terrible... so disappointed.

Expected more

if their story seems completely bonkers, almost like a feverish work of fiction, you ain't heard nothing yet.

Blistering performances.

A raw but a real description of how a sickness can replace a healthy reality. I like how the director manage to show us a dark part of life. Thru the image, dare to bring a taboo subject, to make us realize, that this is to an important aspect that is not proper managed by us, people. In some parts felt like a documentary, or like a visual journal, delivered almost ' umbilical ' by the mother and son. This is how i like mostly the european movies despite us american movies. American movies are to commercial

Ivan Noel, wrote and directed this dark tale of Gabriel who is constantly visited by spectral dreams of Sofia (Romina Pinto) his mother. Isolated from his troubled mother, the boy becomes a dark, lonely brooding child (Renzo Sabelli) who witnessed her death. Gregorio, his father (Guillermo Tassara) is a harsh demanding disciplinarian who is pressured by the landlord to vacate the somber premises is unable to find help for his son. Seeking ways to improve the haunted estate which once belonged to a group of Monks, Gregorio invites his sister Debora (Leticia Vota) to help advise the suicide prone boy. Gabriel however is fixated by ghostly apparitions which convince him that his love is being stolen by a girl who insists on being part of his life. The combination of problems and ghostly apparition's of the Monks, leads Gabriel to despondency and urges him to follow in the maternal requests to join his mother. Following this movie is interesting enough, but Noel the director adds a black melancholy drama to the movie and at times, the audiences is hard pressed to follow into fear and terror. Nevertheless, the film is yet another attempt of matching the book to his talent as frightening entertainment. One has to understand the medium to follow him, but upon succeeding, enjoyment becomes the by-product. Well done. ****

Mr. Noel has created a new masterpiece, after 'En Tu Ausencia' and 'Brecha'. Noel is probably the most attention attracting Spanish cinematographer of the present. His movies are subtle, sensitive and both storyline, camera-work and music are astonishing. Astonishing too is the fact that all this,- story, music and camera -, are works of his own hand. Nevertheless his movies are made with an extremely low budget due to both lack of finance and of recognition. I wonder how long it will take before Art-house lovers will realize that there is a new Spanish master in our midst. 'Vuelve' is highly recommended (and so are his previous films).

In the middle of nowhere there is an old monastery, where a boy lives with his parents. His beloved mother is unstable and commits suicide, his father is aloof. At the same time, the real mother of the boy is approaching, but without success... This is a magnificent, unique film about the torments of a young teenage boy, combined with elements of myth, roots of fairy tales, dream, and incredibly good music. Images and sequences like Caravaggio-paintings.When you'd ask me how to compare this film, the answer would be really difficult. Trying a personal, clumsy, incomplete answer: Imagine a mixture of some images resulting from Thomas Mann's greatest novels (Buddenbrooks, The Magic Mountain) + the sinister parts of "Fanny and Alexander" by Ingmar Bergman + minor touches of "The Tree of Life" by Terrence Malick + some sketches of da Vinci ...