Focusing on a real-life group in Spain during the late 90s, this Netflix film talks about friendship and female rage. The Phenomena review shares whether the horror elements work for this film or not. Also known as Fenómenas, this Spanish-language film is directed by Carlos Therón and written by Marta Buchaca and Fernando Navarro. It stars Belén Rueda, Ivan Massagué, Miren Ibarguren, Toni Acosta, Emilio Gutiérrez Caba, Gracia Olayo, Antonio Pagudo, Óscar Ortuño, Lorena López, Andrea Gara, and Fran Cantos, alongside other cast members.
-The Phenomena Review Does Not Contain Spoilers-
The horror genre has enough contenders to set some classics aside. Phenomena doesn’t scream fresh or new. It relies on old horror tropes, jump scares and inciting events to make its point across. While it is based on true events, it felt like the prospect of paranormal activity could really be explained through scientific methods. The interesting part of the movie was that people in the 90s weren’t taken aback to see women leading the processes of detecting the normal from the paranormal.
An initial impression of this movie is that it is filmed extremely well. The lighting, the cinematography and the framing are extremely well done. It obviously adheres to the visual language of a horror film but also makes it cinematic at the same time. There are instances where angles and camera movements play a huge role in building anticipation for viewers, which it does well. The characters are well constructed, except there is much less time that we don’t get an opportunity to connect with them fully.
It is still fascinating that the directors and writers could build distinct and unique characters in the short amount of time they had available. However, this time constraint also became one of the reasons why the movie didn’t work as well as it could have. They had the characters, they had the writing, and they had the cinematography. If the structure had been well-spaced and given enough time to breathe, the story would have had more context.
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A lot of plot details which would have made sense being revealed in the beginning were revealed too late into the story and almost didn’t make sense by the time the film ended. However, there were moments of symbolism and loss that gave this film an edge over becoming redundant and overused. Furthermore, featuring three female characters in the lead and not giving them conventionally expected roles to fulfil also made this viewing experience less frantic to consume.
Their interaction with people who were not a part of this group was also realistically created in a way that didn’t seem too dramatic or too pretentious. People will be fascinated and interested in mediums and paranormal investigators because their jobs are so removed from real life, and this film extrapolates that well.
Phenomena Review: Final Thoughts
This writer would recommend this film to people who are trying to build some skills in learning Spanish because the language they use is pretty simple, and they don’t speak that fast that it would affect comprehension. Moreover, it is also a short, fun watch with good acting and some semi-cliche plot that makes sense within the genre.
Additionally, the lore the creators have explored in this movie is not necessarily something most horror films have been employing. Seeking to understand the female experience and the prospect of what makes a ‘witch,’ this film does a good job of removing itself from the stacked films featuring catholicism and possession as elements of horror.
It would not be this writer’s first choice when it comes to a horror film, but it is the kind of lukewarm and average content that seems to be coming from the streaming platform in the first place. The storyline doesn’t seem groundbreaking, but it is also not damaged enough for deep-seated hate. Based on true events or not, there was definitely an opportunity and potential to use the cast and the crew for better storytelling.
Phenomena is currently streaming on Netflix. What are some of your favourite horror elements from this film? Let us know in the comments below.
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