Panic Fest 2024: The Wait

True to its title, “The Wait” requires patience, but this Spanish genre-bending horror offers many just rewards for those willing to submit.

The Wait begins with a Biblical quote ripped from Genesis, Man’s doomed origin story.

In a paradise built by an omnipotent God, the benevolent landowner offers his tenants everything, with one caveat: they are not to eat fruit from one forbidden tree. He never explains why the tree is forbidden or why the one responsible for constructing every inch of the land would create such a dangerous temptation at all.

It’s a story believers interpret as man’s inherent weakness and the justification for our endless, excruciating suffering.

Somehow, the one who put the wheels in motion escapes judgment, and the story of man’s tragedy becomes a reflection of God’s grace.

For the non-religious, the Bible’s first story seems like its cruelest and most problematic: a story of entrapment where the devastating consequences of one bad choice feel disproportionately punishing in relation to the crime.

If you fall into the latter camp, The Wait may strike a powerful chord.

This is a potent and horrific parable about morality, good and evil, the consequences of sin and guilt, and the cruelly guided hand of fate.

During the 1970s in Spain, Eladio (Victor Clavijo) is hired as a ranch keeper, tending to the estate of the mysterious Don Francisco. Though he’s cautioned about the often harsh life of the countryside, Eladio insists he and his wife, Marcia (Ruth Díaz), are well prepared and eager to start a new life — something we later realize may not have been entirely accurate.

Three years later, Eladio is still working at the estate, teaching his now thirteen-year-old son, Floren (Moisés Ruiz,) how to shoot so he can start hunting on the land.

One day, Eladio is approached by veteran hunter, Don Carlos (Manuel Morón), to add three additional hunting stands to the grounds for an upcoming, overbooked hunt. Eladio immediately refuses, insisting it’s too dangerous. Carlos offers him a generous bribe to put his principles aside and honor the request.

When he still doesn’t cave, Carlos pays a visit to Marcia, who pressures Eladio to accept, calling him a coward for not doing what he needs to in order to provide for his family. Reluctantly, Eladio gives in against his best judgment, resulting in tragic, world-shattering consequences.

After losing everything he holds dear, Eladio is driven first to revenge and then to madness.

To say much more would be to ruin the viewing experience, but trust that the patience the film requires in its first two acts is eventually handsomely rewarded in the final harrowing act.

At this point, this gritty, tension-filled neo-Western takes a turn into haunting folk horror as Eladio begins to piece together the mystery of how he ended up in this hellscape.

Clues abound, which viewers may or may not pick up on before the final reveal, but there’s a tremendous amount to unpack and delight those who appreciate their horror a bit more thought-provoking and less straightforward.

In one powerful scene, as Eladio is wracked with guilt for his role in his family’s suffering, a snake slowly slithers out of a clogged pipe, not so subtly hinting at an evil agenda and the film’s central examination.

Do we really have free will when the game is rigged or when powerful forces have stacked the cards against us and know how every hand will be played?

Rest assured, there is a strong dose of horror, but it comes late in the game.

One could easily argue the dread-inducing, atmospheric film is drenched in horror from the first frame, but it remains psychological — the torment and anguish of one man desperate for salvation but mercilessly damned — until the finale.

Once things become less grounded in human drama and more supernaturally charged, the visuals become increasingly unnerving, even veering into the realm of grotesque body horror with some pretty stellar makeup effects.

Stunningly shot and drenched in atmosphere, with a dusty and sweltering air of oppression you can nearly feel on your skin, The Wait is a vision to behold.

Clavijo’s performance as Eladio carries the story’s weight almost entirely. He delivers a largely silent but intensely moving and often animalistic performance.

Though some will not have the patience for this sumptuous slow burner, others will remain on the edge of their seats watching director Francisco Javier Gutiérrez (Before the Fall, Rings) masterfully wring out every minute of tension, unease and impending doom.

It’s hard to say which camp you’ll fall into; this is the kind of film — one the director describes as deeply personal — guaranteed to polarize audiences.

Plenty of viewers will find The Wait too prodding and murky, with its deliberate pacing and strange symbolism. Those brought up with deeply religious backgrounds who have now traded fervent faith for skepticism are likely to find the most meat on these bones.

When a final bit of searing dialogue reveals the intent of the title, it’s a chilling gut punch for those who have patiently followed a sacrificial lamb into the wild boars’ den.

We start with a genesis, but we end up with quite a revelation.