''Veronica'' () is a 2017 Spanish

supernatural horror film Supernatural horror film is a film genre that combines aspects of supernatural film and horror film. Supernatural occurrences in such films often include ghosts and demons, and many supernatural horror films have elements of religion. Common them ...

directed by

Paco Plaza Francisco Plaza Trinidad (born 8 February 1973), simply known as Paco Plaza, is a Spanish film director known for his works in the horror genre. He is the co-creator of the ''REC'' zombie film franchise. Early life and education Plaza was born ...

which stars Sandra Escacena alongside Claudia Placer, Bruna González, Iván Chavero and

Ana Torrent Ana Torrent Bertrán de Lis (born 12 July 1966) is a Spanish film actress. She featured as a child actress in pictures such as ''The Spirit of the Beehive'' (1973), and ''Cría cuervos'' (1976), ''Elisa, vida mía'' (1977) and '' The Nest'' (19 ...

. It is loosely based on true events from a 1991 Vallecas case in which Estefanía Gutiérrez Lázaro died mysteriously after

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

using a

ouija board The Ouija ( , ), also known as a Ouija board, spirit board, talking board, or witch board, is a flat board marked with the letters of the Latin alphabet, the numbers 0–9, the words "yes", "no", and occasionally "hello" and "goodbye", along ...

. real

Plot

The film opens

in medias res A narrative work beginning ''in medias res'' (, "into the middle of things") opens in the chronological middle of the plot, rather than at the beginning (cf. '' ab ovo'', '' ab initio''). Often, exposition is initially bypassed, instead filled i ...

, with emergency services responding to a call from a young girl made on June 15, 1991. She sounds panicked and screams about something coming to get her brother before the call cuts off. The film goes back in time three days. Verónica is a 15-year-old girl living with her mother and three young siblings in an apartment in the

working-class The working class is a subset of employees who are compensated with wage or salary-based contracts, whose exact membership varies from definition to definition. Members of the working class rely primarily upon earnings from wage labour. Most c ...

district of

Vallecas Vallecas was a municipality of Spain that disappeared as such in 1950, when its annexation to the municipality of Madrid took place. Nowadays, the territory is roughly occupied by two districts: Puente de Vallecas (population 240,917) and V ...

Madrid Madrid ( ; ) is the capital and List of largest cities in Spain, most populous municipality of Spain. It has almost 3.5 million inhabitants and a Madrid metropolitan area, metropolitan area population of approximately 7 million. It i ...

. Their father recently died and their mother works long hours at a bar to support the family, leaving Verónica in charge of her younger siblings: twins Lucia and Irene, and Antoñito. On the day of the 1991 solar eclipse, her teacher explains how some ancient cultures used eclipses to stage

human sacrifice Human sacrifice is the act of killing one or more humans as part of a ritual, which is usually intended to please or appease deity, gods, a human ruler, public or jurisdictional demands for justice by capital punishment, an authoritative/prie ...

s and summon dark spirits. Verónica and her friends Rosa and Diana go into the school basement to conduct a

using a

Ouija board The Ouija ( , ), also known as a Ouija board, spirit board, talking board, or witch board, is a flat board marked with the letters of the Latin alphabet, the numbers 0–9, the words "yes", "no", and occasionally "hello" and "goodbye", along ...

. Verónica wants to reach out to her late father, and Diana her late boyfriend, who died in a motorcycle accident. Rosa and Diana pull their hands back when the glass cup becomes too hot. Verónica's hand remains on it, and at the moment of the eclipse, the cup shatters, cutting her finger and dripping blood onto the board. Verónica becomes unresponsive, whispering something repeatedly, then lets out a demonic scream. She wakes in the school nurse's office, who tells her she probably passed out from

iron deficiency Iron deficiency, or sideropenia, is the state in which a body lacks enough iron to supply its needs. Iron is present in all cells in the human body and has several vital functions, such as carrying oxygen to the tissues from the lungs as a key ...

. Verónica begins experiencing paranormal occurrences and her friends avoid her. Looking for answers, she goes back to the school basement and finds the school's elderly blind

nun A nun is a woman who vows to dedicate her life to religious service and contemplation, typically living under vows of poverty, chastity, and obedience in the enclosure of a monastery or convent.''The Oxford English Dictionary'', vol. X, page 5 ...

whom the students call Hermana Muerte ('Sister Death'). The nun explains that the séance attached a dark spirit to her and tries to compel the spirit to leave, but nothing happens. Verónica draws protective Viking symbols for the kids, only for the demon to destroy them. She tries to help Lucia when the spirit chokes her, but Lucia says it was Verónica who was choking her. Verónica wakes up to find that she's on her

first period First Period is an American architecture style originating between approximately 1626 and 1725, used primarily by British colonists during the settlement of the British colonies of North America, particularly in Massachusetts and Virginia. ...

