Before the Fall and Rings director, F. Javier Gutiérrez, returns to Spain to deliver THE WAIT, a sinister folk horror tragedy that takes place in the dark, magic and forgotten Andalusian countryside, a place marked by ancestral traditions. Gutierrez delivers his most intimate and brutal film, portraying the macabre descent into hell of a man who suffered the tragic loss of his family. A powerful film about good and evil, punishment, pain and guilt, produced by Nostromo (Buried), Spal Films (Before the Fall) and Unfiled Films (Gutierrez’s production company), and starring Víctor Clavijo (Before the Fall), Ruth Díaz and Pedro Casablanc (Almodovar’s Strange Way of Life). THE WAIT is bound to be one of the most disturbing Spanish films of 2023.
Synopsis: Eladio (Victor Clavijo), hunting estate keeper, takes a bribe from a veteran hunter. Weeks later, his whole life falls apart. What looked like the opportunity of a lifetime, turns into a macabre descent to hell when he finds out that his misfortune might not be entirely by chance.
Gutierrez shares, “After Rings, I felt the need to return to Europe, to Spain, to Andalucía, and shoot something personal. As a good friend told me once, “one for them, one for me, for my soul”. THE WAIT belongs to the latter. No doubt, this film brings me back to my roots, my land, my memories, my most personal storytelling, along with my childhood nightmares. As I did in Before the Fall, beneath the story, I push the boundaries, to go deeper, through layers, symbols, exploring once again the complexity, darkness, beauty and weakness of our human nature. Death. Grief. Guilt… All disguised as a disturbing folk horror, brutal, uncompromised, with the soul of a western. That’s THE WAIT. A suffocating step towards the edge, into our inner fears. No answers. No mercy. Too harsh? Maybe. But you know, to see a candle’s light, one must take it into a dark place.”
The film is heading to the Official Section of Sitges 2023 (5-15 October), and Fantastic Fest (23-26 September Festival & Screening Details).
