Hubbry Logo
The Chalk LineThe Chalk LineMain
Open search
The Chalk Line
Community hub
The Chalk Line
logo
7 pages, 0 posts
0 subscribers
Be the first to start a discussion here.
Be the first to start a discussion here.
Contribute something
The Chalk Line
The Chalk Line
The Chalk Line
View on Wikipedia
from Wikipedia

The Chalk Line
Theatrical release poster
SpanishJaula
Directed byIgnacio Tatay
Written by
Produced by
Starring
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) and co-written by Isabel Peña. It stars Elena Anaya.[5]

Plot

[edit]

Paula and her husband, Simón, live in an area of upper-class villas. While returning home one night, they notice a mute young girl wandering alone in the middle of the road and take her to the hospital. The hospital cannot locate any of the girl's family, with the only clue being the fact that she responds to the name Clara. Paula soon develops a bond with Clara, and thinking a home environment may improve her condition, her doctor Gloria suggests Paula and Simón temporarily foster her. Clara begins to settle down as Paula and Simón draw chalk lines throughout their house for Clara to move within. During a visit, Gloria tries to get Clara to go outside, threatening to erase one of the chalk lines if she does not. This causes Clara to become upset and yell "buma". Gloria attempts to coax Clara into talking, but she only utters a few words.

The next day, Paula invites her friend Claudia over for breakfast, as part of a playdate between her daughter and Clara. Claudia accidentally eats a shard of glass and is rushed to hospital. Simón suspects Clara placed the shard intentionally, but Paula dismisses him, and the two agree to not tell Gloria. Paula notices that Clara speaks the German word for chalk, Kreide. Thinking she could be from Germany, Paula confirms Clara can understand German but still remains mute. On her next visit, Gloria tells Paula and Simón she knows about the incident and arranges for Clara to return to the hospital. Paula confronts Claudia and slowly becomes more withdrawn from her friends. As Paula tries to find the meaning of the word "buma", she realises it is in fact Buhmann, German for bogeyman. At the same time, she begins choking on a shard of glass. Before rushing to the bathroom, she draws a line in front of Clara. When she returns, Clara has disappeared. Despite the front door being left open, Paula denies she could have left on her own, as she has never been seen crossing the chalk lines. Simón and friends decide to hold an intervention, but Paula, despondent at losing the girl, tells them to leave. Simón then confronts Paula about secretly taking fertility injections, accusing her of obsessing over Clara, and showing her hidden glass shards.

Paula, now alone, receives a phone call from Clara. Distressed, she phones the police, who report that the call was made from Paula's cellphone and ask she take a psychological examination. Still believing Clara to be alive, Paula steals a collection of files from an officer's desk and finds a case strikingly similar to Clara's: a 17-year-old Swiss girl named Ingrid found dead in France, suffering from malnutrition, with a paper angel placed next to her. Paula returns home and notices a drawing Clara had made of her neighbour and friend, Eduardo, from inside their house. Believing Eduardo has kidnapped Clara, she calls the police and wanders over to his house.

In a flashback, Eduardo is seen carrying Clara onto the road, telling her to follow the centre line, not to talk, and to walk towards a police checkpoint ahead. During a dinner party at Paula and Simón's, Eduardo is shown putting a shard of glass in the jam. Later, he attempts to abduct Clara but is foiled as Simón returns home, managing to steal Paula's cellphone.

Eduardo stabs Clara and drags her down to his basement. Paula realises Eduardo kidnapped Ingrid when she was 12 and imprisoned her in the basement, where she gave birth to Clara. Eduardo forces Paula to reveal how she knew. She tells him about the police files, and while Eduardo tries to find them, she throws Clara a piece of chalk so she can hide. When Eduardo returns, Paula distracts him long enough for Clara to escape and find help. As Clara tentatively makes her way outside, she tries to call to Simón but is abducted yet again by Eduardo's wife, Maite. The next morning, Eduardo's house is raided by police. Clara and Paula are shown having a video call: Clara has been reunited with her grandmother, and Paula and Simón have moved to the city.

