Ausentes

In Ausentes Calparsoro offers his own version of a very modern horror story. Julia (Adriana Gil) moves with her husband Samuel (Jordi Mollá) and her two stepsons to a new luxury development somewhere in the far suburbs. Just completed, the development has just everything a family could want, yet days pass and Julia doesn’t notice any of her new neighbors. Traces of them can be seen and heard, but as far as she can tell she and her family are completely alone. Reminiscent in ways to The Shining, Ausentes builds a similar sense of dread to wide open spaces. The community Julia’s family has moved to is a human-made, manicured environment that seemingly has a life of its own, with no need for human beings to fill it. A provocative, unsettling film from one of Spain’s most challenging filmmakers.