Phenomena

Phenomena (2023) is a Spanish film recently released to Netflix. This true story tells a tale of a group of aging ladies in the 1970s that form a group to research paranormal phenomena around Madrid. We follow the group as it grows in numbers and cases to research. Their group is still active to this day...

This movie is directed by Carlos Therón (It's for Your Own Good) and stars Belén Rueda (The Sea Inside), Gracia Olayo (The Last Circus), Toni Acosta (Dangerous Mims) and Ivan Massagué (Pan's Labyrinth).

The premise for this was pretty good and the characters were interesting and well depicted. The hair style and way they captured the era gave me Golden Girl vibes for some reason. The horror elements were mediocre and made for television caliber, like a PG13 horror movie. There's a lot of cheese in this. The seance scenes were okay, and I enjoyed the final showdown at the end. This is just a very soft, cheesy horror movie.

Overall, this was a very average addition to the horror genre with a few fun scenes. I would score this a 5.5/10 and recommend skipping it.

This was quite an entertaining film. For the non Spanish people, the actors are comedians but do a great job as serious actors. There are some funny moments, especially within the dialogue which lightens the mood of the film.

Unfortunately, for me the ending was a little disappointing. The lead up to it was somewhat flat. There were incidents in the film which had to be questioned and really, why did they do this when it had nothing much to do with the story line.

All in all, the film was fun to watch. I enjoyed the characters (the three women) and it was also good to bring back the Hepta Group that was well known here years ago.

I've watched a few Spanish films in the past couple of years and this is as good as any of them. Set in Madrid in 1998 where it seems to rain all the time, it's about three paranormal investigators and a sinister case they get entwined in. The three ladies are Gloria, Sagrario and Paz. All three are played very well by Toni Acosta, Belen Rueda and Gracia Olayo. In tone it reminded me a bit of 7 Women and a Murder, another Netflix film, this time an Italian one. Of the three leads it's Olayo as Paz that stands out for me as she's the more comedic character.

This film is very enjoyable and is light hearted but also has it's creepier moments.

This is better than any Hollywood horror out there now. It was fun and engaging and spooky. The cast of three older characters was a breath of fresh air in a industry thrusting young actors and actress onto the screen. I would.live to see a series of films following these three. It had it's faults but overall it's a fun spooky film.. where amazingly it an actual ghost at the end for a change. Like I stated the atmosphere created and way TS made to feel spooky with a background of dread surpasses any other horror film made in the last 5 years. And the odd chuckle added to make it really enjoyable.

Here's The 4K Lowedown on "Phenomena" (TV-MA - 2023 - Netflix) Genre: Horror/Paranormal

My Score: 6.6 Cast=4 Acting=5 Plot=5 Ending=9 Story=9 Scare=5 Jump=7 F/X=6 Creep=6 Twist=10

Three middle-aged women who investigate paranormal events are put to the test when their leader disappears.

"When you're investigating paranormal phenomena, you first rule out normal phenomena." This started out really bad...it was like watching grass grow for the first half of the film. The second half is much better...with a twist that fees like an ending. All of a sudden, the movie goes in a much more dangerous direction and the true ending made the movie for me. This movie about the Hepta Group ended up to be a pretty good watch.