)

Sala de profesores...

The Society Of The Snow has garnered 13 nominations, followed by Close Your Eyes and Jokes & Cigarettes with 11.

Estibaliz Urresola Solaguren’s 20,000 Species Of Bees leads the nominations for Spain’s prestigious Goya awards, which will be presented on February 10, 2024.

20,000 Species Of Bees premiered in competition at Berlin, going on to win the Silver Bear for best performance for Sofía Otero, playing an eight-year-old girl who spends a summer working in the Basque Country’s beehives while exploring her identity.

The film scored 15 nominations, including best film, best director and four nods in the acting categories.

Ja Bayona’s...

20,000 Species Of Bees, the debut film by Basque filmmaker Estibaliz Urresola Solaguren, and Society Of The Snow, J. A. Bayona’s survival drama for Netflix, have dominated the nominations at this year’s Goya Film Awards.

The nominations for Spain’s premiere film awards event were released this morning. 20,000 species of bees clocked 15 noms, including best film, screenplay, and best new director. Bayona’s Society Of The Snow clocked 13 noms, also landing in best film. Veteran Spanish filmmaker Víctor Erice trails behind with 11 nominations for his comeback feature Close Your Eyes, starring Ana Torrent.

20,000 Species Of Bees debuted at this year’s Berlin Film Festival, where lead actor Sofía Otero took the silver bear for best leading performance. The film is set during a summer in a village house linked to beekeeping and follows an eight-year-old and her mother experiencing revelations that will change their lives forever.

Bayona...

Stars: Sandra Escacena, Bruna González, Claudia Placer, Iván Chavero, Ana Torrent, Consuelo Trujillo, Ángela Fabián, Carla Campra, Chema Adeva | Written by Paco Plaza, Fernando Navarro, Coral Cruz | Directed by Paco Plaza

Opening the film on 15th June 1991, [Rec] co-director Paco Plaza sets the scene with a distressing phone call where a panicked girl tells the police that someone is inside her home. As officers pass a crying family outside, they enter the house to find it in disarray. The story then cuts to 3-days-earlier, as 15-year-old Verónica (Sandra Escacena) helps to look after her younger siblings while their mother works long shifts.

Using a Ouija board to try speaking with the dead during an eclipse, Verónica becomes possessed during the séance. As strange occurrences unfold around the schoolgirl, she is harassed by dangerous supernatural presences which threatens her family.

Plaza and co-writer Fernando Navarro loosely based this story on a...

First released 50 years ago, after Francoist censors convinced themselves that its anti-authoritarian messaging would have little social impact if buried under such a “boring” art film, Victor Erice’s “The Spirit of the Beehive” follows a gullible six-year-old girl named Ana (Ana Torrent), who sees a screening of “Frankenstein” when a mobile cinema arrives in the small Castilian village where she lives with her family in the Spanish Civil War’s immediate aftermath. Confused and horrified by the sight of Frankenstein’s monster accidentally killing a child, and the townspeople then killing Frankenstein’s monster in return, Ana’s elder sister tells her that neither of those things actually happened — that everything you see in films is fake. Later, with the memories of James Whale’s movie still fresh in her mind, Ana discovers a wounded republican soldier hiding in a sheepfold and decides to treat him with kindness instead of fear.

“Long-awaited” isn’t quite the term for Victor Erice’s “Close Your Eyes,” a film that dedicated admirers of the Spanish master may have hoped for, but didn’t dare expect. Instead, Erice’s first feature in 31 years — and only his fourth overall — arrives as something between a desert oasis and a mirage: a shimmery, nourishing culmination of ideas and ellipses in a career so elusive as to have taken on a mythic quality, to the point that his latest feels almost dreamed into being. But “Close Your Eyes” proves a disarmingly simple, emotionally direct film once its out-of-time aura settles. A story itself of disappearance and reemergence, and the potential of cinema to bridge past and present as if decades were days, it’s potent and poignant enough to reach newcomers to Erice’s work, even as fans pore over its self-reflexive details.

Having premiered at Cannes, “Close Your Eyes...

San Sebastian — Legendary Spanish writer-director Victor Erice received a standing ovation from a packed press conference on Friday, ahead of receiving the festival’s Donostia Award tonight.

The award ceremony for San Sebastian’s accolade for career achievement follows on from the San Sebastian screening this morning of his first feature film in 30 years, “Close Your Eyes,” which, already pre-sold to France’s Haut et Court, world premiered in Cannes Premiere in May with the Basque director notably absent.

“Close Your Eyes” sparked highly positive reviews. 30 years ago, Erice won the Cannes Jury Prize for his film “Dream of Light.”

