''Abracadabra'' is a 2017 Spanish-French

fantasy Fantasy is a genre of speculative fiction involving magical elements, typically set in a fictional universe and sometimes inspired by mythology and folklore. Its roots are in oral traditions, which then became fantasy literature and d ...

black Black is a color which results from the absence or complete absorption of visible light. It is an achromatic color, without hue, like white and grey. It is often used symbolically or figuratively to represent darkness. Black and white ...

comedy-drama film written and directed by

Pablo Berger Pablo Berger Uranga (born 1963) is a Spanish film director born in Bilbao, Spain. Life and work Pablo Berger attended primary and secondary school in Artxanda Trueba, located on the outskirts of Bilbao, Spain. In 1988 he directed his first sho ...

. It stars

Maribel Verdú María Isabel Verdú Rollán (; born 2 October 1970) is a Spanish actress. Some of her film credits include performances in '' Lovers'', ''Belle Époque'', ''Y tu mamá también'', ''Pan's Labyrinth'', '' The Blind Sunflowers'' and ''Snow Whi ...

, Antonio de la Torre & José Mota. It was shortlisted as one of the three films to be selected as the potential Spanish submission for the Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film at the

90th Academy Awards The 90th Academy Awards ceremony, presented by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (AMPAS), honored the best films of 2017, and took place at the Dolby Theatre in Hollywood, Los Angeles, California. The ceremony was held on March 4, ...

. However, it was not selected, with '' Summer 1993'' being selected as the Spanish entry.

Plot

Carmen (Verdú) is married to Carlos (De la Torre), a rude, emotionally abusive

construction worker A construction worker is a worker employed in the physical construction of the built environment and its infrastructure. Definition By some definitions, workers may be engaged in manual labour as unskilled or semi-skilled workers; they may be sk ...

who barely pays any attention to his wife and teenage daughter. One night, during a wedding, Carlos pretends to offer himself for the act of Carmen's cousin, supermarket security guard and amateur hypnotist Pepe (Mota), but he instead crashes Pepe's performance as his idea of a joke. However, he ends up unexpectedly affected by the hypnosis, to the point of holding Pepe hostage with a knife for a moment while everybody believes he is still joking. From the next day onwards, Carlos starts having lapses of time where he shows a very different personality, behaving instead like a loving, charismatic and intelligent man. Shocked yet gradually delighted, Carmen welcomes this change, but she starts suspecting there is something sinister behind it when Carlos's second personality has brief but dangerous episodes of

psychosis Psychosis is a condition of the mind that results in difficulties determining what is real and what is not real. Symptoms may include delusions and hallucinations, among other features. Additional symptoms are incoherent speech and behavior ...

. She enlists the aid of Pepe and his hypnotism teacher,

odontologist Dentistry, also known as dental medicine and oral medicine, is the branch of medicine focused on the teeth, gums, and mouth. It consists of the study, diagnosis, prevention, management, and treatment of diseases, disorders, and conditions of ...

Dr. Fumetti (Pou), and together discover the truth: Carlos had sleeping mediumnic abilities, and the failed hypnosis act caused a dead man's soul to forge a spiritual link with him, possessing him at times. After investigating further, Carmen and Pepe eventually find out the identity of the dead man, a dancing prodigy named Alberto "Tito" Cantero (Gutiérrez) who had

schizophrenia Schizophrenia is a mental disorder characterized by continuous or relapsing episodes of psychosis. Major symptoms include hallucinations (typically hearing voices), delusions, and disorganized thinking. Other symptoms include social wit ...

and murdered his own mother before committing suicide in 1983. This is further proved in a club, in which Carlos dances spectacularly with Carmen to

Steve Miller Band The Steve Miller Band is an American rock band formed in 1966 in San Francisco, California. The band is led by Steve Miller on guitar and lead vocals. The group had a string of mid- to late-1970s hit singles that are staples of classic rock, as ...

's "Abracadabra" song. Carmen, Pepe and Dr. Fumetti hold a

séance A séance or seance (; ) is an attempt to communicate with spirits. The word ''séance'' comes from the French word for "session", from the Old French ''seoir'', "to sit". In French, the word's meaning is quite general: one may, for example, spea ...

through the body of a dying old man to try to convince Tito to leave Carlos alone, but the spirit refuses claiming to be in love with Carmen. The latter impulsively drives Dr. Fumetti away when he tries to destroy the spirit by killing the old man, which would have killed Carlos too. Time passes, and Carmen is left conflicted about what to do, while the Tito-possessed Carlos becomes increasingly unhinged due to his constant psychotic visions of chimpanzees tormenting him. At his new job as a steward, Tito has a breakdown, and only the arrival of Carmen and Pepe impedes him from possibly murdering an entire wedding with a knife. In order to solve the situation once for all, Pepe pretends to be an entertainer and performs a hypnotism act for the guests, which he uses to send both Tito and Carmen to the depths of Carlos's mind. Here she finds the mental representations of both men, each pleading for her to allow them to take over the body, with Carlos promising to make up for his failure as a husband and father. She faces a difficult decision, but despite seemingly accepting Tito over Carlos, she stabs Tito with the mental representation of the knife, sending his soul to the afterlife for good. After waking up, she leaves silently the restaurant, implying she has decided to abandon Carlos and seek a better life.

Cast

as Carmen * Antonio de la Torre as Carlos * José Mota as Pepe *

Josep Maria Pou Josep Maria Pou i Serra (born 1944 in Mollet del Vallès, Barcelona) is a Catalan Spanish film, theatre and television actor. He studied drama in Madrid and made his debut in Teatro María Guerrero (1970) Cinema *2018 '' The Realm'' *2017 ' ...

as Dr. Fumetti *

Quim Gutiérrez Joaquim "Quim" Gutiérrez Ylla (; born 27 March 1981) is a Spanish actor. He won the 2006 Goya Award for Best New Actor for his performance in ''Dark Blue Almost Black''. Life and career Joaquim Gutiérrez Ylla was born in Barcelona on 27 Ma ...

as Tito

Production

The film was produced by Arcadia Motion Pictures alongside Perséfone Films, Pegaso Pictures, Noodles Production and Films Distribution, in association with

Atresmedia Cine Atresmedia Cine (formerly Ensueño Films and Antena 3 Films) is the studio belonging to Grupo Atresmedia responsible for producing films. It was created in 2000. History The film production company was created after the enacting of the Spanish ...

and with the participation of

Atresmedia Atresmedia Corporación de Medios de Comunicación, S.A., previously Grupo Antena 3, is a Spanish media group, present in the television, radio and filmmaking industries. Significant shareholders include Grupo Planeta and Bertelsmann. On 6 Mar ...

and

Movistar+ Movistar () is a major telecommunications provider owned by Telefónica, operating in Spain and Hispanic American countries. It is the largest provider of landline, broadband, mobile services, and pay television ( Movistar+) in Spain. Movistar ...

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Abracadabra 2017 films 2017 fantasy films 2017 black comedy films 2017 comedy-drama films Spanish fantasy films Spanish black comedy films Spanish comedy-drama films French fantasy comedy-drama films French black comedy films 2010s Spanish-language films 2010s Spanish films Arcadia Motion Pictures films Atresmedia Cine films Films about schizophrenia Films about spirit possession

Plot

Cast

Production

See also

References

External links