‘The Wailing’ San Sebastian Press Conference

Spain has a long and fruitful tradition of producing horror films that elevate the genre and become enduring classics domestically and abroad – think Jaume Balagueró and Paco Plaza’s “[Rec],” J.A. Bayona’s “El Orphanage” or Guillermo del Toro’s Oscar nominee “Pan’s Labyrinth.” This year’s San Sebastian Film Festival is debuting a new candidate to join that prestigious list of modern classics, Pedro Martín-Calero‘s “The Wailing.”

In the film, three young women separated by decades and thousands of miles are terrorized by the same ethereal threat that nobody, not even they, can properly see. The entity manifests more like a trick of lighting than anything corporeal. In each case, when the women attempt to confront the presence, they hear the same horrific wailing.

During a mid-morning press conference ahead of the film’s Wednesday night world premiere in San Sebastian main competition, debut feature director Martín-Calero and his co-writer Isabel Peña (“The Beasts,” “The Candidate”), an extremely accomplished scribe who frequently works with Rodrigo Sorogoyen, were joined by cast members and producers to speak with the global press.

Martín-Calero explained that the idea for “The Wailing” was something rolling around in his head for some time, based on little more than “an image that haunted me and certain ideas. I shared them with Isabel, and we started to write the script together,” he recalled.

The duo said that from the start, there was no intention to create something high-concept. Instead, the idea was to make a “simple” horror film that would rely heavily on “images, sensations, atmospheres and, above all, a scenario in which a young woman in a nightclub attacked by an insidious force that symbolized other things beyond what could normally appear… an entity that is difficult to understand that contains other, deeper things,” Martín-Calero elaborated.

By creating something ethereal, the director says his film allows viewers to impart their own fears from the real world into the film’s otherworldly antagonist.

“A common theme in horror movies is not believing the victim, and we realized that this is absolutely what happens these days,” added Peña. “It was something that made our skin crawl, and we knew that the theme was there to be conveyed.”

Although the initial plan was to do something simple to touch on the themes the co-writers were pondering, development ended up stretching out to four years before shooting finally started in Madrid. That said, the results seem to have justified the struggle, with local film critics heaping praise on the film, comparing it favorably to modern arthouse horror hits such as “It Follows,” “Midsommar” and “Hereditary.”

Bolstering the film’s commercial credentials is lead actor Ester Expósito, best known for headlining Netflix’s global smash hit teen drama series “Élite.” France’s Mathilde Ollivier (Netflix’s “1899,” J.J. Abrams’ “Overlord”) and Argentina’s Malena Villa, star of Cannes Un Certain Regard title “El Ángel,” co-star.

According to the filmmaker, casting Expósito was a real boon for the production. “She has a brutal presence and we wanted to play with expectations,” he explained of casting an actor best known for her pulpy teen drama work for such a serious role. “It was a pleasure to work with her.”

Although the reception to “The Wailing” has been positive, Martín-Calero says he’s in no hurry to return to the horror genre. In fact, he said he’s “not really a big fan” of horror films but didn’t go so far as to rule out helming another thriller.

“The Wailing” is produced by up-and-coming Madrid label Caballo Films, backers of Rodrigo Sorogoyen’s films, including “The Beasts” – co-written by Peña – which won the Spanish Academy Goya award for best picture last year and a French best foreign film Cesar.

The San Sebastian premiere was backed by Spanish broadcaster RTVE and Prime Video and is sold by Film Factory Entertainment. Universal Pictures International Spain will handle its theatrical domestic distribution.