Phenomena Review: Represents a Well-Thought-Out Mix of Horror and Humor | Fenómenas

Cast: Belén Rueda, Gracia Olayo, Toni Acosta, Emilio Gutiérrez Caba, Ivan Massagué, Miren Ibarguren, Óscar Ortuño, Lorena López, Antonio Pagudo

Director: Carlos Theron

Streaming Platform: Netflix

Filmyhype.com Ratings: 3/5 (three stars) [yasr_overall_rating size=”large”]

The review of Phenomena (Fenómenas), a Spanish film produced by Netflix that alternates the horror genre with comedy. You crave horror, thriller, comedy, and ghosts all at the same time. And if there’s a somewhat sad story inside and a subplot of female friendship, even better. You’re not super picky, you’re just indecisive. For you and only for you (just joking) there is now Phenomena, a film available on Netflix starting April 14, 2023. Directed by Carlos Theron and written by Fernando Navarro and Marta Buchaca, it is inspired by a true story, that of the Hepta group, a team that searches for the paranormal. It is produced by Nadie Es Perfecto and was filmed between Toledo and Madrid.

Director Carlos Theron brings to Netflix screens a hybrid of the horror genre and comedy inspired by true events, as we are immediately specified in the opening credits. Indeed, the film recounts the research into paranormal phenomena conducted by the Hepta group, a team of occult enthusiasts set up in 1987 by Father José María Pilón. As we will see in our review of Phenomena, Theron’s work represents a well-conceived mix between horror and humor, supported by the presence of an explosive and extremely close-knit female trio.

Phenomena Review: The Story Plot

The plot of Phenomena takes us to Madrid in 1998, where TV journalist Sagrario (Belén Rueda), camera operator Paz (Gracia Olayo), medium Gloria (Toni Acosta), and Father Pilón (Emilio Gutiérrez Caba) come together to form a team specializing in the investigation of paranormal phenomena, the Hepta. To these is added, almost by chance, Pablo, a rather skeptical but extremely enthusiastic young physics student. Although the group is not experiencing its moment of maximum splendor, the members of the Hepta nevertheless decide to investigate the strange and disturbing events that take place inside an antique shop in the city. However, what at first seems like a simple routine case, probably caused by the repressed energy of a living person, will prove to be the most difficult of their lives.

Phenomena Review and Analysis

A concept on which Phenomena insists from the beginning is that evil must be sought first of all on this earth than in the vengeful manifestations of the deceased. Or that, in any case, most paranormal events are poltergeists – phenomena that manifest themselves with apparently inexplicable facts such as the movement of objects – caused by the negative feelings of a human being who lives in the “haunted” place. What the Hepta group will focus on from the outset will be the lives of the people who orbit around the antique shop; research that will bring to light much more disturbing events than falling mirrors or chandeliers that move by themselves.

The one told in Carlos Theron’s film is a horror story but in comic tones; between one demonstration and another, we witness nice entr’actes – staged above all by the amusing trio of female protagonists – which help to ease the tension and mark a pleasant rhythm for the entire first hour of Phenomena. The same thing, unfortunately, cannot be said of the last half hour, which appears to be disconnected from the rest of the film as well as providing a completely different if not inconsistent perspective of the latter.

Phenomena is based on true events. The Hepta group – made up of a team of professionals from different disciplines all sharing a passion for paranormal phenomena – was created in 1987 by Father José María Pilón, following what, at the time, were the US guidelines in this regard. In particular, the film refers to the so-called El Baúl del Monje case. El Baúl del Monje was an antique shop based in Madrid, known for being at the center of alleged paranormal phenomena of great intensity. Phenomena that were investigated by the Hepta Group and the journalist Cristina Rovirosa in February 1999. According to studies conducted by the team inside the store, such events (including lamps that moved, sinks that opened by themselves, and pieces of wood that fell from the ceiling) could have been caused by dramatic events that occurred in that same place several years earlier: there, in fact, a man died of smoke inhalation due to a malfunctioning stove. Today the antique shop is a private home, and no more unusual occurrences have been recorded.

Within the cast of Phenomena, the three female protagonists stand out in particular, who then represent the pillars of the entire narrative. We are talking about Belén Rueda – actress and TV presenter known above all for her role in the film The Orphanage -, Toni Acosta – whose career is linked above all to television productions such as the unforgettable Paso Adelante – and Gracia Olayo, known in her homeland as a comedian, with some active roles both in the world of cinema and television. Rueda, Acosta, and Olayo form an explosive and close-knit trio that certainly represents the soul of the film.

Phenomena is an absurd mix of stuff. We have purely comedy moments that mix in a rather unpredictable and unsettling way with scenes that seem to come straight out of a horror movie. It is also interesting to note how the problem of the supernatural mixes with that of humans. In their investigation, the three women meet a bloodthirsty and unscrupulous spirit desperate for revenge, but also a disturbed and violent mother from whom they steal a little girl to save her. Underneath all this, again, human history. Of the three women of their motivations for their friendship.

Gloria is the one who has the gift, but she’s not sure she wants it. Paz is a super present grandmother, maybe too much. Sagrario is completely blocked by very long mourning. Despite the overload and a couple of bizarre choices, the film remains fascinating, the women are positive and profound characters that are easy to love. The choice of giving us a potentially interesting character, the skeptical physics student with surprising dormant powers, and then making him disappear into thin air is a bit strange. Is that a hook for a potential sequel? We’ll see.

Phenomena Review: The Last Words

Phenomena represents a well-thought-out mix of horror and humor, assisted by the presence of an explosive and extremely close-knit female trio. Too bad for the last half hour of the film which appears a bit disconnected from the rest of the narrative. Despite the overload and a couple of bizarre choices, the film remains fascinating, the women are positive and profound characters that are easy to love.