. As she scrubs her mattress, she finds burn marks on the underside. She also finds on each of the kids' mattresses a large burn mark in the shape of a human body. Sister Death tells Verónica that she used to see dark spirits when she was younger, and intentionally blinded herself in an unsuccessful attempt to stop the visions. Verónica reads in an occult magazine that she can force the spirits to leave by doing right what she did wrong as it is important to say goodbye to the spirit at the end of a séance. Verónica asks Rosa and Diana to hold another séance, but they refuse. Rosa reveals that at the séance, Verónica whispered that she herself would die in three days. Desperate, Verónica decides to hold the séance with her siblings. She has Antoñito draw the protective symbols on the walls, but he flips to the wrong page and instead draws symbols of invocation. During the séance they have to repeatedly sing a melody and decide for an advertising jingle for a brand called "Centella" because it is the only song they all know. When she tells the spirit to say goodbye, it refuses. She calls the police and escapes with her siblings. However, she sees that she is not actually holding Antoñito but had imagined it. Her brother is actually hiding in a closet. She finds him but he won't go with her. Verónica looks at herself in the mirror and sees the demon, realizing she has been possessed by the demon the entire time, and had been harming her siblings under its control. She attempts to end the possession by slitting her own throat but is prevented by the demon. The police enter to find her being attacked by an invisible force and passing out. The medics carry her and Antoñito out while a shaken detective observes the scene. As the detective watches a photograph of Verónica suddenly catch fire, he is informed that she has died. In his official report, he mentions unexplained paranormal activity having occurred in the house. It is explained that the movie is based on the true events of the first police report in Spain where a police officer certifies having witnessed

paranormal activity Paranormal events are purported phenomena described in popular culture, folk, and other non-scientific bodies of knowledge, whose existence within these contexts is described as being beyond the scope of normal scientific understanding. Not ...

Cast

Inspiration

The film was inspired when Estefanía Gutiérrez Lázaro (1973–1991) reportedly suffered hallucinations and seizures after performing a séance at a school in Madrid to try to contact her friend's deceased boyfriend who had died six months earlier. Her exact cause of death is a mystery. Her house allegedly became haunted after her death according to the British magazine ''

NME ''New Musical Express'' (''NME'') is a British music, film, gaming and culture website, bimonthly magazine, and brand. Founded as a newspaper in 1952, with the publication being referred to as a "Rock music, rock inkie", the ''NME'' would be ...

''. The American magazine ''

Newsweek ''Newsweek'' is an American weekly news magazine based in New York City. Founded as a weekly print magazine in 1933, it was widely distributed during the 20th century and has had many notable editors-in-chief. It is currently co-owned by Dev P ...

'', referenced by ''NME'', is more cautious and while acknowledging that the case is real, likens the event to the similar pop-culture phenomenon and urban legend ''

The Amityville Horror ''The Amityville Horror'' is a book by American author Jay Anson, published in September 1977. It is also the basis of a series of films released from 1979 onward. The book is based on the claims of paranormal experiences by the Lutz family b ...

''. In the same magazine, director

says that he didn't feel bound to portray the real events, clarifying "...the whole story of Veronica and the sisters and Antoñito, this little Marlon Brando with glasses, it’s all a vision."

Production

The screenplay was penned by Paco Plaza alongside Fernando Navarro. The film was produced by Apache Films alongside El Expediente La Película AIE, with the participation of

RTVE The Corporación de Radio y Televisión Española (; ), known as Radiotelevisión Española (''Spanish Radio and Television'', RTVE), is the Spanish national public Broadcasting, television and radio broadcaster. It is a state-owned enterprise f ...

and support from ICAA. The score was composed by Eugenio Mira, credited under the pseudonym Chucky Namanera. The film's soundtrack also features the songs "Maldito duende", "Entre dos tierras" and "Hechizo" by

Héroes Del Silencio Héroes del Silencio (Spanish: ''Heroes of Silence'') (well known as Héroes or HDS) was a Spanish rock band from Zaragoza, formed by guitarist Juan Valdivia and singer Enrique Bunbury. The lineup was completed by bassist Joaquín Cardiel and dr ...

