Julia's Eyes

A Spanish thriller. Julia's twin sister Sara is found dead and the police close it as suicide. Julia does not believe it. There is a further problem: both sisters have the same hereditary eye disease, and Sara had gone blind before she died. Julia's sight is failing too, and stress accelerates it. That is exactly what the film builds on: the more she investigates, the less she can see. As the story advances, what the viewer can know narrows with her. The director carries this through formally. In the section where Julia's sight is worst the camera does not show people's faces; there are people on screen but who they are stays hidden. That choice is what the film is most discussed for. Belén Rueda plays Julia. Guillem Morales directed; Guillermo del Toro is among the producers, and Rueda had worked with del Toro before on The Orphanage. A well-constructed example for anyone who likes classical thriller mechanics and Spanish horror cinema. Before you watch, know this: the last section leans on genre convention and some plot turns serve tension rather than logic.