The Night - User Reviews

Gaua is, above all, a beautiful tribute to the folklore of northern Spain. It is one of those films where reality and myth come together without asking permission. Through several intertwining stories, the plot takes us into the life of a village, a woman, and three elderly women who gather at night—supposedly to do laundry—while, in reality, they weave tales, superstitions, and memories that seem to come straight out of medieval oral tradition. The attention to detail is simply spectacular. The sets, costumes, and every element that appears on screen are treated with enormous care, achieving a very authentic, dark, and symbolism-laden atmosphere. Everything breathes truth, damp earth, dark night, and that ancestral fear that needs no monsters to strike deep. However, in its final act, the film decides to take a more dreamlike and surreal turn. It becomes almost a feverish dream, losing some of the terror and obscurantism that it had built so well from the beginning. It can be a little disconcerting, especially if you were expecting it to maintain that more disturbing tone until the end. And yet, it's hard to completely fault it, because that ending also works as an absolute tribute to medieval Spain, its imagery, its myths, and that very particular way of understanding the world where the magical and the everyday coexisted without clear boundaries. Overall, Gaua is an atmospheric film, meticulously crafted and deeply rooted in our tradition. It may not end in the most terrifying way, but it does so in a manner consistent with what it wants to convey and honor.