Loosely based on the gruesome case of the Lonely Hearts Killers, who murdered as many as 20 women in the 1940s, Alleluia is not for the faint-hearted. Gloria (Lola Dueñas, Volver), a single mother and morgue attendant, reluctantly goes on a dinner date with shoe salesman Michel (Laurent Lucas, In My Skin) after her friend sets up an online dating profile on her behalf. The night turns into one of smoldering passion, but after Michel disappears with some of her money, she tracks him down and learns the truth: He is a con artist who seduces and robs women. Instead of admonishing him or demanding her money back, though, love-struck Gloria asks if she can accompany him on his next grift. Soon, the two are working as a pair, posing as siblings and fleecing widows, but when Gloria’s jealous tendencies turn obsessive and violent, the game becomes something far more sinister, savage, and psychotic. Alleluia is a hypnotic and blood-soaked psychological thriller, the latest bit of squirm-inducing horror from Belgian director Fabrice Du Welz (Calvaire, also starring Lucas) that refuses to loosen its grip even after its sublime final moments.

This is a feature-length documentary on Mar adentro, or The Sea Inside, found on the DVD of it. It's rather well-done, and provides good insight into the making of it. It holds a few clips from the movie, but consists almost entirely of interviews and behind-the-scenes footage, inter-cut. You get to see every stage of development and creation, including co-script-writer, Mateo Gil... one has to wonder why there is so little of him, was he just not present, much or at all, during the later periods, because he sure was fun to listen to. Pre-production, filming, post, and an appropriate amount of time and attention spent on each portion of the three parts. The pacing is relatively deliberate, fitting for its subject. I got even more respect for Bardem from watching this. I got the sense that Amenábar has matured, going away from the genre of horror(I am in no way passing judgment, I have a great amount of respect for both that genre and his earlier work), and would say that it will be interesting to see what he brings us in the future. As the other material on the disc, this is subtitled. I recommend this to anyone who enjoys the piece itself, are fans of Alejandro and/or are interested in the craft, even as just a hobby.

Something is Happening begins like an uplifting, charmingly quirky road movie: having lost her husband and job, Irma jumps into a river in Avignon, only to be rescued by Dolores, a free-spirited Spaniard roaming the south of France to research a gay-friendly travel guide. Irma and Dolores strike up a friendship and head off in Dolores’s convertible.

Maxi thinks his life is perfect. He is a famous cook who owns a successful restaurant in Chueca and is living his life as a gay man without much complex. But when his son Edu and his daughter Alba appear, and a new attractive neighbor comes along, it will have a strong effect on his life resulting in his values being challenged for ever.

Carla gets a call from the small town where she grew up in the South of Spain. Her father, who she hasn't spoken with in many years, is very ill. She refuses to face it and decides, against everyone's opinion, to take him to Barcelona, where she is convinced they'll be able to save him.

2013 film directed by Katell Quillévéré

The difficulty of establishing beauty and the futility of power.

Les ogres：They go from town to town, a big top on their backs, their show over their shoulder. They bring dreams and disorder to our lives. They are ogres, giants. They've devoured the theater and miles and miles of road. But the imminent arrival of a baby and the return of a former lover will make old wounds, that we thought had been forgotten, resurface. So the party begins!

Paris, in the early 1960s. Jean-Louis Joubert is a serious but uptight stockbroker, married to Suzanne, a starchy class-conscious woman and father of two arrogant teenage boys, currently in a boarding school. The affluent man lives a steady yet boring life. At least until, due to fortuitous circumstances, Maria, the charming new maid at the service of Jean-Louis' family, makes him discover the servants' quarter on the sixth floor of the luxury building he owns and lives in. There live a crowd of lively Spanish maids who will help Jean-Louis to open to a new civilization and a new approach of life. In their company - and more precisely in the company of beautiful Maria - Jean-Louis will gradually become another man, a better man.

2013 film by Pedro Almodóvar

2004 film by Alejandro Amenábar

2006 film directed by Pedro Almodóvar

In a remote South American colony in the late 18th century, officer Zama of the Spanish crown waits in vain for a transfer to a more prestigious location. He suffers small humiliations and petty politicking as he increasingly succumbs to lust and paranoia.

2002 film by Pedro Almodóvar