A criminal kidnaps a girl he fears can identify him from one of his previous crimes and plans to extract a ransom.
Ismael (Karra Elejalde, Timecrimes) breaks into the house of a fine art restorer and shoots the homeowner dead, leaving her daughter orphaned and traumatized for life. Years later Ismael is working in a bar where he sees the daughter again. Paranoid that she has recognised him and will report him, he kidnaps her and holds her hostage, demanding that her hospital pay a ransom for her release. As he spends more time with her a strange bond develops that causes him to delay the ransom request or fulfil his threats of throwing her in front of a train. But he can't delay forever... A gothic thriller with pitch-black humour that recalls the Coen brothers, Juanma Bajo Ulloa's sophomore feature won a host of prestigious international awards and was a precursor to the Spanish genre explosion.
Bonus Materials
- 4K restoration of the film supervised and approved by director Juanma Bajo Ulloa
- Uncompressed stereo 2.0 audio
- Audio commentary by Bajo Ulloa
- The Story of La Madre Muerta - a documentary on the making of the film featuring behind-the-scenes images and interviews with the cast and crew
- Victor’s Kingdom [El reino de Victor] (1989, 38 mins) - Goya Award-winning short film by Ulloa, restored in 4K
- Gallery of behind-the-scenes and promotional imagery
- Trailer
- Reversible sleeve featuring original and newly commissioned artwork by Time Tomorrow
- Limited Edition booklet featuring new writing on the film by Xavier Aldana Reyes, author of Spanish Gothic: National Identity, Collaboration and Cultural Adaptation, and newly translated archival writing by Juanma Bajo Ulloa, co-writer Eduardo Bajo Ulloa
- Limited Edition soundtrack CD featuring Bingen Mendizábal’s sumptuous score
