Juanma Bajo Ulloa premieres 'Evil' and connects with a real ethical debate
The Basque filmmaker Juanma Bajo Ulloa arrives in theaters this Friday with his latest work, titled 'Evil'. This film places at the center of the plot a novelist, played by Belén Fabra, and a criminal, brought to life by Natalia Tena. The story is built on a disturbing proposition: the killer offers the author the key to success if she narrates her macabre acts. This fictional premise resonates strongly with a real cultural debate that has shaken Spain recently. 🎬
A fictional mirror of a true controversy
The movie's premise directly recalls the controversy generated by the book 'Hatred', by Luisgé Martín. That work compiles the statements of the killer José Bretón about the crime of his children. That journalistic project sparked an intense public discussion about how far creation can go, the ethics of reporting, and whether a criminal should gain any benefit from recounting their crime. Bajo Ulloa seems to traverse this same swampy terrain, but using the tools of cinema.
Key elements of the real connection:- The killer's proposal to the writer reflects the ethical pact that was questioned in the Bretón case.
- The movie explores the power relationship between the one who narrates a story and the one who lives it violently.
- It questions whether artistic success can justify allying with the source of evil.
Bajo Ulloa's fiction becomes a laboratory to dissect very current moral dilemmas.
A director's obsession with darkness
For Bajo Ulloa, delving into the dark sides of the human being is not new. His filmography, with titles like 'Butterfly Wings' or 'The Dead Mother', already demonstrated his interest in family conflicts and violence. With 'Evil', the director returns to this universe to examine the complex dynamic that can arise between victims and executioners, and between those who tell the stories and those who protagonize them in the most terrible way.
Traits of Bajo Ulloa's filmography present in 'Evil':