Mysticism, reincarnation and the horror of old age: what is the idea of the film The Grandmother (2021). The Grandmother (La abuela) is a Spanish horror film, albeit with an unoriginal, but spectacular plot. Mysticism and reincarnation are very coolly involved here, the film looks quite interesting, fans of the genre will definitely like it. When watching the horror, I came across a comment from one of the viewers: “I didn’t understand anything in the ending.” It sounds like a challenge, so let’s try to parse the plot and the meaning of the film The Grandmother in order to close all questions.
Country : Spain, France, Belgium
Genre : horror
Year of production : 2021
Director : Pako Plasa
Actors : Almudena Amor, Vera Valdes, Karina Kolokolchikova, Marina Gutierrez. Bertha Sanchez
tagline : “I look forward to meeting you”
What is the movie The Grandmother about?
Let’s start traditionally with a description, but in order to make it interesting for those who have not yet seen this film to watch it, we will try to do without spoilers. Therefore, the content will be in the form of a short story that conveys only the general essence of the film.
— They bring 12-year-old girls to me, and I love working with models who are already finishing their careers, but they themselves don’t know about it yet. There is nothing brighter than a fading fire.
Suzanne listened to the rantings of a famous photographer with trepidation, because this person is offering her a job, which means new contracts and prospects. However, for the sake of a career, you will have to sacrifice something, for example, to miss the birthday of your beloved grandmother from Spain.
Almudena Amor starring as Susanna. Frame from the film.However, the girl’s plans were interrupted by a phone call.
– Hello. Your grandmother Pilar suffered a stroke, her condition is serious and she indicated this number as a contact just in case.
The very next day, the plane was taking Suzanne from Paris to Madrid. At the hospital, the nurse described the picture.
– She does not speak, her motor skills are impaired, and she is unlikely to be able to recognize you. We usually recommend this boarding house for such patients, where they can provide proper care.
An advertising booklet fell into Susanna’s hand. However, she was not going to give her only grandmother to a nursing home. Perhaps it’s not as bad as the doctors say. Grandmother will recover and she will be able to return to Paris to work.
However, the forecasts of doctors were fully justified. Pilar stared at one point, laughed while watching her favorite TV show, and looked at the screen with interest, even when the TV was turned off. In addition, the grandmother had to be fed, washed, and lined with a diaper for the night. But that’s half the trouble. Strange things began to happen in the house.
Opening doors, strange dreams in which the grandmother comes to the sleeping Suzanne and tries to put her fingers in her mouth. One day, while Suzanne was taking a shower, she heard the doorbell ring and the lock click. Coming out of the bathroom, she saw an unfamiliar blond girl next to her grandmother.
Vera Valdes played the role of the grandmother. Frame from the film.Hi, I’m Eva. You probably don’t remember me. I am Khulita’s granddaughter. Our grandmothers were friends, and we saw each other, though a very long time ago. Now my grandmother is dead, but I keep an eye on Pilar from time to time. She talked a lot about you.
The girls drank tea, chatted and said goodbye. Suzanne needed to get back to work as soon as possible, because the life of a fashion model is short-lived, and if you fall out of the cage now, you will have to forget about your future career.
After a short search, the girl was able to find a round-the-clock nurse. When they met, Susanna immediately liked the woman for her simplicity and openness. The nurse immediately tried to make friends with Pilar, and as she left she said that she would come tomorrow, before Susanna’s departure, to discuss the details.
Closing the door behind the nurse, the girl breathed a sigh of relief. But she entered the room, and her good mood disappeared. Pilar stood and looked out the window. Her fingers intertwined in incomprehensible patterns, her lips whispered a strange mantra. There was a screech of brakes and a dull thump from the street. Struck by a terrible guess, the girl ran out of the apartment and saw the nurse lying on the pavement, with whom she said goodbye just a few minutes ago. There was a pool of blood underneath the woman.
Looking up, Susanna saw her grandmother standing in the window. Now she was afraid of Pilar. I did not want to return home. Walking through the streets at night, the girl found in her pocket an advertising booklet that was given to her in the hospital. The decision was ripe immediately.
The next day, Suzanne took her grandmother to the orphanage.
“Don’t worry, you will be fine here, and I will come as soon as possible.
