While working on a thesis about audiovisual violence, film student Ángela finds a snuff video where a girl is tortured until death. Soon she discovers that she was a former student in her university, and that the authors of the video are not very far either.
Direction
Amenábar's debut—he was 23 and already this controlled.
Cinematography
That grainy snuff footage that feels illegally real.
Acting
Ana Torrent's asthma attacks are panic-inducing cinema.
Director
Alejandro Amenábar
Trivia, insights & behind the scenes
Amenábar shot the snuff scenes first with a tiny crew and anonymous actors, then used the genuine confusion to fuel the cast's performances.
This kicked Spain's 'fantaterror' revival into the mainstream and made Amenábar the wunderkind who'd later direct The Others and Mar Adentro.
ES
