The Reel Review
A decade after experiencing visions believed to be the Virgin Mary, a young novitiate in 1949 post-civil war Spain arrives at a convent and school for underprivileged girls. When she starts experiencing supernatural occurrences, visions and nightmares, she eventually uncovers an awful truth about the convent. Sister Death is a prequel to the 2017 horror/thriller Veronica, about a girl who awakens evil spirits via her Ouija board.
Sister Death isn’t so much scary as it is mildly unsettling, with poor Sister Narcisa having to put her own crisis of faith on the backburner as she tries to figure out what exactly is going on at this convent/school. Co-writer/director Paco Plaza (Veronica, REC) has put together a stylish looking, old-fashioned, slow burn horror which focuses more on psychological terror than cheap visuals or jump scares. And for the most part, it works.
Aria Bedmar is convincing as Sister Narcisa, ultimately raising the question: who is the real monster in this story? An overly drawn out but clever ending points to her possibly being led to the convent all along to solve the mystery. The finale also includes a cool nod to those who saw the 2017 horror/thriller that was set many decades later.
REEL FACTS
• Sister Death is the feature film debut for Aria Bedmar (Muted, Dime Quien Soy: Mistress of War), who has been acting in television for only about four years.
• Writer/director Paco Plaza, a native of Valencia, Spain, is known for 2007’s REC and its two subsequent sequels and 2017’s Veronica.
• Sister Death was filmed at the Monastery of Sant Jeroni de Cotalba near Gandia, Spain, which dates back to the late 1300s.
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