31 by 31 Challenge #17: VERONICA (2017)

It's hard to make a standout possession film when the pinnacle of the sub-genre, The Exorcist, is lauded as the greatest horror film of all time. Paco Plaza's (REC) Veronica doesn't reinvent the demonic wheel by any means, but it's one of the strongest, most chilling entries in a sub-category of films that are known for sticking true to their defined formula. The film is proof that it's not about the originality of the story, but the presentation that matters.

Veronica
Released: August 25, 2017
Director: Paco Plaza
Screenplay: Fernando Navarro

Tagline: "Until today, it remains unexplained"

Cast:
Sandra Escacena as Veronica
Bruna Gonzalez as Lucia
Claudia Placer as Irene
Ivan Chavero as Antonito
Angela Fabian as Rosa
Carla Campra as Diana
Ana Torrent as Ana
Consuelo Trujillo as Sister Death


Madrid, 1992. Veronica is a teenage girl living with her widowed mother and three siblings in a crowded apartment that she maintains, along with cooking and caring for her younger brother and sisters as a result of their mom's work as a bartender. Though Veronica loves her siblings, she can't help but feel resentful towards her mother for being shoved into the role of primary caregiver. This frustration, as well as her grief over her deceased father, drives Veronica to join with friends Rosa and Diana in using an Ouija board during a full solar eclipse in an attempt to communicate with her dear departed dad. As one might guess, bad things happen as a result of this seemingly innocent game, including unexplained bruises on her skin, strange stains around the house, and shadowy apparitions stalking her siblings, prompting Veronica to try and contain the darkness she's unwittingly unleashed.

One of the most effective elements of Veronica is the camerawork, with the movement and framing of shots utilized to heighten the suspense about what might be lurking just out of view. Veronica watches a menacing shadow with long sharp claws crawl across the wall towards her sleeping brother and sisters, paralyzed to stop it. A reverse seance meant to cast the demon back where it belongs is filmed with slow, rotating pans around the faces of the participants, ratcheting up the fear as doors bang, the floor thuds, and something lurks ever closer. Are these new, innovate sequences? Not necessarily. But they're filmed well, and thus achieve their desired effect.

Not unlike other films in its sub-genre, Veronica is told mostly in flashback after a tantalizing prologue lets us know that police will arrive at the family's apart in three days and discover a gruesome scene, though we're not sure of the specific nature of what the officers find that shocks them so deeply. The establishment of a timeline helps increase dread and provides momentum, but it also can slow down the plot when the viewer remembers that we're heading towards a predictably maudlin conclusion. Any ingredients that feel bland are ultimately spiced up by Plaza's confident, assured direction and Escacena's anchored performance as the titular teenager. She's required to gaze longingly at another father/daughter couple in one scene and then wrestle her brother away from a shadowy demon in the next, and she does it all beautifully. The other young actors help create a believable family unit, equal parts affection and frustration.

Though it does not become the new standard by which possession movies will measure themselves, Veronica is nonetheless a solid, well-directed film with good acting, some genuinely frightening moments, and masterful camerawork. Had more attention been paid to the story and fleshing out of the more trope-y elements, it would have become a great film. As it stands, it's a good film to watch alone in the dark. Just maybe not during an eclipse.


Veronica
5 - Totally Terrifying
4 - Crazy Creepy
3 - Fairly Frightening
2 - Slightly Scary
1 - Hardly Horror