THE ELDERLY (aka VIEJOS, 2022)

New On Demand from Dark Star Pictures!
Directed by Raúl Cerezo, Fernando González Gómez.
Written by Javier Trigales, Raúl Cerezo, Rubén Sánchez Trigos.
Starring Zorion Eguileor, Gustavo Salmerón, Paula Gallego, Irene Anula, Juan Acedo, Ángela López Gamonal, José Torija, Manuel de Blas, María Victoria Paniagua, José Ramón Pardo, Lone Fleming, Teresa Altés, Niko Verona

When an elderly lady takes her own life, she leaves her husband Manuel (Zorion Eguileor) behind prompting her son Mario (Gustavo Salmerón) and his family to step up and invite him into their home. But once inside the home, the elderly man seems to be off in some way and not really grieving about the loss of his life partner. As grandfather’s actions become more erratic, the family is oblivious that something like this is occurring to all of the old folk around the world.

From Raúl Cerezo and Fernando González Gómez, the Spanish creators of THE PASSENGER, which was an excellent horror romp, comes THE ELDERLY. And as bawdy and in your face as THE PASSENGER was, THE ELDERLY plays as a much more subtle movie based mostly in a single locale and relying on more of a quiet pervasive horror. I guess I would call this film a slow burn as the bulk of it is under the radar strangeness while a lot of family drama is going on. Mario feels obliged to take in his father since he took care of him as a child. Mario’s wife Lena (played by Irene Anula) is actually his second wife and is not only pregnant, but dealing with conflict as Manuel doesn’t seem to particularly like her and constantly compares her to Mario’s deceased first wife. Finally, Mario’s oldest daughter Naia (played by THE PASSENGER’s Paula Gallego) is going through a normal teenage rebellious phase with the tendency to storm off whenever the wind changes direction. It’s because of this typical family drama that the family is oblivious to the changes occurring in their grandpa and the elderly around the world.

I guess THE ELDERLY shows directors Raúl Cerezo and Fernando González Gómez’s range, but honestly, I prefer the more balls to the wall craziness that occurred in THE PASSENGER over this one’s more subdued tone. I think the film almost goes too soft on the horror and the result was me not being as invested in the overall scenario. None of the actors are particularly bad in selling the drama and the final half hour really amps things up, but even then, the film sticks mainly inside of the family’s apartment with only news reports and the occasional shot of an elderly person doing something insidious in the background. I feel had the film focused on the drama in the first half hour, realized something was wrong with grandpa in the second, and the final half hour focused on the over-whelming dilemma that what was happening to grandpa was happening everywhere else, the film would have been much more evenly spaced and paced.

There are some very strong performances. Zorion Eguileor who plays the elderly Manuel does a good job of playing a somewhat alien person in mid-transformation. He still interacts with some as a caring grandfather or even a crotchety old man, but he makes the transformation subtle and ever-increasing. But honestly, the true standout in THE ELDERLY is Paula Gallego. She was a bright shining star in THE PASSENGER and seems to be a favorite of these filmmakers as she is featured prominently in both of their most recent films. I’m going to make a safe bet that this little actress is going to be big someday very soon. Gallego has a youthful beauty, but her character here is really crucial to the plot as she backs up her grandpa unquestionably, especially when it comes to attacks against her new stepmother Lena (played by Irene Anula). Anula has the thankless role of being the stereotypical hysterical woman no one is listening to, as she is labeled as not liking the grandpa and overacting due to her pregnancy when she is really the first to notice something is off with grandpa.

Though the road to realization that something is very wrong is long, I did enjoy the scenes where the family finally catches up with the truth. It comes about in a twisted way in some scenes somewhat reminiscent of THE SHINING, as this film takes advantage of the creepiness of the elderly. Yes, this film reeks of agism and those getting up in age might not find some of the scenes that are creepy at the expense of the older cast, when really it’s just older people looking and doing things younger people do, aside from the killing that is. THE ELDERLY is a fun film with very strong performances and some very effective scenes of creeoy oldness. I think the narrative structure is a skewed and the pacing is off, but it nevertheless highlights the horrors of getting old solidly.

Check out the trailer here!!