The Open Body

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]

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]

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]

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]

• List of Spanish films of 2022

• The Open Body at IMDb