“Whatever you don’t say goodbye to, stays with you.”
Oh man, here’s a good one. When Veronica hit Netflix, articles abounded proclaiming it one of the best horror movies in recent memory. I don’t know why I’m just now getting around to this. With movies about Ouija boards, you can kind of expect what you get going in, and while the story beats of Veronica have been done before, Paco Plaza’s film stands out thanks to its unsettling atmosphere, effective scares, and the terrific debut performance from Sandra Escacena.
Veronica may only be 15, but she’s still in charge of taking care of her three siblings, Irene, Lucia, and Antonito. Her father is dead and her mother, Ana, spends all her time working at a bar so they can make ends meet. Escacena does a good job of making Veronica likable and relatable, even when she loses her temper with the kids; this is one of the upsides to casting a teenager to play a teenager. If this were an American movie, whatever actress played Veronica would definitely be in her late twenties and probably an alum of a show like Pretty Little Liars. Anyway, Veronica is overwhelmed, and going through the loneliest time of anyone’s life, her teen years. She hasn’t yet had her period; it’s like she’s stranded in a limbo between childhood and womanhood. This is all to say that it actually makes sense that she would resort to using a Ouija board to contact her father.
In terms of spooky Ouija locations, you can’t do much better than the basement of a Catholic school. Plaza makes excellent use of candlelight, and it’s almost comforting, in a way: the moment where everything is about to go wrong. It’s like a release of pressure. Veronica goes almost catatonic while her friends freak out; she breaks the glass they were using as a planchette and bleeds onto the board. Outside, the sun is being eclipsed by the moon. It’s dark everywhere now, inside and out.
Veronica is not a film reliant on jump scares, which is to its credit (I think there might be only one, honestly). Plaza, who also wrote the film, builds dread naturally and unconventionally. If you didn’t think a commercial jingle or a Simon machine could be eerie, then Veronica will surprise you. Adding to the dread is that Veronica is alone, literally and figuratively. Her mother is always working, her friends are too freaked out to spend time with her, and she’s separated from her siblings by years. Her only ally is a blind, chain-smoking nun nicknamed Sister Death.
The imagery in Veronica is genuinely nightmarish. The most striking scene is when Veronica sees her father, dead and nude, repeating her name over and over. She stumbles onto her bed, where hands burst through the mattress and grab at her. Escacena is more than a scream queen, though. It’s hard to believe that this is her debut performance, such is the ease and skill with which she imbues Veronica with vulnerability and grit, terror and determination, all in equal measure. She rises handily to the challenges of the role and makes it her own. Escacena delivers a full-body performance, one that must have been exhausting for a number of reasons. But she’s the title character, and damn does she deserve to be. One of the tensest scenes in Veronica comes when she tries to eat a meatball. I promise that makes sense in context.
To me, the best horror films are the kind that have more on their mind than just scaring you. The Mist is scary, but it’s also angry. The Orphanage is scary, but also sad. Veronica is like that. At its core, this is a story (a true story, purportedly) about a young girl losing herself right as she’s supposed to be discovering herself; about Veronica realizing that she can’t keep her siblings safe from the horrors of the world; and about the sad reality that no matter how well we prepare, no matter what precautions we take, there are battles we will just never win.
Thursday, 10/1: Phantasm
Friday, 10/2: Frozen
Saturday, 10/3: Suspiria
Sunday, 10/4: Suspiria (2018)
Monday, 10/5: Emelie
Tuesday, 10/6: Castle Freak
Wednesday, 10/7: Session 9
Thursday, 10/8: The Texas Chainsaw Massacre 2
Friday, 10/9: We Are Still Here
Saturday, 10/10: The Changeling
Sunday, 10/11: The Bad Seed
Monday, 10/12: Verotika
Tuesday, 10/13: The Legend of Hell House
Wednesday, 10/14: Lake Mungo
Thursday, 10/15: Puppetmaster
Friday, 10/16: Marrowbone
Saturday, 10/17: A Nightmare on Elm Street 4: The Dream Master
Sunday, 10/18: Halloween 4: The Return of Michael Myers
Monday, 10/19: Sweetheart
Tuesday, 10/20: Girl On the Third Floor
Wednesday, 10/21: Behind the Mask: The Rise of Leslie Vernon
Thursday, 10/22: Triangle
Friday, 10/23: Dog Soldiers
Saturday, 10/24: Noroi: The Curse
Sunday, 10/25: Train to Busan
Monday, 10/26: Tales From the Hood
Tuesday, 10/27: Mandy
Wednesday, 10/28: Sometimes They Come Back
Thursday, 10/29: Veronica
Friday, 10/30: The Wicker Man
Saturday, 10/31: Child’s Play
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