Cast

[edit]

Production

[edit]

Isabel Peña collaborated in writing the story.[10] The project, a Pokeepsie Films production, was halted due to the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic in Spain. Filming resumed in July 2020,[11][12] with Oriol Barcelona on cinematography duties.[13] The film was shot at a number of locations in the Madrid region,[6] including Madrid, San Lorenzo de El Escorial, Boadilla del Monte, as well as a set in Villaviciosa de Odón.[14]

Release

[edit]

Distributed by Sony Pictures Entertainment Iberia,[12] the film was theatrically released in Spain on 9 September 2022[1] and came out on Netflix on 24 October 2022.[15][2]

Reception

[edit]

Box office

[edit]

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

Critical response

[edit]

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".[10] 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".[9] 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

[edit]

Notes

[edit]

References

[edit]
[edit]
Revisions and contributorsEdit on WikipediaRead on Wikipedia

The Chalk Line

View on Grokipedia
from Grokipedia
The Chalk Line (Spanish: Jaula, lit. '') is a 2022 Spanish film written and directed by Ignacio Tatay in his feature directorial debut. The story centers on a childless couple, Paula and Simón, who discover a traumatized young girl named Clara wandering alone on a remote highway; after taking her in as a foster child, Paula becomes obsessed with unraveling the girl's and peculiar behaviors, including her refusal to cross a she draws to confine herself. Starring as Paula, Molinero as Simón, and Eva Tennear as Clara, the film runs for 106 minutes and delves into themes of trauma, isolation, and hidden family secrets. Produced by Pokeepsie Films, The Chalk Line premiered theatrically in Spain on September 9, 2022, before its worldwide streaming release on Netflix on October 24, 2022. The film marked a notable entry in Spanish cinema's thriller genre. Critically, The Chalk Line garnered mixed to positive reception, earning a 75% approval rating on Rotten Tomatoes from eight reviews, with praise for its tense atmosphere and Anaya's performance, though some noted pacing issues in the slower-building narrative; it received a nomination for Best First Film at the 2022 Almería International Film Festival. On IMDb, it holds a 6.1/10 average rating from over 12,000 user votes, reflecting its appeal to audiences interested in slow-burn thrillers involving child psychology and suspense.

Narrative and characters

Plot

Paula and Simón, a childless couple struggling with , are driving home one night when they spot a young girl wandering alone on a deserted . Concerned for her safety after a near-accident with a motorcyclist, they stop to help and discover she is traumatized, malnourished, and suffering from , refusing to speak or provide any information about her identity. Taking her to a , the couple learns she has endured severe physical and emotional distress, prompting them to temporarily foster the girl, whom they name Clara, while investigate her origins. Once at home, Clara exhibits disturbing behaviors, drawing a chalk line around her sleeping area and adamantly refusing to cross it, becoming hysterical if anyone attempts to remove the boundary or force her beyond it. This serves as a central motif, representing the psychological barriers imposed by her trauma and her desperate need for control in an uncertain world. Paula, who has faced her own emotional challenges related to the couple's , forms a strong bond with Clara, viewing the girl as an opportunity to nurture and heal, which influences their decision to care for her despite the growing strain on their . To help Clara communicate, the couple enlists Gloria, who conducts sessions aimed at uncovering the girl's past. During these sessions, Clara begins to express herself through disturbing drawings that hint at experiences of and confinement, gradually revealing fragments of her traumatic history without verbalizing it. As interactions intensify, psychological tension builds within the household, testing Paula and Simón's resolve and deepening their attachment to the enigmatic child.

Cast

The main cast of The Chalk Line is led by as Paula, an empathetic wife grappling with infertility struggles. Pablo Molinero portrays Simón, Paula's supportive and practical-minded husband. Eva Tennear plays the unnamed girl, a traumatized child exhibiting and mysterious behaviors such as drawing chalk boundaries to define her . Sonia Almarcha appears as Gloria, the child's involved in assessing the girl's condition. Supporting roles include Mona Martínez as Sargento Arana. These casting choices contribute to the film's tense psychological atmosphere by emphasizing the characters' emotional vulnerabilities and interpersonal dynamics.