Erice fielded questions from the press on Friday before the “Close Your Eyes” team joined him on stage.

“What I achieve in my work is trying to give the best of myself,” Erice told reporters. “Fate is key in an industrial art like cinema. Fate intervenes in filmmaking, but I...

Netflix releases trailer for prequel to Spanish horror film Veronica, titled Sister Death, which focuses on the origin story of the character Narcisa. Sister Death is set in post-war Spain and follows a young nun with supernatural powers as she unravels the secrets surrounding a convent-turned-school for girls. Directed by Paco Plaza, known for his work in Spanish horror, Sister Death is highly anticipated as a follow-up to the critically acclaimed and terrifying Veronica.

Netflix has just released a trailer for Paco Plaza's Sister Death (Hermana Muerte), a prequel to 2017's Spanish horror film, Veronica (Verónica). The film serves as an origin story for the titular character, who audiences met through Consuelo Trujillo's portrayal in Veronica. This time around, Sister Death, or Narcisa, is played by Aria Bedmar. Set in post-war Spain, the upcoming supernatural film centers on the story of Narcisa, a young nun with supernatural powers, who...

Themes of aging have always undergirded Victor Erice’s work. His feature debut, 1973’s Spirit of the Beehive, is one of the finest of all coming-of-age films, capturing a few days in the life of young girl as she struggles to understand, through nascent eyes, the evils and contradictions of life in Francoist Spain. Ten years later came El Sur, Erice’s famously incomplete adaptation of Adelaida García Morales’s novella, another story about a child who grows gradually aware of her country’s—and family’s—troubled past. And 1992’s The Quince Tree Sun saw Erice turn his attention more explicitly to art as a means of physical and spiritual preservation: the act of ossifying a moment in time in an attempt to stave off the inevitable.

Now, after three decades and a smattering of shorts (including a multipart collaboration with Abbas Kiarostami), Close Your Eyes marks the 83-year-old...

San Sebastian Fetes Veteran Director Victor Erice

Veteran director Víctor Erice will be honored with the San Sebastian Film Festival’s Donostia Award at its upcoming 71st edition, running from September 22 to 30. Actress Ana Torrent will present the Basque filmmaker with the prize at a ceremony on September 29, preceding a screening of his new film Close Your Eyes. The tribute coincides with the 50th anniversary of Erice winning San Sebastian’s top Golden Shell award for first solo feature The Spirit of the Beehive. Torrent made her big screen debut at the age of seven years old in the film and recently reunited with him in Close Your Eyes. San Sebastian has accompanied Erice across his career. Prior The Spirit of the Beehive, his 1969 directorial debut Los Desafíos, co-directed with José Luis Egea and Claudio Guerín, was selected for Official Selection and received the Silver Shell for Best Director. His...

Victor Erice, one of the greatest of Spanish filmmakers, will receive a prestigious Donostia Award, given for career achievement, at the San Sebastian Film Festival.

The award will coincide with a screening of Erice’s latest film, “Close Your Eyes (Cerrar los Ojos),” which world premiered at Cannes in May.

Few awards seem more appropriate. The statuette will be presented to Erice by Ana Torrent, on the 50th anniversary of “The Spirit of the Beehive,” Erice’s multi-leveled masterpiece, which starred a 6-year-old Torrent and went on to win San Sebastian’s Gold Shell, its highest award.

It was Erice’s first feature, “Los Desafios” — a triptych anthology produced by Elías Querejeta and presented by a youthful Erice at San Sebastián in 1969 — that helped give San Sebastian a social-issue edge which it has never abandoned, compounded by “The Spirit of the Beehive” and José Luis Borau’s 1975 film “Poachers.”

Screening in the Cannes Premiere section,...

Victor Erice, one of the most acclaimed and influential Spanish directors of all time, has made his long-awaited comeback with his new film Close Your Eyes ( Cerrar los ojos ), which premiered in the Cannes Premiere section at the 76th Cannes Film Festival on 22 May 2023.

Close Your Eyes is Erice’s first feature film in 30 years, since his 1992 docudrama The Quince Tree Sun, which won the Jury Prize at Cannes that year. Erice is also known for his classic debut The Spirit of the Beehive (1973), which is widely regarded as one of the best Spanish films ever made, and his second feature El Sur (1983), which was released as an unfinished version due to funding problems.

Close Your Eyes Clip

Close Your Eyes is a drama film that stars Manolo Solo, José Coronado, and Ana Torrent. It tells the story of Miguel Garay, an aging filmmaker and novelist who hasn’t made a movie in decades,...

