Old age is a very feared stage of life, not only because of its relationship with death, but also because of the feeling that people, when they reach a certain age, are in the way. Society forgets about them and even rejects them. This fear becomes a horror movie in Viejos.
Set in the hottest summer in history, the film follows Manuel (Zorion Eguileor), an elderly man who has to move into the house of his son Mario (Gustavo Salmerón) after a terrible event ends the life of his women. Mario lives with his wife Lena (Irene Anula) and Naia (Paula Gallego), his teenage daughter. The tension increases when Manuel tells them that he hears voices and speaks with presences. Lena, sure that something bad is going to happen, wants to throw him out of the house, and Naia is the only one who is on her side, but even she begins to doubt.
It is the second film directed by the tandem Raúl Cerezo and Fernando González Gómez -Los Ferezo-, after their comedy La pasajera. It celebrated its world premiere last July at the Montreal Fantasia, where its protagonist, Zorion Eguileor, won the Best Actor Award in the Cheval Noir section. The European premiere of Viejos was last October at the Sitges Festival. The terror, the tension that the film maintains and the message it transmits, says Eguileor, make you not leave indifferent to seeing Viejos: "The film gives a lot to talk about."
Old is a horror movie that, deep down, talks about a real fear: old age. "Being old is disgusting, nobody listens to you" or "It's the law of life, old people have to die to make way for you", are some of the phrases with which the film conveys this message, the social rejection of older people. “That is one of the messages that the directors and writers wanted to convey, and I think it becomes very clear when you see the film,” says Eguileor. In his case, this stage has only brought him good things, since after the success of El Hoyo, the actor has fans all over the world. The veteran actor says that "having fans at this point in life is very nice."
The film by Los Ferezo also winks at another shared fear: climate change. In a scenario that is already apocalyptic due to the paranormal events that are happening to the elderly, the characters suffer the strongest heat wave in history. Throughout the film you can see how the temperature rises more and more, until it reaches inhuman figures. Eguileor affirms that in addition to being related to the climate crisis, "this sensation of drowning enriches the setting of the film."
