AHORA VUELVO
2025 · 11m · Spain
Directed by Gabe Ibáñez, Lucas Paulino
Genres: drama, horror, thriller
Left home alone at seven, María grows afraid as night falls and someone knocks at the door claiming to be her mother.
Picked by Zoe
The scouts
It's a competent home-invasion setup that doesn't really subvert the genre—just executes the premise with craft. The twist of maternal ambiguity is solid, but I've seen horror do this kind of psychological doubt before; nothing here makes me say 'wait, WHAT?'
A disciplined exercise in suspense and emotional restraint, anchored by two directors who understand how to build dread through mise-en-scène and the grammar of a child's perspective. The film knows its lineage—psychological horror, the uncanny domestic—and honors it with formal precision.
The entire film hinges on that single moment when María decides whether to open the door, and the sound design in those seconds before—the ambient tension of a child's breath, the door's geometry—does the work that budget can't buy. That choice, and how they lean into it, is what makes this sting.
Reviews
When 7-year-old María is left home alone while her mom runs out to grab something for dinner, it feels like the best kind of freedom. But as the hours drag on and night falls, that excitement turns to fear — especially when someone starts knocking at the door claiming to be her mother… but something doesn't feel right.