In the intro, a blind woman named Sara is pursued by some man. It looks like she's about to commit suicide, but then the man "helps" her to her death.
Sara's sister is Julia. She arrives at the house and refuses to believe that Sara committed suicide even though that's what everyone concluded. Julia also suffers from the same unspecified ocular condition that causes progressive blindness. At the beginning of the movie, Julia has 70% vision, a few minutes later she is completely blind.
She sets out to investigate on her own what happened to Sara and hears from other blind woman about Sara's boyfriend. Yet no one else seems to have seen or known about this invisible man. Except for a hotel's custodian who tells her there is indeed a man who projects no light/life/spark. Julia herself now is being chased by this invisible man. Her loving husband doesn't believe any of it until he finally agrees to help her, disappears, and then his corpse is found hanging in Sara's house- another "clear" case of suicide according to cops. In her search she meets various strange neighbors, yet another blind woman, a creepy man and his daughter, whose face isn't shown.
Julia undergoes some eye transplant surgery. Her eyes have to be covered so she is assigned someone to care for her. For a good part of the movie, the camera never shows who this kind caretaker is. Julia even falls for him. The neighbor's girl shows up and tells her that she's in serious trouble if she stays with him. The fact that his face isn't shown until she removes her bandages is a hint at who this man is.
Julia's Eyes has some of the characteristics of Spanish horror films. It's somewhat fantastic, it's very human, slower, has a lot of meaningful details, and is filmed only in shades of brown/gray. It's is surprisingly watchable, has it's jump out of your seat moments and a bit of violence. Belen Rueda is an attractive woman, and the director knows it. But one has to be somewhat in a fantasy mode, even though it seems to aim for realism, because the behavior of the characters is so mind-boggling and dumb at times. Meanwhile, the dialogue shows brilliance, insight, and tenderness. This movie is about 15-20 minutes too long with Julia running around all over the place, slowly because she rarely can see well, and bumping into everything. In the end everything falls into place and is explained. But the greatest weakness remains the improbable and nonsensical actions the characters are required to take for the sake of the story. This is becoming somewhat common and odd. Scriptwriters should use a bit more imagination to advance their story without forcing their characters to act in ways no rational person would.
Sara's sister is Julia. She arrives at the house and refuses to believe that Sara committed suicide even though that's what everyone concluded. Julia also suffers from the same unspecified ocular condition that causes progressive blindness. At the beginning of the movie, Julia has 70% vision, a few minutes later she is completely blind.
She sets out to investigate on her own what happened to Sara and hears from other blind woman about Sara's boyfriend. Yet no one else seems to have seen or known about this invisible man. Except for a hotel's custodian who tells her there is indeed a man who projects no light/life/spark. Julia herself now is being chased by this invisible man. Her loving husband doesn't believe any of it until he finally agrees to help her, disappears, and then his corpse is found hanging in Sara's house- another "clear" case of suicide according to cops. In her search she meets various strange neighbors, yet another blind woman, a creepy man and his daughter, whose face isn't shown.
Julia undergoes some eye transplant surgery. Her eyes have to be covered so she is assigned someone to care for her. For a good part of the movie, the camera never shows who this kind caretaker is. Julia even falls for him. The neighbor's girl shows up and tells her that she's in serious trouble if she stays with him. The fact that his face isn't shown until she removes her bandages is a hint at who this man is.
Julia's Eyes has some of the characteristics of Spanish horror films. It's somewhat fantastic, it's very human, slower, has a lot of meaningful details, and is filmed only in shades of brown/gray. It's is surprisingly watchable, has it's jump out of your seat moments and a bit of violence. Belen Rueda is an attractive woman, and the director knows it. But one has to be somewhat in a fantasy mode, even though it seems to aim for realism, because the behavior of the characters is so mind-boggling and dumb at times. Meanwhile, the dialogue shows brilliance, insight, and tenderness. This movie is about 15-20 minutes too long with Julia running around all over the place, slowly because she rarely can see well, and bumping into everything. In the end everything falls into place and is explained. But the greatest weakness remains the improbable and nonsensical actions the characters are required to take for the sake of the story. This is becoming somewhat common and odd. Scriptwriters should use a bit more imagination to advance their story without forcing their characters to act in ways no rational person would.