14/04/2026 - In his second feature, Jacob Santana depicts the increasingly fragile relationship between a mother and daughter, which is thrown further out of kilter by a mysterious force

Gothic-horror films are always popular with the audience of the Brussels International Fantastic Film Festival (BIFFF), so it is only logical that Spanish scream queen Belén Rueda's return to the horror genre had to be included in this year's line-up. Evil Dress, the second feature by self-taught Spanish director Jacob Santana, also marks his second collaboration with Rueda, following the thriller Reversión (2025). It has just celebrated its international premiere at the Belgian genre-film gathering.

Written by Frank Ariza, Evil Dress is a classic horror flick that employs deception to create tension and manipulate the viewer's perception of reality. The story centres on Alicia (Rueda), who, having just escaped an abusive marriage, moves into a run-down but charming new home with her daughter, Carla (Vera Centenera), in an attempt to rebuild their lives. Given their shared experience of violence, the mother-daughter relationship is ambivalent: on the one hand, they depend on each other emotionally, while on the other, both carry around unresolved trauma, which puts a considerable strain on their bond. A series of terrifying events is set in motion when the daughter finds a blue dress in the attic and encounters a disturbing presence that tries to drive a wedge between her and her mother.

Ariza and Santana are undeniably masters of the horror craft. The film feels almost like an intimate drama set in Sartre’s vision of the afterlife, where hell is other people – or is the horror perhaps coming from within? The actors are also brilliant at luring the viewer down the wrong path, which is particularly impressive in the case of 13-year-old actress Vera Centenera.

Alicia does not know how to protect Carla in the face of danger and instead drives the girl further away by smothering her. Evil Dress illustrates how developmentally inappropriate parental behaviour, such as helicopter parenting, emotional engulfment or an all-devouring kind of mothering style, can trigger or contribute to the evolution of eating disorders in children. Carla is starving herself just so she can fit into the dress – because something, or someone, is compelling her to do so.

It’s a shame that this movie seems to struggle to establish an identity of its own, far removed from Anglo-Saxon influences. The house where the drama unfolds could be located in Amityville, Carla’s school resembles an English boarding institution, and Alicia’s car looks like a vintage US motor. Indeed, the setting lacks anything distinctly Spanish. Despite many of the ingredients of a good horror film being present, sadly, the picture does not capitalise more on what would have set it apart: allowing the terror to unfold in sunny, colourful Spain, where it would have been least expected and would have had an even greater impact.

Evil Dress was produced by Canary Islands-based AF Films, with its world sales being handled by Film Factory.