Cuidado con lo que deseas
 | This article may require copy editing for grammar, style, cohesion, tone, or spelling. (April 2023) |
| Cuidado con lo que deseas | |
|---|---|
 Theatrical poster | |
| Directed by | Agustín Tapia |
| Written by | Agustín Tapia |
| Produced by |
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| Starring |
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| Cinematography | Javier Morón |
| Edited by | Raul Kintaing |
| Music by | Daniel Hidalgo |
| Distributed by | Cinepólis Distribución |
Release dates |
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Running time | 91 minutes |
| Country | Mexico |
| Language | Spanish |
Cuidado con lo que deseas (lit. 'Be careful what you wish for') is a 2020 Mexican horror thriller film written and directed by Agustín Tapia. It was produced by Leonardo Zimbron, Agustin Tapia, and Diego Gallangos. It follows a family on a weekend vacation to celebrate their child's eighth birthday. When she receives a jester doll as a gift, it exposes their darkest secret desires.[1]
It was a box-office success in Mexico,[2] but critics found fault with its plot and "confusing" writing.
Plot
Pamela, a seven-year-old girl and horror film fan, is taken by her parents, Nuria and Bernardo, to her family's cabin in the woods to celebrate her eight birthday. Norberto's youngest brother, Esteban, joins them as well, even though he has a rivalry with him. Once there, Pam finds Sebastian's gift: a jester puppet doll named Hellequin, who, according to her uncle, is based on a real jester who was hanged when he failed to amuse his king.
That night, Nuria and Esteban meet at the Shack's shed as they are living an affair and have sex; they plot against Bernardo, as Esteban plans to kill his eldest brother at the family's boat with a manipulated pole so he can report it as an accident. Meanwhile, in Pam's bedroom, she is awakened by a living Hellequin, who shows her, with a puppet theatre and other puppets, her uncle and mother's secret affair and plan of killing her father. Even though Pam tries to warn their family of the situation, Hellequin stops her, claiming that if she does, he will take their souls to hell.
Due to Nuria and Esteban's plan, the family throws a private party for Pam (so they can eventually kill off Bernardo with no witnesses). However Pam tries to warn her family anyway, so she plays a puppet play of a king betrayed by his wife and sings songs to both Bernardo and Esteban with clues of their hideous plans. Hellequin reveals to Pam that her parents are actually pretending to be on Esteban's side, and they have their own plan for killing him at the toolshed. As Esteban began to suspect his plan's success, he discovered part of Hellequin's background might be true in a book where it is revealed his soul was trapped inside the doll by a wizard.
On their last day of the weekend, Esteban and Bernardo get ready to kill each other; Esteban apparently kills his brother when his plan of hitting Bernardo in the head with a pole is successful. However, when he and Nuria go to the shed, they are ambushed by Bernardo, who protects himself with a hidden helmet and tries to kill him with a shotgun. His plan backfires as Nuria disassembles the munitions, forcing both brothers to confront each other with an axe and a rake in a violent battle where Bernardo kills Esteban with the rake. Bernardo tries to kill Nuria as well, as she is not trustworthy, but he is killed by his wife when he chases her through the woods until he falls for a bear trap and is beaten to death with the shotgun. Pam learns everything thanks to Hellequin, who shows her once again what the adults do with his puppets.
Days later, Nuria inherits her husband's and brother-in-law's family business by nepotism, as she planned, and Pam apparently is severely shocked by Bernardo's death. Nonetheless, Nuria is killed by Pam, who makes her fall from the stairs with a rope, presumably as an influence of Hellequin or either revenge.[3]
Cast
Production
Writing
The film was written and directed by Agustín Tapia who was inspired by Agatha Christie stories, Alfred Hitchcock films, and The Twilight Zone episodes. Tapia wrote the film as a mystery drama with influences of fantasy and psychological manipulation in order to make the audience believe any character could be the villain, and wonder if the doll is alive.[3]
Filming
The principal photography took place in Valle de Bravo and Ajusco for outdoor scenes and most of the movie.[4] Filming concluded in early 2020 as the original premiere date was April 2020, but the premiere was delayed due to the COVID-19 pandemic.[5]
Reception
Box office
The film premiered in Mexico on August 20, 2020, and it was the third most successful film during its opening weekend. It was one of the first films projected during theaters reopenings in Mexico.[5][2] It grossed a total of 438,728 pesos for its domestic box office and worldwide.[6]
The film was eventually distributed by Netflix in December 2020; becoming one of the most watched films in the same month.[1]
Critics
The film was met with mostly mixed to negative reviews.
Jose Roberto Landaverde from CinePremiere gave it 3.5 stars out of 5 in a positive review calling the film a waste of creative obsessions that keeps the best of everything it explores, writing: "From terror to thriller going through true crime; this is a fresh take from admiration's ditch".[7]
Conversely, Javier Quintanar Polanco from Tomatazos graded as "disappointing", specifically for its plot and narrative that were not on the same level of other production values, concluding: "Efforts for trying to boost and conceive national productions that not only try to bring quality standards in order to compete with romantic comedies but also with a view to an international market are recognized. With a quality of production it is possible to some extent. By now it's necessary to envisage stable structures and appealing plots that should be executed for a disciplined direction and policy making for profits of movies."[8]
References
- ^ a b Zambra, Darío (12 December 2020). "Cuidado con lo que deseas: un thriller de terror que llega a Netflix desde México". Finde. Retrieved 16 January 2021.
- ^ a b "Crece en taquilla el cine mexicano". El Universal. 12 September 2020. Retrieved 16 January 2021.
- ^ a b Garcia, Christian. "Explora con el cine de terror profundidad del alma humana". Zócalo. Retrieved 16 January 2021.
- ^ Linares, Uriel. "'Cuidado con lo que deseas': Fernanda Castillo y su demandante debút en el cine de terror". Sensa Cine. Retrieved 16 January 2021.
- ^ a b Trejo S., Hector. "Cuidado con lo que deseas, el nuevo terror a la mexicana". Criticadn.com. Retrieved 16 January 2021.
- ^ "Cuidado con lo que deseas' Box Office". Box Office Mojo. Retrieved 16 January 2021.
- ^ Landaverde, Jose Roberto (21 August 2020). "Cuidado con lo que deseas – Crítica". CinePremiere. Retrieved 16 January 2021.
- ^ Quintanar Polanco, Francisco Javier. "RESEÑA: Cuidado con lo que desea/ Buenas ideas, malas decisiones". Tomatazos. Retrieved 16 January 2021.