Film

The Grandmother

Name: The Grandmother
Genre: Drama, Horror
Released: 2022
Cast: Almudena Amor, Vera Valdez, Karina Kolokolchykova, Marina Gutiérrez, Berta Sánchez

Other titles called The Grandmother: the 1970 film.

Family drama

A Spanish horror-drama about a woman returning home to care for her ailing grandmother, only to discover that something far darker haunts their family history. Unsettling rather than jump-scare heavy, it braids psychological unease with intimate family dysfunction into something genuinely unsettling. For those who like their horror to feel personal and rooted in real dread.

TMDb rating

2.9

Should you watch it?

Watch it if you like slow-burning unease that builds through domestic detail, where a family's quiet resentments carry as much dread as any jump scare.

Skip it if you need the scares to arrive early and often, because this lingers on the family's small frictions and keeps its horror edge deliberately vague for long stretches.

What it asks of you: Roughly a hundred minutes of patient, close attention, with the dread accumulating in glances and silences rather than arriving in sudden bursts.

Not sure? Find tonight's pick in a minute.

If you liked this

Hereditary2018

A family curse unfolds across generations with the same blend of domestic claustrophobia and mounting supernatural dread. Masterfully constructed horror that uses what you don't see to burrow under your skin.

But Extremely bleak, with imagery designed to lodge in your brain permanently. Not a film that leaves you feeling good.

The Night House2021

A widow investigates her husband's secrets after his death, combining intimate grief with creeping cosmic horror. Atmospheric and genuinely unsettling, with a lead performance that anchors everything in real human pain.

But Slow-burn pacing means patience is non-negotiable. Some find the ambiguity frustrating rather than compelling.

Goodnight Mommy2015

An Austrian horror-drama about twin boys and their mother after facial surgery, twisting domestic unease into something genuinely disturbing. Visually striking and deeply weird in ways that stay with you.

But The twist feels deliberately unpleasant rather than satisfying. Not interested in being likeable to its audience.

Not sure tonight? Get a pick in a minute, starting from The Grandmother

The wildcard

Something you would not have found on your own.

A Tale of Two Sisters2003

Both pivot on the unreliability of perception within family spaces and use supernatural imagery as a metaphor for intergenerational trauma and domestic dysfunction.

A South Korean horror about two sisters returning home after hospitalization, where domestic disturbance collapses into nightmare logic. Devastatingly beautiful and genuinely disturbing, operating in the space between reality and psychological trauma.

But The twist reframes everything, and if you dislike retroactive recontextualization, it will feel like betrayal rather than revelation.

The Killing of a Sacred Deer2017

Yorgos Lanthimos constructs escalating dread from a surgeon's family and a mysterious boy's presence, moving from subtle wrongness into explicit nightmare. Clinical precision applied to psychological horror.

But Deliberately artificial dialogue and pacing will feel mannered if you're looking for naturalism. Some find it pretentious rather than profound.

The Wailing2016

A South Korean masterpiece that layers mystery, folk horror, and faith into an increasingly fractured narrative. Morally murky and structurally ambitious, refusing easy answers about what's really happening.

But Nearly three hours long with an ending that deliberately unsettles rather than resolves. Demands active interpretation rather than passive watching.

Raw2017

A French-Belgian horror about a vegetarian veterinary student whose awakening appetite becomes something monstrous and flesh-bound. Formally inventive, darkly funny, and genuinely transgressive.

But Graphic violence and cannibalistic imagery. The body horror is explicit and not for the squeamish.

Saint Maud2020

A caregiver's devotion to her dying patient curdles into obsession and delusion in this British psychological horror. Intimate, unsettling, and operating in the space between reality and mental fracture.

But Deliberately ambiguous about what's real. The ambiguity frustrates some viewers more than it intrigues them.