Why you can trust GamesRadar+
Made toward the end of General Franco's dictatorship, Victor Erice's 1973 film unwinds in rural Castille shortly after the end of the Spanish Civil War. Young Ana (Ana Torrent) is both captivated and puzzled by the screening of James Whale's Frankenstein in the village cinema. Her elder and more mischievous sister Isabel (Isabel Telleria) explains that the monster of the film doesn't die. Instead he survives as a living spirit and can be seen at a seemingly deserted local barn - which is where Ana discovers a wounded soldier...
Erice conjures up a dream-like world where the traumatised adults appear to have retreated into their own private universes (the father with his studying of bees, the mother with her letter-writing). Shooting in muted colours and playing masterful games with shadow and light, the director places atmosphere over plot and imaginatively conveys the mysteriousness of everyday life from a child's perspective. Spellbinding.
The Total Film team are made up of the finest minds in all of film journalism. They are: Editor Jane Crowther, Deputy Editor Matt Maytum, Reviews Ed Matthew Leyland, News Editor Jordan Farley, and Online Editor Emily Murray. Expect exclusive news, reviews, features, and more from the team behind the smarter movie magazine.
Steam Next Fest hit that's like GTA but you're a cop instead of a robber has been delayed to 2025 to deliver "the game we believe you deserve"
Arcane season 2 foreshadowed one of its most shocking deaths, but only if you caught this 0.2 seconds of footage in the intro
Twisters director explains why his live-action adaptation of hit anime Your Name didn't work out: "I realized I had written something I just couldn't even shoot"