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It could be seen at the Sitges Festival, in competition in the Official Section, this daring debut film that plays with the paranormal and poses a confusing intersection of realities to portray the decisions we make in life
Thriller and science fiction go hand in hand in a proposal led by the prolific short filmmaker Alberto Evangelio, a regular on the festival circuit with short-format titles such as ‘El viaje’ or ‘La cruz’. In his feature film debut he ventures into a convoluted story that plays with the paranormal. ‘Visitante’ could be seen in the Official Section of the Sitges International Fantastic Film Festival last year, where it aroused likes and dislikes. He had previously participated in the Catalan event, within the ‘Producers meet producers’ program, organized by PAC (Audiovisual Producers of Catalonia) and the Sitges City Council. A preview of the film could also be seen in the ‘Coming Soon’ section of the event itself. Today these types of initiatives, script laboratories and incubators for new talent, are essential when it comes to putting together a first feature film. Shot in the midst of a pandemic, complying with the appropriate health measures -probably the audiovisual sector is the most aware in this regard-, the film tells the story of a normal girl in an extraordinary situation, with the presence of supernatural elements, a suggestive premise that It serves as an excuse to deal with issues such as motherhood or guilt. Problems of the human being are disguised as psychological terror, a resource that has more and more followers.
“What starts out as an intimate story soon turns into a fantastic thriller,” notes the director. “Fear takes on many faces throughout the story, and the tension and pace build until the final climax, where the film takes a definitive turn.” The protagonist is a woman overwhelmed by a sentimental crisis that pushes her to isolate herself in an old house where she is the victim of strange phenomena. An entity of hers looks for her tickles and annoys her to the point of placing her on the verge of madness. The discovery of a portal that takes her to another reality gives a remarkable twist to a somewhat chaotic plot that bets on a tone that is difficult to develop. Iria del Río (‘The Cable Girls’), Miquel Fernández (‘El Embarcadero’), Jan Cornet (‘The Skin I Live In’) and Sandra Cervera (‘The Secret of Old Bridge’), Carles Sanjaime (‘A Thousand Things what would I do for you’), Imma Sancho (‘Look at what you’ve done’) and Pep Ricart (‘El Silencio del Pantano’) are part of the main cast of a modest production, released in theaters -quite an achievement-, which points out to a restless filmmaker who loves genre films.