Panic Fest 2023: The Elderly brings heat and horror to a nursing home
It’s a masterclass in creating an unforgiving atmosphere out of mundane situations. That it is kept up for the entirety of the film's 95-minute runtime? A feat unto itself.
The Elderly. // Courtesy Dark Star Pictures
This story is part of our coverage of Panic Fest 2023. Read more from our film team here.
Some things in life are inherently scary; Natural Disasters. Taxes. Old people.
Fernando González Gómez and Raúl Cerezo’s The Elderly isn’t content to use just one of those elements. This tense, creepy new film from the pair behind The Passenger blends all of them together.
As the film opens, Madrid is facing a record-breaking heat wave. According to the radio, temperatures are set to rise throughout the week, with elderly people most susceptible to the weather. Apparently affected by the sweltering sun, Rosa (Ángela López Gamonal) shuffles to her wardrobe, puts on her Sunday best and commits suicide, while her husband, Manuel (Zorion Eguileor) is sound asleep.
Fearing that his father can’t care for himself, Mario (Gustavo Salmerón) opts to move Manuel into a home. As if tensions weren’t already high, Manuel’s flat is a place of contention, as Mario and his daughter Naia (Paula Gallego) have moved into a space provided by his second wife Lena’s (Irene Anula) parents. Toss in some teenage defiance, a pregnant woman in desperate need of a cigarette and an unemployed husband, and the stage is set for the supernatural to take hold.
From the moment Mario arrives to collect his father, the walls start to close in. Shadows creep in. Figures stand motionless in hallways. The tension ratchets up as the temperature rises to ludicrous heights. It’s all saturated dread with the backdrop of a family drama. Naia hears voices calling to her, as every old person she passes seemingly tunes into the same frequency. These sequences are usually capped with a jump scare, though here the camera lingers for a few beats longer, increasing the unease.
It’s a masterclass in creating an unforgiving atmosphere out of mundane situations. That it is kept up for the entirety of the film’s 95-minute runtime? A feat unto itself.
The biggest problem The Elderly suffers from is a middle act that doesn’t do any favors for Mario and Lena. It’s understandable for tempers to rise just as quickly as the heat spikes. Yet the characters’ continual shifts from zero-to-100 stretches credulity. However, the script by Cerezo, Javier Trigales and Rubén Sánchez Trigos fixes some of the issues in the process. Given that the film’s three acts each feel distinct, it wouldn’t be a stretch to think each writer was responsible for one particular act, ending with a daring, bonkers final shot.
The Elderly‘s shortcomings become a little more apparent once the adrenaline high of the film wears off and your knuckles return to a color other than white. Yet while it’s going, the film is a genuine thrill. It’s a welcome change of pace in a genre that often mistakes copious blood and screams for tension. The Elderly may not be a masterpiece per se, but it’s still an effectively creepy experience.
This story is part of our coverage of Panic Fest 2023. Read more from our film team here.