(all from their album ''

Senderos de traición Philippe Sylvain Senderos (; born 14 February 1985) is a Swiss retired professional footballer who played as a defender. Senderos began his career at Servette, before moving to England as a teenager with Arsenal. He made 116 appearances over ...

'' (1990)) and an advertising jingle for a brand called "Centella".

Release

''Verónica'' originally released on 25 August 2017 in Spain and was selected for the lineup of the

2017 Toronto International Film Festival The 42nd annual Toronto International Film Festival was held from September 7 to 17, 2017. There were fourteen programs, with the Vanguard and City to City programs both being retired from previous years, with the total number of films down by ...

's Contemporary World Cinema section. In addition, the film was released in eight other countries between December 2017 and February 2018. The rights for the film were later bought by streaming platform

Netflix Netflix is an American subscription video on-demand over-the-top streaming service. The service primarily distributes original and acquired films and television shows from various genres, and it is available internationally in multiple lang ...

where it was released in early March 2018 and became a small hit.

Prequel

A prequel film titled '' Sister Death'' (), directed by Paco Plaza and starring Aria Bedmar, was released on Netflix in October 2023.

Reception

Box office

In Spain the film grossed $4,212,203, and $1,910,886 in other territories, for a worldwide total of $6,123,089.

Critical response

The review aggregator

Rotten Tomatoes Rotten Tomatoes is an American review aggregator, 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 ...

reports an 88% approval rating from 33 critic reviews. The website's critical consensus reads, "A scarily effective horror outing, ''Veronica'' proves it doesn't take fancy or exotic ingredients to craft skin-crawling genre thrills." Jonathan Holland from ''

The Hollywood Reporter ''The Hollywood Reporter'' (''THR'') is an American digital and print magazine which focuses on the Cinema of the United States, Hollywood film industry, film, television, and entertainment industries. It was founded in 1930 as a daily trade pap ...

'' gave a negative review of the film and wrote, "The real horror in ''Veronica'' is not in the CGI visuals, or in Pablo Rosso's frantic cinematography, or in the aural bombardment of sound effects and music; it’s in the relationship between the children". Overall, he sums up his film review with the bottom line "Thick on chills, thin on psychology." Shortly after the release of ''Verónica'' on

, Jordan Crucchoila of ''

Vulture A vulture is a bird of prey that scavenges on carrion. There are 23 extant species of vulture (including condors). Old World vultures include 16 living species native to Europe, Africa, and Asia; New World vultures are restricted to Nort ...

'' countered other reviewers who believed that ''Verónica'' was the scariest movie on the streaming service: "In our estimation, ''Veronica'' is not that scary. It’s a worthy effort, but as far as witch-board movies go, you’ll get more out of '' Ouija 2: Origin of Evil''." She added that the film had "some great set-piece scares, and the movie’s most disturbing moment is pretty damn good." Ed Potton of ''

The Times ''The Times'' is a British Newspaper#Daily, daily Newspaper#National, national newspaper based in London. It began in 1785 under the title ''The Daily Universal Register'', adopting its modern name on 1 January 1788. ''The Times'' and its si ...

'' gave the film a 2 out of 5, and wrote "A considerable buzz online suggested that this Spanish horror might arrest the recent run of iffy Netflix movies. Sadly, it doesn't." Dennis Harvey of ''

Variety Variety may refer to: Arts and entertainment Entertainment formats * Variety (radio) * Variety show, in theater and television Films * ''Variety'' (1925 film), a German silent film directed by Ewald Andre Dupont * ''Variety'' (1935 film), ...

'' wrote that the film's ideas "aren’t ultimately original enough or its scares potent enough to suggest Plaza wouldn’t benefit from trying his directorial hand at someone else’s screenplay." Referring to the Rotten Tomatoes score, Paul Tassi from ''

Forbes ''Forbes'' () is an American business magazine founded by B. C. Forbes in 1917. It has been owned by the Hong Kong–based investment group Integrated Whale Media Investments since 2014. Its chairman and editor-in-chief is Steve Forbes. The co ...

'' magazine wrote, "If I was scoring the movie myself I’d probably give it a 6 out of 10, “fresh,” but not exactly stunning."

