Nocturna: Side A – The Great Old Man’s Night (2021) Review

I used to be able to count on one hand the number of horror films that made me cry. Argentinian film ‘Nocturna : Side A – The Great Old Man’s Night’ has been added to the relatively small list.

As the name suggests, the feature is followed up with ‘Nocturna : Side B – Where The Elephants Go To Die’, so I have a feeling this list will be expanding in the not so distant future.

Director Gonzalo Calzada’s emotive feature follows the elderly Ulises (Pepe Soriano) through what transpires to be a poignantly significant evening in his life. Delicately laced with memories of youth, the film beautifully depicts the heartbreak of ageing. Memories fade out and as the now aged Ulises touches his face he appears to not recognise the old man beneath his fingertips. Reflecting on time gone by, his faltering heartbeat is heart over sorrowfully soft piano music.

Clearly sinking into the clutches of dementia, Ulises often finds himself lost and disoriented. He tries to maintain strength to look after his beloved wife and protect their home, from which the elderly couple fear eviction. From snippets of conversation we learn that the elderly couple rarely receive visitors and their vulnerability is clear through the fog of confusion. When an unfamiliar neighbour begins to hammer on the front door crying for help, you can understand his apprehension.

The tale has a number of twists and turns, with apparitions and hauntings blending with the uncertainty of an ageing mind – leaving the viewer as dazed as Ulises. When yesterday was decades ago and we are unable to rely on the rules of time, reality takes on new meaning.

Pepe Soriano is utterly impeccable, delivering a devastatingly tender performance.

Nocturna will make you rethink the past, present and your own reality – and what it really means to be haunted.

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