Year of Release: 2020
Director: Angel Gomez Hernandez
Starring: Rodolfo Sancho, Ana Fernandez, Ramon Barea, Belen Fabra, Lucas Blas, Nerea Barros, Beatriz Arjona, Jose Bermudez
Genre: Horror, Drama
Score out of ten (whole numbers only): 3
Watch it on Netflix
Synopsis and Review
After a career directing short features, "Voces" is the feature directorial debut for writer/director Angel Gomez Hernandez. The narrative is focused on a Spanish family who has recently bought a beautiful property in need of restoration. They typically buy properties such as that, renovate them and then sell them for a profit. While they're renovating the property however, they live in it since they invest the proceedings from the sale into the next property they purchase. However with this property in particular things start going slightly awry since Daniel and Sara's son, Eric starts listening to voices coming through the house all the time. Eric draws what the voices are telling him, but no one seems to pay much attention. He also gets in trouble at school because of those voices and eventually a therapist is brought in to see what's going on with him. The therapist sadly dies in a car accident, while a dramatic event occurs at the house when Eric is found lifeless in the pool. Daniel and Sara are inconsolable, and while Sara goes to visit her parents, Daniel stays in order to finish the house restoration so they can move on. However he starts noticing some strange occurrences and voices, including Eric's, and seeks out the help of an expert in order to assess if what he's listening is real or not. German and his daughter Ruth show up with the intent of uncovering what's going on.
"Voces" is a film that has influences which range from Alejandro Amenabar's "The Others" to some of the work Leigh Whannell and James Wan have been doing with the series "Insidious" and also "The Conjuring". Angel Gomez Hernandez is successful in establishing a sentiment of unease in the house, however is less interested it seems in capturing the relationship between the members of the family. Those characters are all fairly superficially rendered, including the relationships between all of them. After the death of young Eric and as Sara leaves to stay with her family, there isn't much exchange between her and Daniel. Things warm up a bit more when German and Ruth enter the picture, but their stories and exchanges, while trying to illustrate their own trauma, not enough backdrop and context is provided about the both of them to make their contribution to the narrative more compelling. The director seems to be more focused on the supernatural element of the narrative, more so than establishing the live characters that ultimately anchor it. While there is an element of tension that is effectively built out, this narrative needs more lived-in characters to really bring a sense of doom, fear and loss to life. As it is it seems rather lifeless. The cast tries their best to bring these characters to life, with Rodolfo Sancho, Ana Fernandez and Ramon Barea being the highlights. The production team is competent, but the rather paltry budget is noticeable. Filled with good intentions, but it's ultimately a forgettable endeavor.
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