[REC]

Jaume Balagueró and Paco Plaza’s 2007 film follows a television reporter shadowing a Barcelona fire crew. Ángela and her cameraman Pablo answer a call about an elderly woman; when the woman bites a police officer the building is sealed from outside, and the 78 minute film never leaves those walls. A recording in the penthouse ties the infection to a Portuguese girl studied there for the Vatican. Balagueró says they shot in chronological order. The actors never got a full script, only a few pages sketching the story, and no dialogue. They used an empty building in central Barcelona, rented out by its owner for filming. His account of the final scene is plain: it was pitch black, only the cameraman could see through night vision, and the actress was completely blind. Pablo behind the camera is played by the film’s own cinematographer, Pablo Rosso; his lines were later dubbed by Javier Coromina. Manuela Velasco, who plays Ángela, spent years presenting television. The film won two Goya Awards, David Gallart for editing and Velasco as best new actress, plus a special effects nomination. A good fit if you want the explanation held to the last minutes, delivered as a recording heard in the dark. Not for anyone who would find the genuinely unlit closing stretch unbearable.