PARA ELISA (FOR ELISA) 2012

Director: Juanra Fernandez. Cast: Ana Turpin, Ona Casamiquela, Luisa Gavasa, Jesus Caba, Sheila Ponce. Spain, 2012. 80 mins. Spanish with English subtitles. MISERY meets THE BABY (1973) in this creepily effective Spanish shocker. In order to raise the 1,000 Euros needed to pay for her post-graduation trip, student Ana (Ona Casamiquela) answers a job advert pinned to a post outside her university for a temporary nanny position.  Arriving at the apartment, Ana is offered a cup of tea by Elisa’s mother Diamantina (Luida Gavasa), a former professional pianist who reminisces about playing at the Royal Albert Hall and is fiercely protective of her collection of antique dolls. Unbeknown to Ana, this is merely the prelude to a nursery-rhyme nightmare in which she will soon find herself trapped as a living doll for Diamantina’s daughter, and Elisa (Ana Turpin), has a tendency to play rough... Writer/director Juanra Fernández’s debut feature is a strikingly assured piece of work. Richly photographed in ‘scope, from the mesmerising opening credits sequence through to Ana’s ascent into the foreboding shadows of Diamantina’s apartment, it’s a visual delight. The lead female trinity are all superb, bringing subtle detail to their respective and equally challenging roles, adding a layer of conviction which helps to accentuate the madness which eventually surfaces in Diamantina’s demented dolls house. Fernández orchestrates the increasingly bloody playtime within apartment 3B with such panache that the interwoven scenes involving Ana’s drug-dealing boyfriend Alex’s increasingly desperate attempts to locate her become almost unwelcome distractions. FOR ELISA (PARA ELISA) boasts a relatively short running time (80mins), but it’s a deliciously disquieting and ultimately disturbing tale which lingers long in the memory. **** (out of 5) Paul Worts