The night before her mother’s funeral, a grieving daughter gathers her clueless sisters with a secret plan to resurrect her matriarch. When the spell summons a Lechuza, a vengeful witch of Latin American folklore, the sisters must fight to survive the night.
I am so grateful to be able to learn about all sorts of legends and myths from around the world. I had heard of La Llorona, but not La Lechuza. With beating drums, a devastatingly beautiful owl mid-flight, and incense burning next to a mother’s dead body — all in black and white, by the way — we’re brought into the world of grief and magic. I’m sure many people can empathize with wanting to bring back a deceased loved one by any means necessary, and these sisters turn to an Owl Witch without realizing what horrors could happen after summoning her. With candles, sigils and a ritual book, the sisters and thrust into a technicolor world of fear and pain: the world of La Lechuza.
Just, wow. The use of color alone gives this 8-minute short the necessary power to punch a story right into its audience’s faces. With each color change, Lechuza‘s tone and emotion changes, leaving the viewer more time to focus on what they’re seeing instead of how to feel. For example, when the sisters are brought into Lechuza’s world, everything is soaked first in a disorienting red/blue colorblock, then smothered in reds and rusty oranges, just as the sisters are as blood spatters covers their bodies. The black and white scenes are jarring yet beautiful, especially those featuring the owl.
Speaking of this Owl Witch, Lechuza herself is a creature I wouldn’t mind seeing more of again. As she terrorizes the sisters, we only get glimpses of the monstrosity that is her true form: a cloaked beak, humanoid terror. Lechuza gives the viewers many different types of scares here, from animal creatures, to witchcraft, to demon possession. There is something for everyone.
Lechuza is a sneak peak into the realm of a feared Latin American icon that I think should be brought out for others to enjoy. Let the world of old-time gods and monsters reign — that is where we get the best inspiration from anyway, right?
