Verónica (2017 Spanish film)

Veronica () is a 2017 Spanish supernatural horror film directed by Paco Plaza which stars Sandra Escacena alongside Claudia Placer, Bruna GonzÃÂ¡lez, IvÃÂ¡n Chavero and Ana Torrent. It is loosely based on true events from a 1991 Vallecas case in which EstefanÃÂa GutiÃÂ©rrez LÃÂ¡zaro died mysteriously after a sÃÂ©ance using a ouija board.

Plot

The film opens in medias res, with emergency services responding to a call from a young girl made on June 15, 1991. She sounds panicked and screams about something coming to get her brother before the call cuts off. The film goes back in time three days.

Fifteen-year-old VerÃÂ³nica lives with her family in the working-class district of Vallecas, Madrid. After her father's death, her mother works long hours to support the family, leaving VerÃÂ³nica in charge of her younger siblings: twins Lucia and Irene, and AntoÃÂ±ito.

On the day of the 1991 solar eclipse, her teacher explains how some ancient cultures used eclipses to stage human sacrifices and summon dark spirits. Later, in the school basement, VerÃÂ³nica and her friends Rosa and Diana conduct a sÃÂ©ance with a Ouija board. VerÃÂ³nica wants to reach out to her late father, and Diana her late boyfriend who died in a motorcycle accident. The glass cup suddenly becomes too hot, prompting Rosa and Diana to pull their hands back. The moment the eclipse occurs, the cup shatters, cutting VerÃÂ³nica's finger and her blood drips onto the board. VerÃÂ³nica becomes unresponsive, whispering something repeatedly, then lets out a demonic scream. She wakes in the school nurse's office, who tells her she probably passed out from iron deficiency.

VerÃÂ³nica begins experiencing paranormal occurrences and her friends avoid her. She goes back to the school basement and finds the school's elderly blind nun nicknamed Hermana Muerte ('Sister Death') by the students. The nun explains that the sÃÂ©ance attached a dark spirit to her. She unsuccessfully compels the spirit to leave.

VerÃÂ³nica draws protective Viking symbols for the kids, only for the demon to destroy them. She intervenes when the spirit chokes Lucia, only to learn that she herself choking Lucia. VerÃÂ³nica wakes up to find that she's on her first period. As she scrubs her mattress, she finds burn marks on the underside. She also finds on each of the kids' mattresses a large burn mark in the shape of a human body. Sister Death tells VerÃÂ³nica that she used to see dark spirits when she was younger, and intentionally blinded herself in an unsuccessful attempt to stop the visions. VerÃÂ³nica reads in an occult magazine that she can force the spirits to leave by doing right what she did wrong as it is important to say goodbye to the spirit at the end of a sÃÂ©ance. VerÃÂ³nica asks Rosa and Diana to hold another sÃÂ©ance, but they refuse. Rosa reveals that at the sÃÂ©ance, VerÃÂ³nica whispered that she herself would die in three days.

Desperate, VerÃÂ³nica decides to hold the sÃÂ©ance with her siblings. She has AntoÃÂ±ito draw the protective symbols on the walls, but he incorrectly copies the symbols of invocation. During the sÃÂ©ance, they have to repeatedly sing a melody and decide on the advertising jingle for "Centella," the only song they all know. When VerÃÂ³nica tells the spirit to say goodbye, it refuses. She calls the police and escapes with her siblings. However, she sees that she is not actually holding AntoÃÂ±ito but had imagined it. Her brother is actually hiding in a closet. She finds him but he won't go with her. VerÃÂ³nica looks at herself in the mirror and sees the demon, realizing she has been possessed by the demon the entire time, and had been harming her siblings under its control. She attempts to end the possession by slitting her own throat but is prevented by the demon. The police enter to find her being attacked by an invisible force and passing out. The medics carry her and AntoÃÂ±ito out while a shaken detective observes the scene. As the detective watches a photograph of VerÃÂ³nica suddenly catch fire, he is informed that she has died.

