''Staring at Strangers'' ( es, No mires a los ojos, links=no, known early in the production stage as ''From the Shadows''; ) is a 2022 Spanish-Belgian thriller

drama film In film and television, drama is a category or genre of narrative fiction (or semi-fiction) intended to be more serious than humorous in tone. Drama of this kind is usually qualified with additional terms that specify its particular super-g ...

directed by Félix Viscarret adapting the

Juan José Millás Juan José Millás (born 1946) is a Spanish writer and winner of the 1990 Premio Nadal. He was born in Valencia, Spain, Valencia and has spent most of his life in Madrid, Spain, Madrid, where he studied philosophy and literature at the Universida ...

' novel ''Desde la sombra''. Its cast is led by

Paco León Francisco León Barrios (born 4 October 1974), known as Paco León () is a Spanish actor, producer, director, screenwriter and activist. Born in Seville, León began his career in television comedy roles in Andalusian regional productions. Follow ...

Leonor Watling Leonor Elizabeth Ceballos Watling (born 28 July 1975) is a Spanish film actress and singer. Early life Leonor Ceballos Watling was born on 28 July 1975 in Madrid, to a Spanish father from Province of Cádiz, Cádiz and an English mother, the ...

Àlex Brendemühl Àlex Brendemühl i Gubern (born 27 November 1972) is a Spanish-German actor. Born in Barcelona to a Spanish mother and a German father, he has appeared in more than 60 films and television shows since 1995. Brendemühl played the lead role of ...

and María Romanillos.

Plot

After being fired from his job, Damián hids in an

armoire A wardrobe or armoire or almirah is a standing closet used for storing clothes. The earliest wardrobe was a chest, and it was not until some degree of luxury was attained in regal palaces and the castles of powerful nobles that separate accommo ...

. The armoire (with Damián inside) arrives to the residence of the family formed by Lucía, Fede and their teen daughter, María. From then on, Damián becomes the family's guardian angel.

Cast

Production

An adaptation of

' novel ''Desde la sombra'', the film was penned by (the director) alongside David Muñoz. It is a joint Spanish-Belgian international co-production, produced by Tornasol and Desde la Sombra Árbol A.I.E., alongside Entre Chien et Loup, with the participation of

RTVE The Corporación de Radio y Televisión Española, S.A. (; ), known as Radiotelevisión Española or RTVE, is the state-owned public corporation that assumed in 2007 the indirect management of the Spanish public radio and television service know ...

and

Movistar+ Movistar Plus+ (formerly Movistar+) is the trade name of the subscription platform for digital television owned by Telefónica, which operates in Spain. The service is distributed via optical fiber and ADSL and as well as with satellites such as ...

. Shooting began in January 2021 in

Pamplona Pamplona (; eu, Iruña or ), historically also known as Pampeluna in English, is the capital city of the Chartered Community of Navarre, in Spain. It is also the third-largest city in the greater Basque cultural region. Lying at near above ...

, and it had already wrapped in March 2021.

Release

''Staring at Strangers'' had its world premiere as the opening film of the 67th

Valladolid International Film Festival The Valladolid International Film Festival, popularly known as Seminci (short for ; ), is a film festival held annually in Valladolid, Spain. First held in 1956 as ('Valladolid Religious Film Week'), the Seminci is one of the longest-standing fi ...

(Seminci) on 22 October 2022. It is set for a 4 November 2022 theatrical release in Spain. Upon the film's release, lead actor Paco León described his character as "nearly Galician" to imply the character's introverted nature (in a deviation from the actor's traditional comedy roles), ensuingly eliciting controversy and public scrutiny.

Reception

Beatriz Martínez of ''

El Periódico de Catalunya ''El Periódico de Catalunya'' (, ), also simply known as ''El Periódico'', is a morning daily newspaper based in Barcelona, Catalonia, Spain. The paper publishes separate daily editions in Spanish and in Catalan. The two editions combined sell ...

'' rated the "strange and risky" ''Staring at Strangers'' film 4 out of 5 stars, otherwise pointing out how it is a picture "full of findings, twists, and turns" in which the spectators somehow all become voyeurs. Andrea G. Bermejo of ''

Cinemanía ''Cinemanía'' is a Spanish language monthly film magazine based in Madrid, Spain , image_flag = Bandera de España.svg , image_coat = Escudo de España (mazonado).svg , national_motto = ''Plus ultra'' (Latin)( ...

'' rated the film 4 out of 5 stars, bringing attention to Leonor Watling "in the best role of her career". María Bescós of ''

HobbyConsolas ''HobbyConsolas'' is a Spanish video game magazine founded in 1991 by Hobby Press and published by Axel Springer SE. The first issue appeared in October 1990. The monthly magazine offers information about games for all consoles, and since 2012 ha ...

'' rated ''Staring at Strangers'' with 73 points ("good"), writing that it "is a feature film with a very unpleasant protagonist, who constantly puts you in uncomfortable situations, making you wonder about the reason for his crazy situations" which "manages to oppress and intrigue you until it ends".

Accolades

, - , rowspan = "3" align = "center" , 2023 , , 2nd Carmen Awards , , Best Actor , , Paco León , , , , , - , 78th CEC Medals , , Best Adapted Screenplay , , David Muñoz, Félix Viscarret , , , , , - ,

37th Goya Awards The 37th Goya Awards ceremony, presented by the Academy of Cinematographic Arts and Sciences of Spain, is scheduled to take place at the FIBES Conference and Exhibition Centre in Seville, Andalusia on 11 February 2023. Background On 31 May 202 ...

, , Best Adapted Screenplay , , David Muñoz, Félix Viscarret , , , ,

References

{{authority control 2022 films 2022 thriller films 2022 drama films Spanish thriller films Spanish drama films Belgian thriller films Belgian drama films Films based on Spanish novels Films shot in Navarre Tornasol Films films 2020s Spanish-language films 2020s Spanish films