Haunted by strange visions, he discovers that his best friend is hiding a secret linked to his deepest fears…
The low-budget thriller by Laura Alvea and José Ortuño premiered at the 2018 Sitges International Film Festival. In the same year, it was released in a limited edition in Spain.
Plot
Teenager Abraham, played by Ivan Pellicer, tries to convince himself that household chores are going smoothly. Rare shouting of the father seems to the schoolboy a habitual thing. The high school student is sure that scandals between parents happen in every family, and severe beatings must be accepted with patience and understanding. The boy gets used to his hopeless situation and does not ask others for help.
Suddenly, a special protector appears in the boy’s life. Cheerful Alex (played by Claire Durand) does not understand how you can hide in your shell from friendship and endure violence. The girl dreams of carrying the struggle for justice through her whole life. The intercessor with horror in her eyes listens to the story of the domestic problems that befell her friend. The ruthless moral torture hanging over him causes a storm of indignation in the girl’s soul.
The interlocutor refuses to justify the actions of adults, because she is well versed in the intricacies of human nature. Once having applied cruelty, the rapist is unlikely to change the line of behavior. A friend decides to use violent methods to resist the domestic tyrant. The guy doubts the abilities of an assertive girl, therefore he does not attach importance to her words. A broken and apathetic young man prefers to hide further from reality.
One day, the father does not return home on time, which alarms the offspring. The boy suspects that his faithful companion may be involved in the disappearance of his parent. Soon it becomes known about the accident, which took the life of a loved one.
Instead of accepting the consequences of a fatal event, the guy wants to understand who is the culprit of the tragedy.
From that moment, Alex enters a hallucinatory journey that takes her to hell, where the line between reality and nightmare becomes so blurred that Alex begins to doubt that she is real.
Characteristics of heroes
Bram is a timid teenager who hides in his own little world away from anything that can harm him.
Alex is a restless girl whose personality is difficult to describe.
Reminiscence
The first thing you’ll notice when watching Showers is color manipulation. It is impossible not to compare it with the 1977 Suspiria by Dario Argento. While the 2018 remake uses color as well, Souls has more of a resemblance to Argento’s original film. Sometimes it seems that the director’s game with light is too much and only brings more confusion.
Another element that makes Souls easy to compare to Suspiria is the use of the building. Of course, this is not a dance school, but an apartment building, but everything else is identical: a female character running around the building, which increasingly resembles a nightmarish trap.
Conclusion
“Souls” is not your average horror or thriller, because the plot is built here too logically. And even though you will get goosebumps from a creepy and gloomy dilapidated house, and the characters are creepy in a certain sense, the film will definitely not scare you.
Perhaps most of you will quit watching after 10-15 minutes, because Ánimas will seem too slow, pointless and confusing. Most likely this is not the film that will cause a long-term resonance and stay with you for several days.
