If you are not a fan of horror movies, you will still love Phenomena, the Spanish Netflix film directed by Carlos Therón and stared at by the fantastic Belén Rueda, Gracia Olayo, and Toni Acosta.
I am not a huge fan of paranormal stories, but this one resonates with my great hobby of role-playing games, in particular The Call of Cthulhu, just with the right amount of humor and action. I casually found it on my Netflix home page, and I said… why not? I grabbed my knitting and enjoyed a knit-and-chill cinema session.
Phenomena is about three middle-aged women with normal lives who investigate paranormal activities. But things get intense when their leader, Father Pilón, goes missing, and they must test their skills to find him. It's quite an intriguing storyline! And interestingly, it is based on a true event in Madrid in 1999.
The Hepta Group investigated paranormal activity
Father Pilón was a Jesuit priest known for his expertise in paranormal phenomena. He wrote several books and founded the Spanish Association of Friends of Parapsychology, AMIPSA.
In 1987, Father Pilón founded the Hepta Group, an organization dedicated to investigating supernatural events. The group consisted of talented individuals with a passion for the paranormal. The main characters in the movie Phenomena are inspired by Father Pilón's three primary collaborators: Sol Blanco-Soler, Paloma Navarrete, and Piedad Cavero.
Phenomena is based on a true story, one of the most famous cases ever handled by the Hepta Group. The events occurred in an antique Madrid store called El Baúl del Monje. The owners reported several strange occurrences, including loud noises, flying objects, unpleasant smells, and the appearance and disappearance of human shadows. It is considered one of Spain's most significant poltergeist cases.
The movie Phenomena took some liberties with the events in the antique store, but Father Pilón's three collaborators approved the adaptation. According to the experts, the origin of the events was a poltergeist, a ghost that occupies the places where the living reside to seek help in escaping the conditions they are stuck in.
As a knitter, you will find a hilarious scene in which Paz (Gracia Olayo) is peacefully knitting, and they are requested to leave a room at the hospital, and she asks the doctor to please, let her finish the round.
