Elisa K.

Year: 2010
Country: SPAIN
Run Time: 72 minutes

It is autumn 1994 and Elisa K. will be 11-years-old in four months. On the same day Elisa visits the amusement park with her father and her father's friend, she experiences a horrific trauma that will scar her for the rest of her life. A dark, sobering drama about the prolonged consequences of childhood sexual abuse, ELISA K. tells the poignant story of a broken girl's internal struggle with her past. An eerily calm voice overtly narrates each specific detail of the plot, verbally painting an apprehensive background to an otherwise black and white film. Elisa suppresses the memory of her damaging experience, not telling her mother or father what happened out of fear and shock. It is not until 14 years later that something triggers Elisa's memory of that day, evoking an intense physical and emotional reaction portrayed flawlessly by the film's star, Aina Clotet. Elisa must now learn how to deal with the torture of remembering, of constantly seeing his face. A haunting depiction of stolen innocence, ELISA K. is a beautifully made film that examines a fiercely unsettling issue. (In Catalan with subtitles) – M.M.

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