One of the most prized moments of Howard Hawks’ macho manifesto Rio Bravo is when Dean Martin’s Dude kicks back, gazes lightheadedly at the ceiling, and moseys into a rendition of the western ballad “My Rifle, My Pony and Me,” accompanied on guitar and harmonica with a sense of second nature by Ricky Nelson and Walter Brennan. It’s an oasis of calm, of earned sentimentality, in the steeliest and most no-nonsense movie of its Hollywood era, and an emblem of the male camaraderie––sans queer shading, for sure––beloved of its most famous fans, most notably Quentin Tarantino.

Víctor Erice, however––in his first feature since a mysterious absence following 1992’s The Quince Tree Sun––has now made the ultimate homage. The centerpiece of his comeback film Close Your Eyes is its lead, melancholic filmmaker and writer Miguel Garay (Manolo Solo), busting out his acoustic during a communal...

Spanish director expresses disappointement it was not programmed in Competition after turning down an offer from Directors’ Fortnight.

Spanish director Victor Erice, whose film Close Your Eyes is screening in Cannes Premiere, has published an open letter in Spain’s El País newspaper explaining that he is not in Cannes personally as he is disappointed by the decision of delegate general Thierry Fremaux to not programme the film in the main Competition.

Erice said he wanted to put the record straight after reading a report in El Pais that the film was not selected for Competition because it was not ready in time.

Updated with festival response: Spanish director Victor Erice, who was absent from the Cannes Film Festival premiere of his film Close Your Eyes, has posted an open letter criticizing festival Delegate General Thierry Frémaux over his handling of the selection of his film and explaining his decision not to attend.

Revolving around an investigation into the disappearance of an actor during a film shoot, Close Your Eyes is Erice’s first feature in three decades.

The film premiered to strong reviews on May 22 in the Cannes Premiere sidebar, created in 2021 to welcome films from more established filmmakers, with key cast Helena Miquel, Jose Coronado, Ana Torrent, Manolo Solo and María León in attendance but without Erice.

In an open letter posted on the website of Spain’s El Pais newspaper on Thursday, Erice said he had submitted the film to Official Selection as well as the Cannes parallel section of Directors’ Fortnight.

Paris-based sales boutique Alpha Violet has acquired Spanish filmmaker Victor Iriarte’s directorial debut, “Foremost by Night” (“Sobre Todo de Noche”).

Described as a noir story with a political background, “Foremost by Night” revolves around two women who meet for the first time, one who was forced to give up her newborn child for adoption when she was young, the other who, unable to bare children of her own, adopted a child she raised as her own.

The film, which stars Ana Torrent, Lola Dueñas and Manuel Egozkue, was among this year’s winners at the Malaga Film Festival’s Work in Progress awards, where it secured the Latido Films distribution prize and the Aracne Digital Cinema award for post production services.

The Spanish-Portuguese-French co-production was produced by Spain’s La Termita, Inicia Films, Atekaleun and Csc Films; Portugal’s Ukbar Filmes; and 4A4 Productions in France. The film also shot in all three countries,...

Veteran Spanish actor Ana Torrent was around five-years-old when she was cast in her first movie, the landmark drama The Spirit of the Beehive, by maverick filmmaker Víctor Erice.

Fifty years later, the pair have reunited on a new pic, Close Your Eyes (Cerrar los ojos), Erice’s first feature-length film in over a decade. The film debuts Out-of-Competition in the Cannes Premiere section on Monday.

The film follows a famous Spanish actor, Julio Arenas, who disappears while shooting a film. Although his body is never found, the police conclude that he’s been the victim of an accident by the sea. Many years later, the mystery surrounding his disappearance is brought back into the spotlight by a TV show outlining his life and death, showing exclusive images of the last scenes he filmed, shot by his dear friend, the director Miguel Garay.

On paper, the 76th Cannes Film Festival looks like an embarrassment of riches, assembling no shortage of big guns in terms of major-name filmmakers.

Pretty much every list of hotly anticipated titles will be topped by Martin Scorsese’s Killers of the Flower Moon, an epic Western crime drama based on David Grann’s nonfiction book about the murder of Indigenous Americans on tribal land in 1920s Oklahoma. Likewise, it seems redundant to include Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny, given the legions of fans already jostling to watch Harrison Ford crack the whip one last time in James Mangold’s conclusion of the beloved action-adventure franchise.

New works from celebrated filmmakers are simply too numerous to cram into a rundown of just ten titles, so their absence here should not be misinterpreted as lack of interest.