In his official report, he mentions unexplained paranormal activity having occurred in the house. It is explained that the movie is based on the true events of the first police report in Spain where a police officer certifies having witnessed paranormal activity.

Cast

Inspiration

The film was inspired when EstefanÃÂa GutiÃÂ©rrez LÃÂ¡zaro (1973Ã¢ÂÂ1991) reportedly suffered hallucinations and seizures after performing a sÃÂ©ance at a school in Madrid to try to contact her friend's deceased boyfriend who had died six months earlier. Her exact cause of death is a mystery. Her house allegedly became haunted after her death according to the British magazine NME. The American magazine Newsweek, referenced by NME, is more cautious and while acknowledging that the case is real, likens the event to the similar pop-culture phenomenon and urban legend The Amityville Horror. In the same magazine, director Paco Plaza says that he didn't feel bound to portray the real events, clarifying "...the whole story of Veronica and the sisters and AntoÃÂ±ito, this little Marlon Brando with glasses, itÃ¢ÂÂs all a vision."

Production

The screenplay was penned by Paco Plaza alongside Fernando Navarro. The film was produced by Apache Films alongside El Expediente La PelÃÂcula AIE, with the participation of RTVE and support from ICAA. The score was composed by Eugenio Mira, credited under the pseudonym Chucky Namanera. The film's soundtrack also features the songs "Maldito duende", "Entre dos tierras" and "Hechizo" by HÃÂ©roes Del Silencio (all from their album Senderos de traiciÃÂ³n (1990)) and an advertising jingle for a brand called "Centella".

Release

VerÃÂ³nica originally released on 25 August 2017 in Spain and was selected for the lineup of the 2017 Toronto International Film Festival's Contemporary World Cinema section. In addition, the film was released in eight other countries between December 2017 and February 2018.

The rights for the film were later bought by streaming platform Netflix where it was released in early March 2018 and became a small hit.

Prequel

A prequel film titled Sister Death (), directed by Paco Plaza and starring Aria Bedmar, was released on Netflix in October 2023.

Reception

Box office

In Spain the film grossed $4,212,203, and $1,910,886 in other territories, for a worldwide total of $6,123,089.

Critical response

The review aggregator Rotten Tomatoes reports an 86% approval rating from 35 critic reviews. The website's critical consensus reads, "A scarily effective horror outing, Veronica proves it doesn't take fancy or exotic ingredients to craft skin-crawling genre thrills."

Jonathan Holland from The Hollywood Reporter gave a negative review of the film and wrote, "The real horror in Veronica is not in the CGI visuals, or in Pablo Rosso's frantic cinematography, or in the aural bombardment of sound effects and music; itÃ¢ÂÂs in the relationship between the children". Overall, he sums up his film review with the bottom line "Thick on chills, thin on psychology."

Shortly after the release of VerÃÂ³nica on Netflix, Jordan Crucchoila of Vulture countered other reviewers who believed that VerÃÂ³nica was the scariest movie on the streaming service: "In our estimation, Veronica is not that scary. ItÃ¢ÂÂs a worthy effort, but as far as witch-board movies go, youÃ¢ÂÂll get more out of '." She added that the film had "some great set-piece scares, and the movieÃ¢ÂÂs most disturbing moment is pretty damn good." Ed Potton of The Times gave the film a 2 out of 5, and wrote "A considerable buzz online suggested that this Spanish horror might arrest the recent run of iffy Netflix movies. Sadly, it doesn't." Dennis Harvey of Variety wrote that the film's ideas "arenÃ¢ÂÂt ultimately original enough or its scares potent enough to suggest Plaza wouldnÃ¢ÂÂt benefit from trying his directorial hand at someone elseÃ¢ÂÂs screenplay." Referring to the Rotten Tomatoes score, Paul Tassi from Forbes magazine wrote, "If I was scoring the movie myself IÃ¢ÂÂd probably give it a 6 out of 10, Ã¢ÂÂfresh,Ã¢ÂÂ but not exactly stunning."