''Creatura'' is a 2023 Spanish film directed by Elena Martín Gimeno who also stars as the lead character. It is shot in Catalan.

Plot

Upon moving in to a family

summer house A summer house or summerhouse has traditionally referred to a building or shelter used for relaxation in warm weather. This would often take the form of a small, roofed building on the grounds of a larger one, but could also be built in a garden ...

in the coastline of

Maresme Maresme () is a ''comarca'' (county) located along the Catalan Mediterranean coast in Spain, between the ''comarques'' of Barcelonès (at the Southwest) and Selva (at the Northeast), and also bordering with Vallès Oriental (at the west). Its c ...

with boyfriend Marcel, Mila confronts sexual trauma, with flashbacks to her earliest moments of sexual awareness (5 years old) and her teenage years (15 years old).

Cast

Production

The film was produced by Vilaüt Films, Lastor Media, Avalon PC, and Elastica Films. It was produced in association with Suris/Bishop Film, and it had the participation of TV3 and

Filmin Comunidad Filmin S.L., doing business as Filmin, is a Spanish subscription video on demand streaming service, primarily dedicated to streaming independent films, as well as a production company and film distributor. The company headquarters is loc ...

and backing from ICAA, ICEC and Creative Media Europe. It was shot in Catalan. Shooting locations in

Catalonia Catalonia (; ca, Catalunya ; Aranese Occitan: ''Catalonha'' ; es, Cataluña ) is an autonomous community of Spain, designated as a ''nationality'' by its Statute of Autonomy. Most of the territory (except the Val d'Aran) lies on the north ...

included

Sant Vicenç de Montalt Sant Vicenç de Montalt (), is a municipality in the ''comarca'' of the Maresme in Catalonia, Spain. It is situated on the coast between Sant Andreu de Llavaneres and Arenys de Mar, below the range, with the main settlement slightly inland. The ...

L'Escala L'Escala (Spanish: ''La Escala'') is a municipality in the ''comarca'' of the Alt Empordà in Girona, Catalonia, Spain. It is situated on the Costa Brava, located between the southern end of the Gulf of Roses and Cala (bay) Montgó. It is an impo ...

Blanes Blanes () is a town and municipality in the comarca of Selva in Girona, Catalonia, Spain. During Roman rule it was named Blanda or Blandae. It is known as the "Gateway to the Costa Brava". Its coast is part of the Costa Brava, which stretches ...

Barcelona Barcelona ( , , ) is a city on the coast of northeastern Spain. It is the capital and largest city of the autonomous community of Catalonia, as well as the second most populous municipality of Spain. With a population of 1.6 million within ci ...

, and

Sitges Sitges (, , ) is a town about 35 kilometres southwest of Barcelona, in Spain, renowned worldwide for its Film Festival, Carnival, and LGBT Culture. Located between the Garraf Massif and the Mediterranean Sea, it is known for its beaches, nightspot ...

Release

The film world premiered in the

Directors' Fortnight The Directors' Fortnight (french: Quinzaine des Réalisateurs) is an independent selection of the Cannes Film Festival. It was started in 1969 by the French Directors Guild after the events of May 1968 resulted in cancellation of the Cannes festiv ...

section of the

76th Cannes Film Festival The 76th annual Cannes Film Festival was a film festival that took place from 16 to 27 May 2023. Swedish filmmaker Ruben Östlund served as jury president. With the French film '' Anatomy of a Fall'' winning the Palme d'Or, the festival's top p ...

on 20 May 2023. It is scheduled to be released theatrically in Spain on 8 September 2023.

Reception

The

review aggregator A review aggregator is a system that collects reviews of products and services (such as films, books, video games, software, hardware, and cars). This system stores the reviews and uses them for purposes such as supporting a website where users ...

website

Rotten Tomatoes Rotten Tomatoes is an American review-aggregation website for film and television. The company was launched in August 1998 by three undergraduate students at the University of California, Berkeley: Senh Duong, Patrick Y. Lee, and Stephen Wang ...

reported an approval rating of 92% with an average rating of 6.3/10, based on 12 reviews from critics. Nikki Baughan of ''

ScreenDaily ''Screen International'' is a British film magazine covering the international film business. It is published by Media Business Insight, a British B2B media company. The magazine is primarily aimed at those involved in the global film business. ...

'' considered that the film, an exploration of the "close relationship between guilt, shame and desire" should "attract attention for its female-centric story and strong visual identity". Dustin Chang of ''

ScreenAnarchy Screen Anarchy, previously known as Twitch Film or Twitch, is a Canadian English-language website featuring news and reviews of mainly international, independent and cult films. The website was founded in 2004 by Todd Brown. In addition to films ...

'' deemed ''Creatura'' to be "an interesting film about how the female sexuality frightens men".

References