Production

Development

Ignacio Tatay directed The Chalk Line as his feature film debut, co-writing the with Isabel Peña. The story drew inspiration from real-life cases of prolonged and confinement, such as the Josef Fritzl incident in , where Fritzl imprisoned and abused his daughter Elisabeth for 24 years in a basement, fathering seven children with her; this informed the film's exploration of , isolation, and the long-term effects of captivity on a young victim. Development occurred during 2020–2021, with the script finalized in that period ahead of production approval; was obtained from Spanish companies La Otra Casa La Película, A.I.E. (majority stakeholder) and Pokeepsie Films, S.L.U. Tatay opted for a psychological thriller approach rather than horror, prioritizing subtle buildup of tension through character-driven suspense and emotional realism over graphic violence or supernatural elements.

Filming

Principal photography for The Chalk Line took place entirely within the in , spanning several weeks in the summer of 2020. Production began earlier that season but was briefly halted due to the before resuming in July and wrapping in August. Filming utilized a variety of locations to capture the story's intimate and tense settings, including urban apartments in the City of to represent the couple's home, isolated rural roads in areas such as for the discovery scene, and clinical facilities within for therapy sessions. Additional shoots occurred in and on a constructed set in Villaviciosa de Odón to enhance the film's atmospheric isolation. The film's was handled by Oriol Barcelona, who employed tight framing and confined interior shots to create a claustrophobic atmosphere that heightens the throughout the narrative. No major were used, with the production relying on practical techniques to depict the young girl's unusual behaviors and reactions. A key aspect of the shoot involved the child actress Eva Tennear, who portrayed the traumatized girl Clara and auditioned for the role at age seven while filming occurred when she was around eight. The production navigated the demands of working with a young performer in intense psychological sequences, though specific logistical details remain limited in .

Release

Premiere and festivals

The Chalk Line (Jaula) had its with a theatrical release in on , 2022. The film later screened at the International (FICAL) in 2022, earning a for Best First Film for debut director Ignacio . Festival screenings generated positive buzz for the movie's tense atmosphere and Anaya's compelling portrayal of Paula, establishing early recognition for Tatay's feature directorial debut in the thriller genre.

Distribution

The Chalk Line had its theatrical release in on September 9, 2022, distributed by Entertainment Iberia. The film also received a limited theatrical rollout in select international markets, including on the same date, with screenings in a handful of European countries such as and shortly thereafter. There was no major theatrical release in the United States, where it went direct-to-streaming. As a Netflix original co-production, the film premiered worldwide on the streaming platform on October 24, 2022, making it available globally in multiple languages including Spanish, English, German, and French. Marketing efforts focused on the film's thriller and mystery elements, with official trailers released by in August 2022 highlighting the psychological tension and the enigmatic child character. Posters prominently featured the chalk line motif as a central visual symbol, evoking themes of confinement and discovery. Promotional activities included tours and interviews in by director Ignacio Tatay and lead actors and Pablo Molinero, appearing on media outlets to discuss the production. For home media, the film became available on internationally upon its streaming debut and remains accessible there.

Reception

Critical response

The Chalk Line received generally positive reviews from critics, earning a 75% approval rating on based on eight reviews, with praise centered on its suspenseful buildup and exploration of . Reviewers highlighted the film's ability to maintain tension through subtle atmospheric elements, such as the effective use of and sparse to evoke unease. Critics lauded Elena Anaya's performance as Paula, noting her nuanced portrayal of a woman grappling with empathy and suspicion toward the enigmatic child. Director Ignacio Tatay's debut feature was commended for its controlled pacing and genre craftsmanship, with Spanish critic Jordi Batlle Caminal of Fotogramas describing it as "an exemplary exercise in genre filmmaking, well crafted and without pretensions," particularly praising the script's spectacular twist that sustains tension without excess. The film's visual restraint in depicting the girl's confinement and the couple's unraveling dynamics was also seen as a strength, contributing to a chilling sense of dread. Some reviewers pointed to minor flaws, including predictable elements in the thriller tropes and underdeveloped aspects of the supporting characters, which occasionally undermined the narrative's depth. For instance, while the mid-film revelation was impactful, certain plot threads felt unevenly resolved, leading to frustrations in fully grasping the antagonists' motivations. International critics post-Netflix release drew comparisons to Spanish thrillers like The Orphanage for its eerie child-centered premise and emotional undercurrents, though it was noted for leaning more toward psychological realism than horror.