At home, the girl was preparing for her flight to Paris and preparing dinner. Suddenly her attention was attracted by the voice of the announcer. The news reported about a fire in a nursing home, but no one could be saved. Susanna ran around the house in a panic. After all, she took her grandmother there, and now she died in the fire. Suddenly, out of the corner of her eye, she caught sight of Pilar sitting in the room. It is not clear how she ended up at home, but Susanna has already ceased to be surprised at all the oddities happening in the apartment.
Frame from the film.She fed her grandmother with dinner, realizing that she could no longer go anywhere. Suddenly, Pilar began to choke—food had gone down the wrong throat. Susanna rushed out into the corridor, and reproachfully waited for the panting old woman to die. It was the only way out of this hell.
When it was all over, the girl reported to the police that her grandmother had died. It remains only to wait for the police and doctors, and she will be free. Her thoughts were interrupted by the ringing of a landline phone.
– This is Eva, and who are you?
— Suzanne.
– Sure?
The light went out in the apartment. Illuminating herself with a flashlight, Susanna saw that the chair where the dead grandmother was sitting was empty. She tried to leave the accursed apartment, but the front door seemed to be held by someone from the other side.
Suddenly, she felt that her body no longer obeyed her. Susanna was on the floor. Above her stood her grandmother, who completed the magical rite, moving her soul into a young body …
Susanna, naked, leaned over Pilar’s body, which was sitting on a chair, and said:
“I give you this body and take the heart.
Eva approached her. The girls smiled, because they are together again, and this will continue forever …
If you haven’t seen the horror movie The Grandmother yet, then before reading further, it’s better to watch it. Below we will analyze in detail the meaning of the picture, and find an explanation for all incomprehensible points.
The Grandmother Ending explanation
The meaning of the ending of the film The Grandmother is quite unambiguous. Actually, the explanation of the ending is given at the very beginning of the film, only here the participants in the story change roles. The dead body of an elderly woman lies on the floor, next to Eva, to whom Pilar approaches.
The ending of the story is that Julita and Pilar are two witches who have been together for God knows how many years. The old women secured their eternal life by transmigrating their souls into a new body. The whole film is devoted to this, during which the viewer can see various Easter eggs that help to find the clue to the ending.
If we consider only the end of this horror film, then the interpretation will be unambiguous – Pilar moved into the body of her granddaughter. And granddaughters? At the same time, the performed ceremony also changed the environment.
The bird reappeared in the empty cage, and the portrait on the wall changed too – instead of the young Pilar, Susanna’s face appeared there. Now the grandmother has a new life with Eva – this is her friend Khulita, who also moved into the body of her granddaughter.
The meaning of the film The Grandmother
The hidden meaning here is that this whole story was predetermined from the very beginning, many years before the events shown. During one of the birthdays that Eva and Susanna celebrated with their grandmothers, they pumped them up with punch, and performed a certain ceremony. They cut off the girls’ pigtails, put them in a chest and placed photographs of their granddaughters in a circle of hair. A vicious circle from which there is no way out.
The whole film seemed to push Suzanne to the finale. When she decided to cancel her trip to Madrid, she was informed of her grandmother’s illness, which requires her personal presence. At Pilar’s house, all the clocks are frozen at 20:00 pm. This is the time when the ritual is to be performed. A date has also been set – a birthday. Everything else is just a vicious circle, from which Susanna was no longer destined to get out. It is not known how many times Pilar and Julita performed such rituals, but the phrase flashed in the film that they have been friends for a very long time.
Almudena Amor, Vera Valdes. Frame from the film.Movies similar to The Grandmother
- The Skeleton Key (USA, 2005). Caroline gets a job as a nurse, unaware that she is becoming a hostage of a mystical rite.
- The Visit (USA, 2015). Brother and sister go to visit their grandparents, who are behaving very strangely. Maybe that’s why the children’s mother ran away from the parental home many years ago and never returned here again …
- The Others (USA, 2001). Grace is sure that an otherworldly entity has appeared in the mansion where she lives with her children. However, the reality turns out to be much scarier.
- Get Out (USA, 2017). An ordinary photographer meets his girlfriend’s parents. He does not realize that he must run away from this house.