Accolades

, - , align = "center" rowspan="21" , 2018 , rowspan="4" , 73rd CEC Medals , Best Editing , Martí Roca , , rowspan="4" style="text-align:center;" , , - , Best New Actress , Sandra Escacena , , - , Best Original Screenplay , Paco Plaza, Fernando Navarro , , - , Best Score , Eugenio Mira , , - , rowspan="6" ,

5th Feroz Awards The 5th award ceremony of the Feroz Awards was held at Polideportivo Antonio Magariños, in Madrid, on January 22, 2018. It was hosted by Julián López and aired on #0. Winners and nominees The nominees were announced on December 5, 2017. The ...

Best Director Best Director is the name of an award which is presented by various film, television and theatre organizations, festivals, and people's awards. It may refer to: Film awards * AACTA Award for Best Direction * Academy Award for Best Director * As ...

, Paco Plaza , , rowspan="6" style="text-align:center;" , , - , colspan = "2" , Best Drama Film , , - , Best Original Score , Eugenio Mira , , - , Best Trailer , Rafa Martínez , , - ,

Best Actress in a Leading Role Best or The Best may refer to: People * Best (surname), people with the surname Best * Best (footballer, born 1968), retired Portuguese footballer Companies and organizations * Best & Co., an 1879–1971 clothing chain * Best Lock Corporatio ...

, Sandra Escacena , , - , Best Screenplay , Paco Plaza, Fernando Navarro , , - , rowspan="7" ,

32nd Goya Awards The 32nd Goya Awards were presented at the Madrid Marriott Auditorium Hotel in Madrid on 3 February 2018, to honour the best in Spanish films of 2017. Joaquín Reyes (Spanish actor), Joaquín Reyes and Ernesto Sevilla hosted the awards ceremony. ...

Best Film The following is a list of categories of awards commonly awarded through organizations that bestow film awards, including those presented by various films, festivals, and people's awards. Best Actor/Best Actress *See Best Actor#Film awards, Bes ...

, Expediente La Película A.I.E., Apaches Entertainment , , rowspan="7" style="text-align:center;" , , - ,

, Paco Plaza , , - ,

Best Original Screenplay The Academy Award for Best Original Screenplay is the Academy Award (also known as an Oscar) for the best screenplay not based upon previously published material. It was created in 1940 as a separate writing award from the Academy Award for Best ...

, Paco Plaza, Fernando Navarro , , - , Best Original Score , Eugenio Mira , , - , Best New Actress , Sandra Escacena , , - ,

Best Sound The following is a list of categories of awards commonly awarded through organizations that bestow film awards, including those presented by various films, festivals, and people's awards. Best Actor/Best Actress *See Best Actor#Film awards, Bes ...

, Aitor Berenguer, Gabriel Gutiérrez, Nicolas de Poulpiquet , , - , Best Special Effects , Raúl Romanillos, David Heras , , - ,

27th Actors and Actresses Union Awards The 27th Actors and Actresses Union Awards were held on 12 March 2018 at the Circo Price in Madrid Madrid ( ; ) is the capital and List of largest cities in Spain, most populous municipality of Spain. It has almost 3.5 million inhabitan ...

, Best New Actress , Sandra Escacena , , style="text-align:center;" , , - ,

5th Platino Awards The 5th Platino Awards was presented at Gran Tlachco Theater in Riviera Maya, Mexico, on April 29, 2018, to honor the best in Ibero-American films of 2017. The ceremony was televised in Latin America by TNT, and hosted by actor Eugenio Derbez. ...

, Aitor Berenguer, Gabriel Gutiérrez, Nicolas de Poulpiquet , , style="text-align:center;" , , - , rowspan="2" , Turia Awards , Special Award , Paco Plaza , , rowspan="2" style="text-align:center;" , , - , Best New Actress , Sandra Escacena , , - , rowspan="2" , 2019 , CinEuphoria Awards , Best Sound/Sound Effects - International Competition , , , style="text-align:center;" , , - ,

Fangoria Chainsaw Awards The Fangoria Chainsaw Awards is an award ceremony focused on horror and thriller films. Beginning in 1992, the awards were expanded and an annual ceremony was inaugurated to give out the awards. As of 2015, Fangoria also delivers awards to tel ...

, Best Streaming Premiere Film , Paco Plaza , , style="text-align:center;" ,

References

External links

*
The true story behind 'Veronica', the scariest movie of all time!
{{DEFAULTSORT:Veronica 2017 films 2017 horror films 2010s Spanish-language films 2010s supernatural horror films Spanish supernatural horror films Demons in film Films set in 1991 Films set in 1996 Films set in Madrid Films shot in Madrid Films directed by Paco Plaza Horror films based on actual events Spanish films based on actual events Apache Films films 2010s Spanish films Séances