Atàvic

Albert Blay

Cris and Kitus, two young students aged 23 and 24, go in search of their classmates, who should have already returned from the filming of a group project in an abandoned and isolated village in the coastal mountains of the Mediterranean, with no internet or signal. Since their friends should have returned, Kitus films the search the whole time with his camera, joking around, as one of their classmates was in charge of the Making of and wanted to include this part in the final result. Almost upon reaching the abandoned village, Cris and Kitus find their friends' cars, loaded and with the doors open, blocking the only road leading to the place, but there is no sign of them. They approach the house where they were staying, but they don’t find them there either, so they decide to venture into the forest to continue the search. As they walk through the forest, they start hearing strange sounds. They shout, but there’s no response, and decide to follow the sounds, thinking their friends are playing a prank. After a long walk, they find Mariona, the protagonist of the short film, who, absorbed and covered in dirt and traces of blood, doesn't say a word. With growing concern, Kitus and Cris follow Mariona, who leads them through the forest to a clearing, where she gives them small stones with a symbol they don't understand, but that they have seen before in the house. Suddenly, Mariona starts running and they follow her, but lose sight of her. After running for a while, they reach a virgin beach where they are surprised to see six wooden funeral pyres. When they approach the first pyre, they are shocked to see Xavi, one of their filming companions, unconscious on top of it, with an identical stone to the one Mariona gave them in each eye. Mariona appears and attacks them by surprise. When they manage to free themselves from her, she hides again. Scared, they check that their friends are still alive, but it seems too late. One of the pyres begins to burn intensely; within seconds, another does the same. When Cris runs to try to save their friends, Mariona attacks her forcefully, leaving her unconscious. She then turns to Kitus and attacks him. The camera falls to the ground and Mariona hits it. This script seems to mix psychological horror with suspense elements, with a strong focus on mystery and growing tension as the characters try to understand what’s happening in an isolated and hostile setting.

Category

Fiction, Fantasy, Horror

Genre

Adolescents, Adventure, Crime, Horror, Mockumentary, Psychological, Thriller, Wilderness, Film.

Theme

Adolescents, Countryside, Youth, Macabre, Nature, Movies about film.