Commercial performance

The Chalk Line grossed $178,176 in during its limited theatrical run, marking a moderate performance for an independent Spanish thriller in a competitive market. Following its debut on , the film saw strong initial streaming viewership, with 17.36 million hours viewed globally in its first full week (October 24-30, ), reaching the top 5 among the most-watched movies globally and claiming the number one spot in the horror category across the platform. It ranked prominently in several countries' top 10 lists shortly after release, with popularity metrics indicating sustained interest in the horror and thriller genres, including 4,174 points among Spanish-language titles and 43 points in horror movies for . The film's wider market reach stemmed from Netflix's international distribution, which amplified its visibility beyond the domestic , akin to the streaming success of comparable Spanish productions like The Platform. Factors such as festival buzz from its Sitges premiere and word-of-mouth propelled its streaming uptake, despite a brief theatrical window designed to prioritize the platform rollout. Critical acclaim further contributed to building streaming interest.

References

  1. https://www.imdb.com/title/tt12683756/
  2. https://www.netflix.com/title/80242820
  3. https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/jaula
  4. https://www.imdb.com/title/tt12683756/fullcredits/
  5. https://www.imdb.com/title/tt12683756/releaseinfo/
  6. https://www.commonsensemedia.org/movie-reviews/the-chalk-line
  7. https://www.imdb.com/title/tt12683756/awards/
  8. https://www.highonfilms.com/the-chalk-line-jaula-2022-recap-movie-ending-explained/
  9. https://decider.com/2022/10/24/the-chalk-line-netflix-review/
  10. https://www.heavenofhorror.com/reviews/the-chalk-line-netflix/
  11. https://www.whattowatch.com/features/the-chalk-line-cast-whos-who-in-the-spanish-netflix-mystery
  12. https://vaguevisages.com/2022/11/01/the-chalk-line-cast-netflix-characters/
  13. https://thecinemaholic.com/is-netflixs-the-chalk-line-based-on-a-true-story/
  14. https://fugitives.com/the-chalk-line-based-on-true-story-2022-horror-thriller-film-netflix/
  15. https://www.cultura.gob.es/dam/jcr:abb597d4-d245-4829-82d9-00fbe61b4021/avance-l2021-nov2022-opt.pdf
  16. https://www.screendaily.com/features/pokeepsies-alex-de-la-iglesia-and-carolina-bang-on-building-a-spanish-genre-label-with-global-reach-exclusive/5178911.article
  17. https://www.rtve.es/television/20220909/elena-anaya-protagoniza-jaula-pelicula-ignacio-tatay/2401480.shtml
  18. https://thecinemaholic.com/where-was-netflixs-the-chalk-line-filmed/
  19. https://readysteadycut.com/2022/10/25/the-chalk-line-review/
  20. https://www.bristolpost.co.uk/whats-on/film/netflix-the-chalk-line-features-7754476
  21. https://www.espinof.com/criticas/jaula-alex-iglesia-presenta-turbio-thriller-lleno-intriga-giros-terror-que-se-consume-como-novela-aeropuerto
  22. https://www.filmaffinity.com/en/film251875.html
  23. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TMQT7GaIQZw
  24. https://www.fotogramas.es/peliculas-criticas/a41114165/jaula-critica-pelicula/
  25. https://www.boxofficemojo.com/title/tt12683756/
  26. http://www.thefutoncritic.com/ratings/2022/11/01/netflix-top-10-week-of-october-24-from-scratch-is-the-most-viewed-title-this-week-all-quiet-on-the-western-front-tops-the-non-english-films-list-237215/20221101netflix06/
  27. https://www.screengeek.net/2022/11/18/netflix-number-one-horror-movie/
  28. https://www.whats-on-netflix.com/what-to-watch/most-popular-spanish-language-movies-series-on-netflix-in-2022/
  29. https://www.whats-on-netflix.com/what-to-watch/most-popular-horror-movies-on-netflix-in-2022/
Add your contribution
Related Hubs
Contribute something
User Avatar
No comments yet.