That includes Ken Loach’s story of tensions caused by the arrival...

Paris-based Haut et Court has closed French distribution rights with sales agent Film Factory Entertainment on Victor Erice’s ”Close Your Eyes” (“Cerrar los ojos”), the legendary Spanish director’s return to feature film direction 30 years after Cannes Jury Prize winner “Dream of Light” and a half century on from his milestone debut, “The Spirit of the Beehive.”

“Beehive” is regarded by many critics as one of the greatest Spanish films ever made. “Light” was chosen by the world’s cinematheques as the best film of the 1990s. “Close Your Eyes” reunites Erice with Ana Torrent, a wide-eyed mite in “Beehive.”

One of the most awaited Spanish films of 2023, it will be released in Spain by Avalon Films, the producer-distributor of “Alcarràs.”

“Close Your Eyes” turns on a famed actor who disappears while making a film. Many years later, a TV program airs the final scenes he shot, the beginning...

Three first features from Spain’s burgeoning next generation of female filmmakers, led by Cannes Critics’ Week winner Laura Ferrès, is one highlight at this year’s Málaga Work in Progress, an Málaga Festival industry centerpiece where productions such as “The Platform” first saw the light of day.

Playing in Malaga Wip, “The Platform” was acquired by Latido Film which sold the title to Netflix at Toronto. It has gone on to rank as the third most-watched non-English movie ever on Netflix.

At least three titles – Spanish road movie “Devil Dog Road,” horror pic “The Hidden City,” the neo-noir “Foremost by Night” – boast genre gristle. Some titles turn on gender oppression (“As Neves”), female self-discovery (“Mara’s Vacation”) or sexual diversity (“I Trust You”). Many, especially from Spain, have social-issue overtones.

Production companies range from established indie forces – Madrid’s Aquí y Allí, Buenos Aires’ Magma Cine, Portugal’s Ukbar Filmes – to on-the-rise outfits,...

Cerrar los ojos

After a three-decade-long absence from filmmaking, Victor Erice returns to cinema with what is only his fourth feature. Cerrar los ojos reunites him with the star of his last film (El sol del membrillo): Ana Torrent. Production took place in Granada, Almería, Asturias and Madrid up until December. José Coronado, María León, Petra Martínez, Soledad Villamil, Mario Pardo, Elena Miquel and José María Pou also star in the film. The story of a disappearance, the film revolves “around issues such as identity and memory.”

Gist: This tells the story of how a famous Spanish actor, (José Coronado) disappears during the shoot for a movie.…...

Film Factory Entertainment has picked up international sales rights to Victor Erice’s highly anticipated “Cerrar los ojos,” which marks the fourth feature by the legendary Spanish filmmaker, writer-director of “The Spirit of the Beehive,” reuniting him with Ana Torrent, the wide-eyed very young star of that milestone film.

Now wrapping its shoot in Granada, Almería and Asturias before moving to Madrid, “Cerrar los Ojos” is set for 2023 Spanish theatrical release by “Alcarràs” distributor Avalon.

Erice’s fourth feature, following on 30 years after Cannes Festival Jury Prize winner “El sol del membrillo” (“Dream of Light”), “Cerrar los ojos” is written by Erice and Michel Gaztambide, a Spanish Academy best screenplay Goya Award winner for “No Rest for the Wicked.” The story of a disappearance, the film revolves “around issues such as identity and memory,” its producers announced Monday.

Producer Cristina Zumárraga lead produces the production through Tandem Films, the company...

“Bosé,” the highly anticipated Paramount Plus Original, has wrapped production. The announcement comes as Paramount Plus has also confirmed the remainder of the internationally recognised cast of the six-part series, a biopic of Spanish singer-songwriter Miguel Bosé.

Two behind-the-scenes images, shared in exclusivity with Variety, also hint at the production ambitions of the series, one of the biggest Spanish-language series to date at Paramount Plus, which turns on one of the most resonant figures in recent times in Spain. Resonant for his hits, which span a remarkably long six-decade career, and for his life story, which charts Spain’s emergence from more oppressive times to hard-won freedoms in democracy.

Produced by Vis, a division of Paramount, in collaboration with Shine Iberia, part of Banijay Iberia, Pepe Baston’s Elefantec Global and Legacy Rock, “Bosé” will premiere exclusively on the Paramount Plus International streaming service in the coming months, Paramount Plus also confirmed Tuesday.

Project development platform to take place virtually, ahead of physical FIDMarseille

French festival FIDMarseille has revealed the projects set to be presented at project development event FIDLab, including upcoming features from the UK’s Ben Rivers and last year’s grand prix winner Carolina Moscoso.

