This Spanish/Colombian thriller takes its time to get going but it is one of those films which may be slow to start but really improves once you start to realise what has really been going on. Consequently, it is a film which makes you think it would be well worth watching it again but with the benefit of foreknowledge. The story revolves around a famous concert conductor whose girlfriend has gone missing. As police hover around him, he begins a new relationship with a cocktail waitress. This latter girl experiences some strange events in his house.
It's nigh on impossible to discuss this film without revealing spoilers. Given that the central conceit involves the missing girlfriend discovering a secret room in the house when an ex-owner alerts her to it, a room which allows those within to observe and see but to remain in secret themselves. She enters it to test her boyfriend's loyalty by watching him but unfortunately accidentally locks herself in. It's actually a brilliant idea, as it allows the film to operate in several different ways. Firstly, it generates considerable suspense as we empathise easily with the woman caught in this trap. Secondly, it allows the film to open up like it is a ghost story with all the requisite unexplained spooky goings on. And thirdly, it works on a psychological level where, once the two women become aware of one and other, their actions have a self-preservation aspect which furthers the drama and intensifies the horror. The story in fact tells the story from three perspectives, the conductor and both of the women. In this way it allows the differing angles in which they see the situation to create their own dynamics. None of the characters ever fully know what the others are up to and these gaps in knowledge are used to great effect by the film-makers to create suspense and intrigue.
It's nigh on impossible to discuss this film without revealing spoilers. Given that the central conceit involves the missing girlfriend discovering a secret room in the house when an ex-owner alerts her to it, a room which allows those within to observe and see but to remain in secret themselves. She enters it to test her boyfriend's loyalty by watching him but unfortunately accidentally locks herself in. It's actually a brilliant idea, as it allows the film to operate in several different ways. Firstly, it generates considerable suspense as we empathise easily with the woman caught in this trap. Secondly, it allows the film to open up like it is a ghost story with all the requisite unexplained spooky goings on. And thirdly, it works on a psychological level where, once the two women become aware of one and other, their actions have a self-preservation aspect which furthers the drama and intensifies the horror. The story in fact tells the story from three perspectives, the conductor and both of the women. In this way it allows the differing angles in which they see the situation to create their own dynamics. None of the characters ever fully know what the others are up to and these gaps in knowledge are used to great effect by the film-makers to create suspense and intrigue.