Like comedy, horror movies in conversations more than walking around the house are measured by how does it comply with what the name of the genus suggests. Come on, which will be more successful or not depending on whether it manages to be scary or not. It is possible that such a widespread conception led some directors with other ambitions to dodge the label, leaving us in recent years with the lazy tag of “high horror” to cover our ass in case it suggests rather than terrifies the viewer.
It is, of course, an unfair assessment, which leaves aside the fact that the true horror is what the characters in the story being told are experiencing. It is because of that some of the scariest movies might not deserve the category for some. But the truth is that few movies could be depicting anything more terrifying than what it tells’Behind the glass‘.
who will take care of you
One of the jewels of Spanish filmography, written and directed by the recently deceased Agustí Villaronga and available to stream on Amazon Prime Video as well as on Filmin. With his first feature film, the Mallorcan director created a unique film of its kind within our cinemaa horrifying portrait of traumatic crimes that are transferred and with cruel although suggestive images of torture.
The film shows us a former Nazi war criminal who, in addition to torturing and murdering in concentration camps, sexually abused children. At the end of World War II he attempts suicide, but fails, leaving himself paralyzed and held by an iron lung. His wife and his daughter are his only human support until a young nurse arrives who offers to take care of him, progressively showing the hidden motives that have led him there.
Villaronga not only creates a shocking and shocking movie because of the theme, but also because of how he decides to tell it. His containment to avoid falling into explicit images creates an even more perverse and horrifying sensation, carefully developing a relationship that is as apparently frightening as it is fascinating due to its complexity, due to how our relationship with evil fluctuates.
‘Behind the glass’: observing evil
It also saves moments of more direct terror that are framed within the phantasmagorical, although we are not in a supernatural or spirit film in a strict sense. The ghosts become something metaphorical, but really devastating due to the dramatic construction that Villaronga has been carrying out throughout the story. The wildest moments exemplify the director’s narrative strength, creating captivating images.
‘Behind the glass’ is a unique film of its kind, typical of a really special looking director that has almost always functioned as free verse within Spanish cinema and that has portrayed the darkness of being like few others. It’s not surprising that his hits have been few, with ‘Pa negre’ as an example that stands out from the rest, but at the same time his cult following is so immense. He will be missed.
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