Spanish-Argentine horror Vieja Loca (which roughly translates as “crazy old lady”) has found distribution at Cannes Marché du Film, with Shudder taking rights for North America, UK, Australia and New Zealand and DeAPlaneta for Spain.
Produced by The Orphanage and Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom director J.A. Bayona, Vieja Loca is the feature debut of Argentine screenwriter and director Martín Mauregui, starring Spanish screen legend Carmen Maura (Women on the Verge of a Nervous Breakdown, Volver) alongside Argentine actor Daniel Hendler (per Deadline, who revealed the news exclusively earlier today.)
The Spanish-language film narrates the nightmare a man (Hendler) suffers after receiving a desperate call from his ex-girlfriend to take care of her senile mother (Maura).
In a talk held at Cannes' Fantastic Pavilion, Bayona had this to say of Vieja Loca:
“When I began my career with The Orphanage, Guillermo del Toro produced it on one condition: that I would sponsor another director in the future. I loved Mauregui’s script and it’s an opportunity to return to genre cinema, which I love. I approached the project to lend a hand, but I ended up producing. It was the first film to be shot in Argentina after Javier Milei’s victory and we are very happy to have been able to make this film a reality at such a complicated time for cinema in Argentina.”
Producing alongside Bayona are Belén Atienza, Ramon Campos and Gabriela Carcova.
Look out for more on Vieja Loca as we get it, and for more Cannes coverage, don't miss our updates and recaps on all the festival's genre buzz via The Séance.
