Amazing Elisa (Spanish: Asombrosa Elisa) is a 2022 Spanish thriller drama film written and directed by Sadrac González-Perellón which stars Jana San Antonio as the title character alongside Silvia Abascal, Asier Etxeandia, and Iván Massagué.

Amazing Elisa
Theatrical release poster
SpanishAsombrosa Elisa
Directed bySadrac González-Perellón
Screenplay bySadrac González-Perellón
Produced by
  • Diego Rodríguez
  • Ferran Tomàs
Starring
CinematographyIván Romero
Edited byAnaïs Urraca
Music byPablo Carrascosa
Production
company
La Charito Films
Distributed byAlfa Pictures
Release dates
  • September 2022 (2022-09) (FantasticFest)
  • 14 October 2022 (2022-10-14) (Spain)
CountrySpain
LanguageSpanish

Plot

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The plot follows Elisa, a 12-year-old girl coping with the trauma pertaining the death of her mother in a car accident. She tries to convince her sullen father Esteban that she has superpowers so she can exert revenge on those responsible for the tragedy. It also tracks the plight of the dysfunctional couple formed by Héctor and Úrsula, the former being a painter, and the latter a sexually-active woman adapting to a wheelchair-bound life in the wake of the aforementioned accident. In addition, with the comic Elisa is obsessed with (Amazing Beatriz) as a connecting node, there is another parallel story plot featuring a costumed girl, who may or may not be the Beatriz from the comics.[1][2][3][4]

Cast

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Production

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Amazing Elisa is a La Charito Films production, and it had the participation of TV3.[7] Shooting locations included Barcelona.[8]

Release

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The film had its world premiere at the Austin-based Fantastic Fest in September 2022.[9][10] It also made it to the main slate of the 55th Sitges Film Festival, where it was presented on 10 October 2022.[11][12][1] Distributed by Alfa Pictures,[6] it was theatrically released in Spain on 14 October 2022.[13]

Reception

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Júlia Olmo of Cineuropa deemed the film (otherwise featuring elements and sequences strongly reminiscent of Carlos Vermut's films) to be "an interesting offering, that proposes a narrative of somewhat originality", yet failing to "strike the tone it aspires to and from which it feeds".[14]

The review by Boquerini published in Las Provincias singled out Abascal's performance as the best thing about the film while citing the "poor fit" between the three subplots, which are "too dingy and obscure", as the worst thing about it.[15]

Diego Cuevas of Jot Down, also pointed out the film's condition as heir to Vermut's film works, considering it to be simultaneously close and earthy as well as disturbing, underscoring that "playing with knives is risky, and just for daring to do it, [Amazing Elisa] is already interesting."[16]

See also

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References

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  1. ^ a b Silvestre, Juan (17 August 2022). "'Asombrosa Elisa': tráiler, en primicia, de la cinta protagonizada por Silvia Abascal y Asier Etxeandía". Fotogramas.
  2. ^ "Sadrac González-Perellón vuelve a Sitges con el universo de "Asombrosa Elisa"". eldiario.es. 10 October 2022.
  3. ^ Úbeda-Portugués, Alberto (11 October 2022). "Los estrenos del 14 de octubre. 'Asombrosa Elisa'. Etapas de la venganza". Aisge.
  4. ^ "Silvia Abascal: "Cuando siento el flechazo por un proyecto, me lanzo sin pensarlo"". Onda Cero. 13 October 2022.
  5. ^ a b c d "Dario Argento recull el Golden Honorary del Festival de Sitges per la seva trajectòria en el cinema de terror". rtve.es. 10 October 2022.
  6. ^ a b c d e f g Sánchez-Sequera, Marcos (11 October 2022). "'Asombrosa Elisa' – estreno en cines 14 de octubre". Audiovisual451.
  7. ^ "Silvia Abascal, Asier Etxeandia i Iván Massagué roden "Asombrosa Elisa", amb la participació de TV3". Corporació Catalana de Mitjans Audiovisuals. 10 August 2021.
  8. ^ "'Asombrosa Elisa' rueda en Barcelona". Barcelona Film Commission | Catalunya Film Commission. 18 August 2021.
  9. ^ "Amazing Elisa – Movie Review [Fantastic Fest] (3/5)". Heaven of Horror. 25 September 2022.
  10. ^ Zilko, Christian (16 August 2022). "Fantastic Fest Headlined by 'Bones and All,' 'Triangle of Sadness,' and a Park Chan-wook Tribute". IndieWire. Retrieved 17 August 2022.
  11. ^ Salvà, Bernat. "Trauma infantil i fantasia a Sitges". El Punt Avui.
  12. ^ "Sadrac González-Perellón trata la venganza y el trauma en 'Asombrosa Elisa' en Sitges". Europa Press. 10 October 2022.
  13. ^ Chico, Fran (12 October 2022). "Entrevista al reparto de 'Asombrosa Elisa': una de las sorpresas del Festival de Sitges". Fotogramas.
  14. ^ Olmo, Júlia (7 October 2022). "Review: Amazing Elisa". Cineuropa.
  15. ^ Boquerini (14 October 2022). "Crítica de 'Asombrosa Elisa' | Un cruce entre lo fantástico y el thriller de venganza". Las Provincias.
  16. ^ Cuevas, Diego (13 October 2022). "'Asombrosa Elisa': jugar con cuchillos". Jot Down.