What Is the Story About?
Sister Death, a prequel to the 2017 horror film Veronica, follows the story of Sister Death aka Sister Narcisa. She, a novice with revered supernatural powers as a child arrives at a former convent, which now is a school for girls in post war-torn Spain. However, a strange turn of events and disturbing situations torment her and leads her to unravel the darkest of secrets that surround the convent and its inhabitants.
Performances?
The star performer of the film is undeniably Aria Bedmar. She is spectacular in the film throughout, especially when she hallucinates and trembles. The pre-climactic revelation scene hits harder and makes one’s skin crawl, all thanks to Bedmar’s undeniable believability as a nun who is pure and sacrificial at heart.
Analysis
Sister Death, directed by Paco Plaza and written by Jorge Guerricaechevarría and Plaza is a prequel to the 2017 acclaimed Spanish horror film Verónica. The plot follows the paranormal experiences of a sister Narcisa who enrolls as a teacher in a convent operating as a girls school in 1940s Spain.
Sister Death starts with a found footage of a young girl who apparently has some superpowers and blessing an entire village during Spanish Civil War. Years later, she returns to war torn Spain as a sister to teach in a convent that still is haunted by the ghosts of its traumatic war-time past.
Sister Death starts off by setting an unsettling premise, piece of information on how the convent has been resurrected out of Spain’s bad times and the eeriness surrounding it. The convent is now a girls only school with not many sisters other than Mother Superior and Sister Julia. Narcisa, bewildered and confused about her powers start experiencing hallucinations, nightmares and strange noises since the moment she lays her eyes on a cigar box with the photo of Sister Socorro.
Without further spoiling the film, Sister Death is a very effective slow-burn horror in this rather meddling horror-season. Heavy weight performances from the entire cast and a very powerful back-story increases the impact of the film by miles. The film doesn’t portray sexual violence through voyeuristic eyes, but rather more sympathetically. The central war-time horrors are central to the film, and so is the sacrificial nature of Sister Narcisa.
The way Sister Death connects to Veronica universe is also very interesting (this means you definitely should watch Veronica, despite the film not affecting the pace or viewer experience of the former). The climactic and pre-climactic sequences of the film are terrifying from a psychological note rather than typically relying on jump-scares.
Back-stories in horror content are usually a put-off, but Sister Death has a very moving back-story strongly backed by emotions. And is unarguably one of the biggest strengths of the movie. To be concise, Sister Death is a slow-burn and immensely satisfying horror movie in Netflix’s horror library. If you’re a fan of slow-burn horror, do not miss this one. But if you’re the jump-scare person, The Nun would serve you better.
Other Artists?
Although Sister Saint has hardly 4-5 prominent cast members, it’s a thoughtfully cast film. Luisa Merelas’s Madre Superiora and Maru Valdivielso as Sister Julia contributes so much to the effectiveness of the film. The spookiness they carry and their history of sins, make them even more vile. Child actors who played Rosa and Elvirita have also done well.
Music and Other Departments?
One of the strongest assets of Sister Death is its camera work and score. The sinister and eerie-ness of the premise and the gut-wrenching back-story is aptly aided by Mikel Salas. He doesn’t rely on typical jump-scare sound-effects to execute horrors of trauma and war-crimes.
Daniel Fernández Abelló’s camera work is one of the finest in recent times in the horror genre. The moody-lit frames are so-worth it.
Highlights?
Story
Acting Performances
Cinematography
Drawbacks?
Slow-burn (hence might not work for all)
Did I Enjoy It?
Yes.
Will You Recommend It?
Yes.
Sister Death Movie Review by Binged Bureau
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