The 13th edition of the incubator event, known for its focus on experimental films spanning both documentary and fiction, will take place online – as it did for the first time last year – from June 14-18. The main FIDMarseille festival is planned to go ahead in-person from July 19-25.

FIDLab will include 16 projects, selected from 502 submissions,...

The 65th Valladolid International Film Festival kicks off this Saturday and will offer a programme brimming with auteurs and highly personal propositions, with Isabel Coixet set to open the gathering. While it could easily rain on one of the days when the Seminci is unspooling – between 24 and 31 October – in Valladolid, a flurry of snowflakes is not overly likely, as opposed to what Isabel Coixet suggests could happen in the titular Mediterranean tourist hotspot in It Snows in Benidorm. Indeed, this, her new film, will have the honour of opening the storied Valladolid International Film Festival this Saturday. The lucky recipient of the recent 2020 National Film Award will present her movie – which was produced by the Almodóvar brothers’ El Deseo outfit, and which stars Timothy Spall, Sarita Choudhury, Carmen Machi and Ana Torrent – in the Calderón Theatre at an edition of the festival that,...

In this week’s International TV Newswire Variety recaps more Natpe news from All3Media, Comedy Central Latin America, AMC’s Acorn TV, Vis, El Deseo, Globo and Univision, Zed pre-sales from Realscreen and Aardman’s latest distribution pickup.

All3Media Sells to Comedy Central, AMC Networks in Latin America

Comedy Central Latin America and All3Media International have closed a deal for Phoebe Waller-Bridge’s Golden Globe-winning comedy “Fleabag” to premiere on the network later this year. The series is produced by Two Brothers Pictures for BBC Three and Amazon Prime in association with DryWrite Productions and All3Media International. Comedy Central Latin America is the latest international broadcaster to pick up the show from All3Media, following deals with Wowow in Japan, ABC in Australia and Sky New Zealand.

AMC Network’s streaming service Acorn TV picked up more than 180 hours of All3Media International’s primetime drama. Included in...

Exclusive: Viacom International Studios has set a co-development deal with El Deseo, the Spanish production company owned by brothers Pedro and Agustín Almodóvar, for an eight-episode series, Mentiras Pasajeras (White Lies).

The companies will co-develop the series under the direction of Spanish screenwriters Nerea Castro and Blanca Andres. Vis confirmed the news on the final day of Natpe in Miami, where Vis and other ViacomCBS divisions have had a strong presence.

El Deseo, which produces both film and TV projects, was formed in 1985 by Pedro Almodovar. The noted filmmaker’s latest release, Pain and Glory, earned a Best Foreign Language Film nomination and also a Best Actor nod for Antonio Banderas.

“We are honored to have entered into this agreement with internationally distinguished production company, El Deseo, which will further expand our portfolio with more world-class productions and properties,” said Federico Cuervo, Svp and Head of Viacom International Studios. ”We...

The major problem with “Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom” — the fifth installment in this dinosaur series, and the second of a prospective trilogy — is that the makers treat the action and suspense sequences in the way most of us go to the dentist.

Director J. A. Bayona (“A Monster Calls”) goes through the motions of these scenes, even staging a “hiding from dinosaurs” set piece that was the most memorable section of Steven Spielberg’s original “Jurassic Park” movie from 1993. But what was exciting and scary then feels expected and very hackneyed now.

This new “Jurassic” begins with a tedious sequence set during a nighttime rainstorm where one of the dinosaurs wakes from its slumber to scare some men. This is shot and edited in such a sluggish way that it comes close to feeling inept, but mainly it suffers from lack of enthusiasm. (How hard is it to make running...

What’s this? A horror movie on Netflix worth watching? “Verónica” appears to be just that, as “[Rec]” director Paco Plaza’s film has received across-the-board critical praise in addition to six Goya Award nominations (including Best Film) in its native Spain. Currently sitting at 100% “fresh” on Rotten Tomatoes, the film is now streaming.

The Film Stage‘s Jared Mobarak suggests it’s worth your time:

“Having this type of break-neck speed conclusion seems to be a pattern with Plaza (although ‘[Rec]’ is my only point of comparison), but who cares if it works? At the end of the day a horror film is successful if it can make your heart pound out of your chest. And for most of ‘Verónica,’ Plaza and Navarro do exactly that.”

Ditto Anton Bitel of SciFiNow:

“The film ultimately favours the paranormal – yet Plaza still slyly insinuates an alternative explanation, rooted in the protagonist’s psychosexual unravelling.