The Open Body

The Open Body
Theatrical release poster
Galician	O corpo aberto
Directed by	Ángeles Huerta
Screenplay by	Ángeles Huerta Daniel D. García
Based on	"Lobosandaus" by Xosé Luís Méndez Ferrín
Produced by	Gaspar Broullón Adrià Monés Ana Costa Sonia Costa
Starring	Tamar Novas Victória Guerra María Vázquez Nicolás Otero Elena Seijo José Fidalgo Federico Pérez Miquel Ínsua
Cinematography	Gina Ferrer
Edited by	Sandra Sánchez
Music by	Mercedes Peón
Production companies	Fasten Films OlloVivo Cinemate
Distributed by	Filmax
Release dates	September 2022 (2022-09) (MotelX) 9 December 2022 (2022-12-09) (Spain)
Countries	Spain Portugal
Languages	Galician Portuguese Spanish

The Open Body (Galician: O corpo aberto) is a 2022 Gothic folk horror drama film directed by Ángeles Huerta [es] from a screenplay by Huerta and Daniel D. García, based on the story "Lobosandaus" by Xosé Luís Méndez Ferrín. It stars Tamar Novas alongside María Vázquez and Victória Guerra. It was primarily shot in Galician and Portuguese.

Plot

Set in 1909, the plot follows Miguel, a teacher destined to the fictional Galician village of Lobosandaus, in the border between Spain and Portugal.^[1][2] After his arrival to the village, he meets with Obdulia, a woman seemingly possessed by the spirit of her sister-in-law Dorinda's former (male) lover. Miguel, a man of reason, begins to question himself about the supernatural.^[2]

Cast

• Tamar Novas as Miguel^[3]
• María Vázquez as Obdulia^[3]
• Victória Guerra [pt] as Dorinda^[3]
• Nicolás Otero as Clamores^[4]
• Elena Seijo as Aparecida^[4]
• José Fidalgo as Mauro^[4]
• Federico Pérez [es] as Turelo^[4]
• Miquel Ínsua as Don Fernando^[4]
• Izan González as Martín^[4]

Production

The screenplay was written by Ángeles Huerta and Daniel D. García, based on Xosé Luís Méndez Ferrín's story "Lobosandaus" (from the book Arraianos).^[1] The film is a Spanish-Portuguese co-production by OlloVivo (Galicia), Fasten Films (Catalonia), and Cinemate (Portugal), with support of AGADIC [gl] and ICAA.^[5] Shooting locations included Muíños, Lobeira, and Calvos de Randín (all in the Spanish province of Ourense) and the Portuguese villages of Tourém and Pitões (both in Montalegre).^[6] It was primarily shot in Galician and Portuguese,^[3] also featuring dialogue in Spanish.^[7]

Release

Filmax acquired international rights to the film.^[8] The Open Body's festival run included screenings at the Lisbon International Horror Film Festival (MOTELX), the Ourense International Film Festival, the 67th Valladolid International Film Festival (Seminci), and the 60th Gijón International Film Festival.^[2][9] It was released theatrically in Spain on 9 December 2022.^[1]

Reception

Pablo Vázquez of Fotogramas rated the film 3 out of 5 stars, highlighting Novas (in his best performance to date) as the film's standout while citing's the film's "somewhat cumbersome" narration as a negative point.^[10]

Santiago Alverú [ca] of Cinemanía rated the film 3½ stars, summing it up as "an honest search for the ghost of the evil dreamed".^[11]

Miguel Anxo Fernández of La Voz de Galicia deemed The Open Body to be "an honest, brave and well-finished film, destined to last", confirming Ángeles Huerta as "a solvent and welcome director" in the scope of fiction.^[12]

Accolades

Year	Award	Category	Nominee(s)	Result	Ref.
2021	21st Mestre Mateo Awards	Best Film		Won	[13][14]
		Best Director	Ángeles Huerta	Won
		Best Screenplay	Ángeles Huerta, Daniel D. García	Won
		Best Actor	Tamar Novas	Won
		Best Actress	María Vázquez	Nominated
			Victoria Guerra	Nominated
		Best Supporting Actress	Elena Seijo	Nominated
		Best Supporting Actor	Federico Pérez Rey	Won
		Best Cinematography	Gina Ferrer	Won
		Best Editing	Sandra Sánchez	Nominated
		Best Original Score	Mercedes Peón	Won
		Best Production Supervision	Tamara Soto Mato	Won
		Best Art Direction	Antonio Pereira	Won
		Best Sound	Diego Staub, Jordi Rossinyol	Won
		Best Costume Design	Teresa Sousa	Won
		Best Makeup and Hairstyles	Raquel Fidalgo, Noé Montes, María Barreiro	Won

See also

• List of Spanish films of 2022

References

1. "'O corpo aberto': making of de la película con el actor protagonista, Tamar Novas" ['The Open Body': making-of of the film with the lead actor, Tamar Novas] (in Spanish). RTVE. 7 December 2022.
2. Pizarro, Miguel Ángel (9 December 2022). "Tamar Novas ('Cuerpo abierto'): "Las fronteras entre lo masculino y lo femenino no son tan claras"" [Tamar Novas ('The Open Body'): 'The boundaries between masculine and feminine are not so clear']. eCartelera (in Spanish).
3. "'O corpo aberto': terror, folclore y los límites entre la vida y la muerte" ['The Open Body': horror, folklore and the boundaries between life and death] (in Spanish). RTVE. 22 November 2022.
4. "O corpo aberto". Filmax. Retrieved 17 December 2022.
5. "La película O Corpo Aberto, rodada en Ourense, se estrena el 9 de diciembre" [The film The Open Body, shot in Ourense, opens on 9 December]. La Región (in Spanish). 2 December 2022.
6. Bobillo, Domingo (14 December 2021). "La frontera entre la vida y la muerte, así es 'O corpo aberto', una película sobre opuestos y límites" [The boundary between life and death, this is 'The Open Body', a film about opposites and limits] (in Spanish). RTVE.
7. Baena, Ana (12 December 2022). ""O corpo aberto", terror folk gallego con atmósfera victoriana" ['The Open Body', Galician folk horror with a Victorian atmosphere]. Atlántico (in Spanish).
8. Mayorga, Emilio (8 March 2022). "Galician Gothic Horror Movie 'The Open Body' Taken by Filmax (EXCLUSIVE)". Variety.
9. Loser, Jorge (24 November 2022). "Tenebroso tráiler de 'Cuerpo Abierto': una mezcla de folk horror rural y cine gótico que parece 'Sleepy Hollow' en Galicia" [Scary trailer for 'The Open Body': a mix of rural folk horror and Gothic cinema that looks like 'Sleepy Hollow' in Galicia]. Espinof (in Spanish).
10. Vázquez, Pablo (8 December 2022). "Crítica de 'Cuerpo abierto', folk á feira". Fotogramas (in Spanish).
11. Alverú, Santiago (5 December 2022). "Crítica de 'Cuerpo abierto'". Cinemanía (in Spanish) – via 20minutos.es.
12. Fernández, Miguel Anxo (9 December 2022). "Críticas de los filmes de estreno «O corpo aberto», «El viaje a París de la señora Harris» y «Rabbit Academy: el gran robo de los huevos de Pascua»". La Voz de Galicia.
13. Quintás, Paula (7 February 2023). "Audiovisual de Galicia: Estos son todos los finalistas a los XXI Premios Mestre Mateo". Quincemil – via El Español.
14. ""O corpo aberto" arrasa en los Premios Mestre Mateo con doce estatuíllas". La Región. 12 March 2023.

External links

• The Open Body at IMDb