The Chalk Line

2022 Spanish psychological thriller film

The Chalk Line
Theatrical release poster
SpanishJaula
Directed byIgnacio Tatay
Written by
Produced by
Starring
  • Elena Anaya
  • Pablo Molinero
  • Eva Tennear
  • Eva Llorach
  • Carlos Santos
  • Esther Acebo
  • Eloy Azorín
CinematographyOriol Barcelona
Music bySnorri Hallgrímsson
Production
company
Pokeepsie Films
Distributed bySony Pictures Entertainment Iberia
Release date
  • 9 September 2022 (2022-09-09)
Running time
106 minutes[1][2]
CountrySpain
LanguageSpanish
Box office€152,266

The Chalk Line (Spanish: Jaula; transl. 'Cage')[a][3] is a 2022 Spanish mystery psychological thriller[4] film directed by Ignacio Tatay in his feature debut. It stars Elena Anaya.

Plot

The story is primarily set in a residential area with upper-class villas.[5] One night, Paula and her husband discover a wandering girl who is obsessed with a monster that will allegedly haunt her once she crosses a chalk square drawn on the ground. After attempting to amend their conjugal relationship, the couple pledges to foster the girl on a temporary basis.[3][6]

Cast

Production

Isabel Peña collaborated in writing the story.[11] The project, a Pokeepsie Films production, was halted due to the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic in Spain. Filming resumed in July 2020,[12][13] with Oriol Barcelona on cinematography duties.[14] The film was shot at a number of locations in the Madrid region,[7] including Madrid, San Lorenzo de El Escorial, Boadilla del Monte, as well as a set in Villaviciosa de Odón.[6]

Release

Distributed by Sony Pictures Entertainment Iberia,[13] the film was theatrically released in Spain on 9 September 2022[1] and came out on Netflix on 24 October 2022.[15][2]

Reception

Box office

The Chalk Line grossed €152,266 in Spain.[16]

Critical response

The review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes reported a 67% approval rating, with an average score of 6.4/10, based on 9 reviews.[2]

Raquel Hernández Luján of HobbyConsolas gave the film 78 points ("good"), deeming it to be "candy for thriller lovers", with "good performances and production values", endorsing a "memorable debut".[11] Miguel Ángel Romero of Cinemanía rated the film 3 out of 5 stars, writing that Tatay makes a masterful debut, "a horror-tinged thriller whose strength lies in the acting quality of its protagonists".[10] Jordi Batlle Caminal of Fotogramas rated Jaula 3 out of 5 stars, deeming the debut feature to be a "model exercise in genre cinema, well-made and without authorial pretensions", featuring a "spectacular" plot twist at the height of the hour mark.[17] Marshall Shaffer of Decider.com considered that despite being a "promising feature debut" for Tatay, the film "never quite coheres as it should", failing to "fulfill all its ambitions or breakthrough beyond its (admittedly impressively crafted) atmosphere".[18]

See also

Notes

  1. ^ Also known under the working title La casa de tiza

References

  1. ^ a b "The Chalk Line (2022)". Box Office Mojo. IMDbPro. Retrieved 27 February 2023.
  2. ^ a b c "The Chalk Line". Rotten Tomatoes. Fandango Media. Retrieved 11 February 2023.
  3. ^ a b ""Jaula", ópera prima de Ignacio Tatay, con Elena Anaya y Carlos Santos en su reparto, llegará a los cines el 9 de septiembre". 73tv (in Spanish). 15 April 2022.
  4. ^ Lasso, Ana (9 September 2022). "'Jaula', un inquietante 'thriller' psicológico que cautivó a Álex de la Iglesia en tan solo un día y esconde una brutal realidad". Sensacine (in Spanish).
  5. ^ Belategui, Oskar (8 September 2022). "'Jaula': Elena Anaya y la pesadilla de ser madre". El Correo (in Spanish).
  6. ^ a b "Rodajes en la Comunidad de Madrid - Largometrajes cinematográficos 2021" (PDF) (in Spanish). Film Madrid. Oficina de Promoción de Rodajes de la Comunidad de Madrid. Region of Madrid Filming Promotion Office. p. 41. Retrieved 1 September 2022.
  7. ^ a b "Primeras imágenes de Jaula, cinta de terror protagonizada por Elena Anaya y producida por Álex de la Iglesia". Cultura Ocio (in Spanish). 28 July 2022.
  8. ^ Simón, Xisco (11 September 2022). "'Jaula': Elena Anaya protagoniza la mejor película española de terror del año". Las Furias Magazine (in Spanish).
  9. ^ a b c d e f Ocaña, Carla (25 October 2022). "Quién es quién en "Jaula", la nueva película de terror de Netflix". mag (in Spanish) – via El Comercio.
  10. ^ a b Romero, Miguel Ángel (6 September 2022). "Crítica de 'Jaula'". Cinemanía (in Spanish) – via 20minutos.es.
  11. ^ a b Hernández Luján, Raquel (1 September 2022). "Crítica de Jaula, una película muy solvente sobre terrores reales". HobbyConsolas (in Spanish).
  12. ^ ""La casa de tiza" reinicia de nuevo su rodaje tras el parón por la COOVID-19". La Vanguardia (in Spanish). 9 July 2020.
  13. ^ a b Ros, Ana (15 July 2020). "La casa de la tiza". Academia de las Artes y las Ciencias Cinematográficas de España (in Spanish).
  14. ^ "Pokeepsie Films retoma el rodaje de 'La casa de tiza'". Camera and Light Mag (in Spanish). 14 July 2020.
  15. ^ "Jaula (2022) – Financial Information". The Numbers. Nash Information Services, LLC. Retrieved 27 February 2023.
  16. ^ "Jaula". Catálogo de Cinespañol. ICAA. Retrieved 27 February 2023.
  17. ^ Batlle Caminal, Jordi (8 September 2022). "Crítica de 'Jaula': una producción de Álex de la Iglesia". Fotogramas (in Spanish).
  18. ^ Shaffer, Marshall (24 October 2022). "Stream It or Skip It: 'The Chalk Line' on Netflix, a Creepy Kid Thriller with an Outline Drawn Too Lightly". decider.com.

External links

  • Jaula at ICAA's Catálogo de Cinespañol
  • The Chalk Line at IMDb Edit this at Wikidata