Nala, a 13-year-old girl from the city, travels with her family to her grandmother´s home in the countryside, to try to find a cure for her little sister´s mysterious illness… But she´ll soon find her granny is not exactly what she seems...
Life brightens for a moment when you can promote an upcoming movie made by a friend.
Screen Anarchy have been big fans of the work of Isaac Ezban over years, enjoying what has been, up to now, explorations into the darker side of the sci fi genre. As good as his first three films (The Incident, The Similars, Parallel) have been, we were delighted to find out that the Mexican director has gone all in and made his first straight up horror flick, Mal de ojo (Evil Eye). It's now in post but after much pestering, bribing and empty promises (Lo siento, but we already have an Isaac Mack in the family) we are the first international outlet to show you two exclusive images from his new film.
Promising us a horror flick that deals with Mexican witchcraft folklore like it hasn't been done before these two images are in sharp contrast with each other. The main image features two women in a forest, wearing what appear to be clothing from an earlier era. Is that one on the left holding a giant egg? Isaac, what are you up to, hermano? The second image, in the gallery down below, is set in a contemporary time. Few things are as terrifying as waking up and seeing your sibling standing by your bed, holding a pair of scissors in their hands.
Mal de ojo stars newcomer Paola Miguel and veteran actress Ofelia Medina (recent winner of the Ariel de Oro, an honorary Academy Award from the Mexican Academy). Other cast members include Samantha Castillo, Arap Bethke, Ivanna Sofia Ferro, Paloma Alvamar, Claudia Garcia and Mauro Gonzalez.
Ezban touts Miguel as one of the strongest young actresses in Mexico and very important for the future of Mexican cinema. That's Miguel in the photo below, with the scissors in their hands. As long as they're holding those scissors I'll believe anything Ezban says. Yikes.
And now, a few words from Ezban himself.
"MAL DE OJO is a project I´ve been working closely on for many years now and I´m incredibly excited by how the shooting turned out to be, how post-production is looking and how everything is coming to life... My fourth film is a very important film for me, as it represents my first dive into full horror, a genre I always wanted to approach, and also my biggest film in Mexico yet... But more than just a horror film, what makes MAL DE OJO so special and what excites me so much is the contrast between a super rich horror mythology based on uncanny local myths and legends, and the coming-of-age narrative of a teenage girl discovering what growing up really means... I grew up admiring the coming-of-age masterpieces by Guillermo Del Toro - PAN'S LABRYNTH and THE DEVIL'S BACKBONE (my two biggest references on this new ride) - and I always loved and admired how he could combine the coming of age arc with fantastical or horror narratives, using those as a metaphor to what discovering a new world can be... that's how I want this film to feel... I can't wait for the whole world to discover what we have been working on!!"
Mal de ojo was produced by Edgar San Juan, the script was written by San Juan, Junior Rosario and Ezban based on an original story by Rosario. The film is produced by Film Tank, Cinepolis, Cinema Maquina and Red Elephant Films.
Cinepolis Distribución (the distribution arm of Cinepolis, one of the 4 biggest exhibition chains in the world and the biggest in LatAm) are the distributors and co-producers. They are planning a theatrical release in Mexico and LatAm for the second half of the year.
We thank Cinepolis for their cooperation with this international exclusive.