Julia's Eyes

"You can't hide in the dark."

2010 1h 58m ES

👍

6.7

SOLID

★6.7TMDB · 883

HorrorThriller

Synopsis

Spoiler shield

Julia, a woman suffering from a degenerative sight disease, finds her blind sister Sara hung in a basement. Despite all signs pointing to suicide, Julia decides to investigate what she intuitively feels is a murder case.

“You can't hide in the dark.”

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Where to watch · US

PhiloSubscription

AMC+ Amazon ChannelSubscription

Cast

Belén Rueda
Julia Levin / Sara
Lluís Homar
Isaac
Pablo Derqui
Ángel
Francesc Orella
Inspector Dimas
Joan Dalmau
Créspulo
Julia Gutiérrez Caba
Soledad
Boris Ruiz
Blasco
Dani Codina
Iván

Credits

Behind the camera

Director: Guillem Morales
Writers: Oriol Paulo, Guillem Morales
Languages: Spanish
Countries: Belgium, Spain

Want more? Switch to Cinephile mode in the header for DP, composer, budget, box office, production companies, keywords, and release history.

Did you know?

Fun facts 🍿

1 / 8

ERA

Did you know

Released 16 years ago.

MoodPlayr · trivia#01

2 / 8

WORLD

Did you know

International production across 2 countries: Belgium, Spain.

MoodPlayr · trivia#02

3 / 8

DIRECTOR

Did you know

Directed by Guillem Morales, shot by Óscar Faura. Note their partnership — DPs and directors often return to each other across a career.

MoodPlayr · trivia#03

4 / 8

DIRECTOR

Did you know

Original score by Fernando Velázquez. Worth a dedicated listen after — most great films lose half their impact without the score.

MoodPlayr · trivia#04

5 / 8

DIRECTOR

Did you know

Editor Joan Manel Vilaseca shaped the rhythm. On an edit-heavy film, the editor does more to control your pulse than the director.

MoodPlayr · trivia#05

6 / 8

CAST

Did you know

Belén Rueda and Lluís Homar and Pablo Derqui carry the top of the cast.

MoodPlayr · trivia#06

7 / 8

FACT

Did you know

Marketing tagline: "You can't hide in the dark.".

MoodPlayr · trivia#07

8 / 8

WILD

Did you know

IMDB entry: tt1512685 — still the authoritative cross-reference for credits and trivia.

MoodPlayr · trivia#08

Cinephile deep dive

The take

Guillem Morales directs. Óscar Faura behind the camera. Fernando Velázquez scores. Joan Manel Vilaseca cuts. Produced in Belgium, Spain. Dialogue in Spanish.

Trivia

Things worth knowing

1Released 16 years ago.
2International production across 2 countries: Belgium, Spain.
3Directed by Guillem Morales, shot by Óscar Faura. Note their partnership — DPs and directors often return to each other across a career.
4Original score by Fernando Velázquez. Worth a dedicated listen after — most great films lose half their impact without the score.
5Editor Joan Manel Vilaseca shaped the rhythm. On an edit-heavy film, the editor does more to control your pulse than the director.
6Belén Rueda and Lluís Homar and Pablo Derqui carry the top of the cast.
7Marketing tagline: "You can't hide in the dark.".
8IMDB entry: tt1512685 — still the authoritative cross-reference for credits and trivia.
9Classified under 11 themes, including "suicide", "twin sister", "knife", "blindfold".

The technical file

Cinematography: Óscar Faura
Original score: Fernando Velázquez
Editing: Joan Manel Vilaseca
Production design: Balter Gallart
Costume design: María Reyes
Makeup / hair: David Martí
Sound: Oriol Tarragó
Runtime: 118 min · 1h 58m
Aspect ratio (typical): 1.37:1 (Academy)
Status: Released
Box office: $12,884,923
Original language: ES
Certification (US): NR
IMDB: Julia's Eyes (2010)

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Guillem Morales

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Community reviews

What people are saying

Matt Golden2013-07-21
Twin sisters Julia and Sara (each played by Belén Rueda) both suffer from a degenerative eye disease that robs them of their sight; Sara lost her vision completely, and it’s only a matter of time before Julia’s sight follows. The film begins with the death of the blind Sara, apparently being menaced by someone in her home, then hanging herself. Details surrounding Sara’s death don’t add up for Julia, however; why would Sara kill herself? She was scheduled to have an operation to restore her sight, and she just met someone. Julia and her husband Isaac (Lluís Homar) begin to investigate, but time is running out: Sara may have been murdered, her danger is now turning toward Julia, and the added stress is stealing Julia’s remaining vision ever faster... There are so many great concepts here. The most primary is blindness, and the terror it invokes. Our heroine knows the remaining time she has with her sight is short, and the agony she (and her husband) feels over its loss is palpable. Not content with the mundane horror of blindness, the film ups the ante by putting this woman with ever-dimming sight into a life-or-death struggle to discover what happened to her sister and prevent it from befalling her as well. Few horror films are able put their protagonist in such a nail-bitingly vulnerable position. Even fewer horror films, however, have the terrific Belén Rueda anchoring them. Rueda’s performance is incredible, by turns vulnerable, heartbroken, terrified and full of steely resolve. She and Homar have a warm, believable chemistry that informs their performances as a married couple with a devastating disease hanging over their heads. Will he love her when she’s blind? Will he abandon her? He’s sick with worry over the stress and her imminent plunge into blindness. She’s driven by guilt to discover what happened to her sister, even knowing what it may cost her. The film itself is a masterwork of tension and style, including some gorgeous and clever cinematography by Óscar Faura. This is indeed one of the most stylish thrillers I’ve ever seen, particularly a conceit that director Guillem Morales effects around the midway point and is clever, frustrating, and hideously effective. The film eschews (as all the best do) copious blood and gore, and milks the quiet horror of Julia’s predicament for everything it’s worth. There are a couple of story beats high-concept enough they may raise your eyebrow after the fact, but when your film is this immaculately-crafted, this terrifying, this effective…who the hell cares? If you’re not on the edge of your seat by the time of the film’s hellishly tense finale, I fear you may require medical attention. Mystery, thriller, horror, character study…the film is all these things and more, blended into an arresting film experience that elicits a full catalog of fears ranging from the mundane to the Grand Guignol. Julia’s Eyes is ever more proof of what I’ve been saying: these days, the best horror films speak Spanish.
CinemaSerf2024-04-23
★ 7/10
Failing eyesight runs in the family here as the blind "Sara" apparently takes her own life in the basement of her home, leaving sibling "Julia" (Belén Rueda) - herself with irreversible eye problems of her own - left to investigate just what happened. Everyone is convinced it was suicide, but not "Julia" and when she and husband "Isaac" (Lluís Homar) have to temporarily move into her sister's home she begins to piece together a puzzle that involves the specialist eye clinic they both attended, a mysterious boyfriend and some very sceptical police officers led by "Dimas" (Francesc Orella). The first hour of this is all pretty standard horror fayre, but once we've got past the character establishment and domestic squabbling stage, it turns into a decently menacing thriller with quite a compelling effort from Rueda as the increasingly panic-stricken character. Most of the sense of horror here is easily transferable to an audience if you shut your eyes and let your ears and the darkness do your petrifying for you. It's not for the squeamish either - needles, eyeballs, hospitals - not for the faint hearted! The end product here is an hybrid of a few styles and is hardly ground-breaking, but it benefits from taut direction at the end and a solidly fearful performance from a Rueda who looks as terrified as were were supposed to feel. I enjoyed this.

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