I have an article coming soon about titles I’m looking forward to in the new year and for that matter, I know my friend Christina Ortega has some interest in this one – the latest from XYZ Films being Huesera: The Bone Woman from celebrated breakout Mexican director Michelle Garza Cervera.
The official poster dropped today along with release date news announcing a theatrical rollout on February 10 in major markets nationwide across the U.S., and as well as on VOD on February 16 from XYZ Films, and a launch date on AMC’s Shudder to be announced thereafter.
Huesera: The Bone Woman world premiered at Tribeca’s Midnight section to acclaim, winning both the Best New Narrative Director and Nora Ephron awards, an unprecedented feat for a Midnight selection. The film also scored both the Blood Window Award for Best Feature Film and the Citizen Kane Award for Best Directorial Revelation at Sitges, and the Feature Film Audience Award at the Mexico’s Morelia International Film Festival.
Check out the poster below!
Natalia Solián (Carlos Eichelmann Kaiser’s Venice selection ZAPATOS ROJOS) stars “as Valeria, a young woman expecting her first child who becomes cursed by a sinister entity. Plunged into a terrifying and dangerous world, a group of witches emerge as her only hope for safety and salvation, but not without grave risk.
The film also stars Alfonso Dosal (Netflix’s Narcos: Mexico), Mayra Batalla (Prayers For The Stolen), Mercedes Hernández (Identifying Features), Aída López (Capadocia), and Martha Claudia Moreno. Here’s more on the film:
Widely lauded by critics, who have praised HUESERA: THE BONE WOMAN for its mesmerizing lead, beautiful cinematography, chilling sound design, and, above all else, its evocative approach to themes of motherhood, the role of women in modern society, queer identity, and body autonomy — all incredibly timely and relevant today more than ever. The film has quickly been revered as an accomplished, Mexican folk-inspired spin on crucial maternal horrors such as The Babadook, Hereditary, and Rosemary’s Baby, with Forbes hailing the feature as “a stunningly portrayed cinematic outing,” Variety calling it “spine-chillingly terrifying,” and The Hollywood Reporter lauding it as “an astute study of desire and self-deception” in their rave reviews.
With her feature debut, the Mexico City-based Garza Cervera — a rising young talent in the Latin-American genre scene already celebrated for her earlier short films that played festivals around the world — announces herself as a bold, visionary new voice in genre-challenging, independent film not to be ignored.
The Mexico-Peru co-prod is produced by Machete and Disruptiva in co-production with Señor Z, Maligno Gorehouse, IMCINE, Terminal, Simplemente, and Estudios Churubusco, and is co-written by Garza Cervera and Abia Castillo.
Following the film’s theatrical and digital release from XYZ Films in February, Shudder, AMC Networks’ premium streaming service for horror, thrillers and the supernatural, will release the film on their platform in North America, the United Kingdom, Ireland, Australia and New Zealand.