The Year of the Plague (2018), entitled El Año de la Plaga in original Spanish language, is a hybrid between science-fiction, mystery and comedy, a sort of free new take on the Invasion of the Body Snatchers (1956) story but… not really. It is based on the popular bestseller novel of the same name by Marc Pastor.
In the movie, Victor can’t understand why he ever became a social worker: him, who hates people and closes his house up under lock and key. In the middle of a hot summer in Barcelona, Irene, Victor’s girlfriend, leaves him. His friends are working on getting him a new special one, but he won’t move on. With such an unsociable character, it’s impossible to get over his breakup with Irene, a series of mysterious events ravaging the city that will force Victor to become an unexpected hero.
The screenplay for The Year of the Plague (2018) has been written by Miguel Ibáñez Monroy, Ángeles Hernández and David Matamoros, with the collaboration of the original novel’s writer Marc Pastor. Miriam Giovanelli, Ana Serradilla, Brays Efe, Silvia Abril, Natalia Sánchez, Iván Massagué, Marta Castellote, Maria Molins, Fermí Reixach and Amparo Moreno star in the movie.
Carlos Martín Ferrera, the director of The Year of the Plague (2018), is better known for being the writer and director of Zulo (2005), his debut film about a man kidnaps people and imprisons them in a well for no apparent reason, which won the Prize of the International Critics’ Jury at Sitges Film Festival 2005. A filmmaker of dark thrillers with doses of mystery and horror, this new work is probably his most accessible title to date.
The Year of the Plague (2018) was last year part of the line-up of festivals like Guadalajara International Film Festival in Mexico, Sitges Film Festival in Catalunya and Trieste Science+Fiction Festival in Italy. Now it comes to Spanish theaters on the 17th of May. You can find here its official trailer:
