La Masia
2022 · 15m · Spain
Directed by Víctor Català
Genres: drama, horror, thriller
Tones: contemplative, dark, tense
Helga spends a few days with the grandparents she has not seen for years in their huge Catalan farmhouse lost in the middle of nowhere, where her wheelchair-bound grandmother is cared for by her grandfather — and nothing is as innocent as it seems.
Picked by Zoe
The scouts
The setup screams predictable family-secret horror, but Català resists the obvious turn—the real dread lives in what the film *doesn't* show you, which is way more unsettling than any twist reveal could be.
A measured study in domestic unease that positions itself smartly within the slow-burn European thriller tradition, where spatial composition and restraint do the heavy lifting that lesser films hand to exposition.
The entire film hinges on Català's decision to keep the camera locked on Helga's face during the quietest moments—her micro-expressions carry more narrative weight than any dialogue, turning a confined 15 minutes into something claustrophobic and unforgettable on a shoestring.