THE ABANDONED

Marie was adopted when she was still a baby; her mother died under mysterious circumstances, leaving behind her twin children. One day, Marie, now an adult, receives a call from a notary asking her to go to her homeland, Russia, to sign documents related to the family farm's inheritance. Once there, the woman decides to investigate the identity of her parents, about whom she has never had any news. After reaching the dilapidated house, strange paranormal events will begin to occur, taking her back in time and revealing a terrible truth. After the excellent "Trilogy of Death," a multi-award-winning work worldwide, Nacho Cerdà tackles his first and highly anticipated feature film. Setting aside the gore element of "Aftermath" and the romantic pathos of "Genesis," the Spanish director exploits the supernatural theme to craft a product that is overall unconvincing. For the film's production, Cerdà collaborates with Karim Hussain ("Subconscious Cruelty") and Richard Stanley ("Hardware," "Dust Devil") as screenwriters, and Xavi Giménez ("Nameless," "Darkness," "Fragile," "The Sleeper") as the cinematographer. Once again, Cerdà proves his excellent technical and artistic skills: as always, the direction is elegant and refined, carefully and cleanly crafted; the cinematography is enchanting, enhancing cold and dark colors to support the fascinating outdoor locations and gray tones that predominate in the dusty rooms of the house. The setting is typical of ghost stories: a run-down house immersed in a nearly fairy-tale and sinister forest; no roads, only a broken bridge and a river surrounding the vegetation. In fact, the film seems to bet everything on creating the atmosphere, completely losing sight of the plot. The narrative construction appears confused from the start and evolves in an uncertain and non-linear way: it is not clear, in short, where it wants to go. Despite being written by multiple hands, the screenplay is indeed flawed and far from impactful. From the moment the protagonist enters the house, all the clichés of the genre will surface without too many surprises: spectral apparitions, creaks, shadows, and mysterious chases. All supported by a perfect staging that, however appreciable, does not make the film memorable or original. Well-filmed and unsettling are the sequences showing the doppelganger (the "doubles") of Marie and her twin brother, as well as the "trick" ending. Apart from a few particularly suggestive moments, the rest is a rather banal and poorly woven story that settles into slow and uninvolving rhythms. "The Abandoned" is a half-successful work, aesthetically perfect but anonymous in content. Cerdà succumbs to the temptation of showcasing his stylistic mannerisms, losing himself in unnecessary frills and forgetting that the success of a film does not depend solely on beautiful images and perfect shots. Watching it without too many expectations will probably make you appreciate it more, but we are still light-years away from the masterpieces of the past. Add half a pumpkin.