The Communion Girl (2023) spoiler free review
“She’s lost, she’s alone and she’s cold”. The Communion Girl (La niña de la comunión) is a 2023 Spanish horror film directed by Víctor Garcia (Hellraiser: Revelations, Return to House on Haunted Hill) and written by García and Alberto Marini. It had its premiere in Spain on February 1, 2023 and was released in Shudder on August 11, 2023.
May, 1987. While returning from a nightclub and after having taken drugs, new girl in town Sara and her friend Rebe find a doll wearing a communion dress. From that moment, their lives will become a living hell.
Film synopsis
The cast includes Carla Campra as Sara, Aina Quiñones as Rebeca ‘Rebe’, Olimpia Roch as Judith, Marc Soler as Pedro, Carlos Oviedo as Chivo, Maria Molins as Amparo, Xavi Lite as Antonio, Anna Alarcón as Remedios, Victor Solé as Santiago, Sara Roch as Marisol, and Daniel Rived as Tano.
My opinion
Based on a story that occurred in the town of Peraleda de la Mata where a girl got lost after her first communion The Communion Girl (La niña de la comunión) follows Sarah and her family moving to a new town in 1987. After a night out with her friend Rebeca she finds a doll in the middle of the road, and from that moment on, her life will take a turn for the worst.
Taking place in a small town in the 1980s the film achieved the right atmosphere supported by the score and scenic setting. The pacing of the story was the adequate never turning boring even when it becomes extremely predictable. Having similarities with The Ring (2002) and Annabelle (2014) the film lacks originality relying on horror clichés that have been seen over and over. The film features teenagers partying, parents that doesn’t believe them, and predictable jump scares. The ending turns confusing and anticlimactic leaving a feeling of disappointment since the cast does as much as they can with the scrip but they still deliver descent performances. The ghost design, creepy moments, and death scenes are not enough to save this film from being generic and the Spanish version of any Hollywood film about a haunted doll.
*This piece was written during the 2023 WGA and SAG-AFTRA strikes. Without the labor of the writers and actors currently on strike, the movie being covered here wouldn’t exist.