Genre: Drama, Science Fiction, Thriller
Actor: Chete Lera, Eduardo Noriega, Fele Martínez, Gérard Barray, Ion Gabella, Miguel Palenzuela, Najwa Nimri, Penélope Cruz, Tristán Ulloa, Walter Prieto
Director: Alejandro Amenábar
1. Open Your Eyes, 1997
While the mixed reception of its near-faithful American remake Vanilla Sky might make some viewers pause, there’s an intuitive brilliance in the Spanish original Open Your Eyes that isn’t easy to translate. Sure, the apparent differences help– it’s shorter and less complicated, and Cesar’s face turns more grotesque than David’s does. But what’s startling about Open Your Eyes is the way writer-director Alejandro Amenábar guides the camera through its various shifts, creating a more subtle and gradual realization that something is wrong, and thus, a more terrifying dream turned nightmare. Amenábar has later deemed the film as his worst, saying it was written when he didn't know much about life, but, in our opinion, Abre Los Ojos still holds up as a groundbreaking existential sci-fi simulation, one that still puzzles and captivates years after.
