JULIA’S EYES

Julia returns to Bellevue with her husband to visit her sister Sarah, who is near blind due to a degenerative illness for which she has unsuccessfully undergone surgery. When they arrive, Julia finds that Sarah has taken her own life and none of her mysterious neighbors seem to be at all surprised. Julia has to confront not only the loss of her sister, but also the loss of all hope of halting her own impending blindness, as she suffers from the same illness and would appear to be destined for the same end as her sister. Expectations are high when you have a producer like Guillermo Del Toro ( Pan’s Labyrinth, Hellboy, The Devil’s Backbone ) and the creative team behind A.J. Bayona’s massive hit The Orphanage ( 2007 ) attached to your film. Director Guillem Morales, whose first long feature was the Sitges prize winning The Uncertain Guest ( 2004 ), presents us with a tense and sadistic thriller that reminds you of an Italian giallo or even Terence Young’s Wait Until Dark ( 1967 ). Needless to say, the strong performance given by Belen Rueda ( The Orphanage ) and the cold, composed images of cinematographer Oscar Faura ( The Machinist, The Abandoned ) only add to the appeal of this Spanish terror flick.