The Elderly (Cerezo and Gómez 2022)
I can say with confidence that The Elderly screwed with my brain due to the magnitude of the events that occurred during the film. I was left with many questions, and although I don’t always find having questions after movies a bad quality, I found it to be an unfortunate feature of this film. There is a difference between making viewers wonder after watching a film and leaving viewers confused. With The Elderly we are closer to the latter than the former. I gathered several questions throughout the duration of this movie and only very few of them were answered by the end.
Overall, I enjoyed the characters and I believe the actors did a great job fitting into their roles of frustration and uneasiness as the characters they were assigned. This film revolves around a dysfunctional family as Mario, the father of Naia and husband to a pregnant Lena, tries to help his own father, Manuel, recover from the suicide of Mario’s mother, Rosa. Although viewers don’t get a glimpse of Manuel’s behavior before Rosa’s death, it can be understood that the behavior he exhibits after her death isn’t normal for him as Mario has to keep his father in check many times during the movie due to his sudden and unexpected dialogue. Mario decides to move Manuel into his new apartment, where he lives with Naia and Lena. Mario’s reason for doing this is because he is worried his father will neglect his own care, however, Lena, Naia’s stepmother, is hesitant to move him into their new apartment because he might cause issues financially and he’ll be staying in the room that is for the expected baby.
As time goes on with Manuel staying in their apartment, his behavior and actions shift and grow increasingly strange. Zorion Eguileor, the actor who plays Manuel, does a fantastic job of creating tension with his character, just as Lena, the pregnant redhead, does a good job of playing the “villain” in the house because she is against Manuel moving in. I mention her redheaded nature because redheads in films sometimes have an underlying meaning, however, I am unsure if that is the case here. Naia also opposes and agrees with both Lena and Mario at times, making her a separate middle ground for her grandfather. The tension and air created by these actors and characters are great because I do find an uneasy nature to some of the dialogue from Manuel and irritated with some from Lena. However, Manuel isn’t the only older person acting odd in this film, hence the name. All of the older individuals in this film display odd and violent tendencies against their families and shown later in the film, against other individuals outside of their families.
As a horror fan, I appreciated the gruesome and explicit nature of this film as it shows Rosa’s bloodied face and full frontal nudity. I often wish more films added these aspects to create a more real and unfiltered film as well as a more genuine reaction from viewers. However, I would almost disagree with its label as a horror fantasy movie, and I’d categorize it as a horror sci-fi film instead due to the ending with the sky but also with the connection to electricity amongst the elderly folks. This personal distinction also goes back to why I wasn’t as impressed with this film. I enjoy genres such as high fantasy, dark fantasy, and some urban fantasy, among others, because oftentimes they’re set in magical settings which, in my opinion, allows for more creativity. The same can definitely be said for sci-fi genres but unfortunately, those genres tend to have more extraterrestrial forces and creatures such as aliens, which I am not a large fan of. My partner tends to enjoy more sci-fi films than I do and I personally believe that, based off of our experiences as opposing genre lovers, he and other sci-fi lovers might enjoy this film more than other viewers, as long as they also enjoy horror and gore. Another idea that revolves around the fantasy aspect of this film that I actually enjoyed was the implication of communication through wardrobes and mirrors. This is seen in horror and fantasy movies quite frequently and is an idea that can be molded in many different ways in my opinion.
I mentioned previously, The Elderly left me with many questions. There is one more character involved, Naia’s boyfriend Jota. He isn’t super imperative to the film but rather offers support for Naia through her troubles. I personally had issues with how Jota’s scenes and character were laid out as we as viewers don’t learn much about him and the origin of his name is questioned a few times in the film. I believe the film wouldn’t have differed much without him as Naia could have completed her motives on her own through a tiny bit more difficulty. Other questions I have revolve around why it is only elderly people involved and who is involving them in these ideas and thoughts against their families. Although this film was only roughly an hour and a half long, to me, it simultaneously felt too long and too short. Too long because some of the middle sections and scenes are used to create tension and provide a slow-burn feeling. The only aspect it succeeded in achieving this effect was with the increasing temperature counter of each day, which is another unanswered aspect individuals are fighting against in this film, an unnatural heatwave nobody has an explanation for. However, back to the slow-burn factor, I felt it to be more repetitive rather than tension-building with the few appearances regarding Rosa and other elderly individuals. But I also felt it to be too short because I still have unanswered questions regarding the retirement home, and some of the context behind specific scenes, such as when Lena woke up to find what looked like a dirt trail into Manuel’s room and Naia’s vision or dream during Rosa’s funeral. I also still have questions regarding the language of the older individuals later in the film regarding their strength and who they are hearing, as well as one scene in the park with the elderly lining the benches and looking out at the city. Lastly, my biggest question revolves around the ending and how any of the instances throughout the film tie into it.
The Elderly is an interesting film in itself and could very well have multiple ways to interpret it, however, I personally, seeing as I’m not a sci-fi fan, didn’t particularly enjoy it as much as I have other horror films. It also left me with too many unanswered questions regarding the plot. These factors aren’t to say it is a bad film, as I’m sure someone more in tune with science fiction might really enjoy it, but I believe it could use a bit more time to fully flesh out the ideas of the weather, the strange behavior from the older individuals, the retirement home, and the ending overall.
The Elderly is playing in select theaters on Friday the 13th,and it will begin streaming to audieces on October, 20th.
