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The Curse of La Llorona

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Not to be confused with the 1961 Mexican filmThe Curse of the Crying Womanor the 2019 Guatemalan filmLa Llorona.

The Curse of La Llorona
Theatrical release poster
Directed byMichael Chaves
Written by
Produced by
Starring
CinematographyMichael Burgess
Edited byPeter Gvozdas
Music byJoseph Bishara
Production
companies
Distributed byWarner Bros. Pictures
Release dates
  • March 15, 2019(2019-03-15)(SXSW)
  • April 19, 2019(2019-04-19)(United States)
Running time
93 minutes[1]
CountryUnited States
Languages
  • English
  • Spanish
Budget$9million[2]
Box office$123.1million[2]

The Curse of La Llorona(also known asThe Curse of the Weeping Womanin some markets)[3]is a 2019 Americansupernatural horror filmdirected byMichael Chaves,inhis feature directorial debut,and written byMikki DaughtryandTobias Iaconis.Based on the Latin American folklore ofLa Llorona,the film starsLinda Cardellini,Raymond Cruz,andPatricia Velásquez,and follows a mother in 1973Los Angeleswho must save her children from amalevolent spirittrying to steal them.[4][5]The film was produced byJames Wanthrough hisAtomic Monsterbanner and, though not considered an installment in the franchise, takes place withinThe Conjuring Universe.

The Curse of La Lloronapremiered atSouth by Southweston March 15, 2019, and was theatrically released in the United States on April 19, 2019. It received mixed to unfavorable reviews and grossed $123.1 million worldwide.

Plot

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In 1673Mexico,a family plays in a field, and the youngest son gives his mother a necklace, who says she will treasure the item forever. The boy goes on a hike a while later and finds his mother violently drowning his brother in a stream. Horrified, he runs, but his mother catches him; he is assumed to be drowned as well.

300 years later, in 1973Los Angeles,caseworkerAnna investigates the truancy of client Patricia Alvarez's two children. Arriving at Patricia's house for a welfare check, she finds the children locked behind a door. After she insisted and though she was warned to get away from the door, Patricia attacks her and is taken away by the police. Patricia's sons, Carlos and Tomas, tell Anna to keep them in the room, so they are protected. Ignoring their warnings, she takes them to the child-services shelter, unaware that she put them in terrible danger. There, Tomas sleepwalks, and Carlos follows him until both boys see a woman in a white dress who attacks them.

The boys are found drowned in a river, and Anna is called out to the scene. She brings her own children, Chris and Sam, and they stay in the car while she investigates. She hears Patricia, accused of her sons' murders, screaming that it was Anna's fault for taking her sons and that Patricia had tried to stop the malevolent force of "La Llorona."

Chris leaves the car out of curiosity and encountersLa Llorona(English:The Weeping Woman), who seizes his wrist and leaves burns. She stalks him back to the car, but leaves once Anna returns and the family flees the scene. The next day, La Llorona also grabs Sam and leaves identical burn marks. Anna interviews Patricia, who has an alibi for the time of her sons' deaths. However, Patricia reveals that in her hatred for Anna, she prayed to La Llorona to bring her own boys back and take Anna's children instead. Soon after, Anna encounters La Llorona when the spirit attempts to drown Sam in the bathtub. The ghost leaves burn marks on Anna's arm too. Anna seeks help from Father Perez, who relates the case to his previous experiences with ahaunted porcelain doll.Perez tells Anna about former priest Rafael Olvera who has since became a folk shaman, who may be able to help them. Rafael arrives at Anna's house, setting up items for protection. In the night, La Llorona repeatedly attacks them and attempts to drown Anna and Sam in the pool. Anna pulls off La Llorona's necklace in the struggle.

Patricia arrives with a gun and tries to give Anna's children to La Llorona. Sam and Chris flee, and Patricia, realizing that she can't let another mother to feel the same pain she felt, and couldn't bring her children back to life anymore, comes to her senses and releases Anna, allowing her to help her children. Chris delays La Llorona by showing her the necklace that La Llorona's son had given her. This makes La Llorona briefly assume her human appearance and caress Chris, imagining him to be her real son. However, Sam accidentally unveils a mirror, and La Llorona reverts and proceeds to attack them. Anna stabs her through the chest with a cross made from a Fire Tree given by Rafael: trees that grew by the river where La Llorona drowned her children and were the only "witness" to her crime. The spirit is destroyed.

Anna and her children thank Rafael for his help. When he leaves, Anna looks down into a puddle of water beside the road.

Cast

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Production

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In October 2017, New Line Cinema announced to distribute a horror film directed byMichael Chaves,withJames WanandItandAnnabellewriterGary Daubermanserving as producers. Then titledThe Children,[6]by July 2018, the film was renamedThe Curse of La Llorona.[7]Linda Cardelliniwas cast to play a single mother and the lead character.[6]Sean Patrick ThomasandRaymond Cruzco-starred in the film.[8]

After the first trailer's release, it was revealed thatTony Amendolawas returning as Father Perez, last seen in the filmAnnabelle.The character gives direction to the family being tormented by the titular spirit and relates the haunting to his experiences with the demonic entity attached tothe doll.[9]Despite this, Chaves has repeatedly stated that the film is not an official entry intoThe ConjuringUniverse franchise.[10][11][12]

Principal photographyon the film wrapped in November 2017.[13]

Release

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The Curse of La Lloronawas theatrically released in the United States and several other territories on April 19, 2019, byWarner Bros. PicturesandNew Line Cinema.[14]It had its world premiere atSouth by Southweston March 15, 2019.[15]The studio spent an estimated $35–40million on domestic advertisements for the film.[16]

The Curse of La Lloronawas released on Digital HD on July 16, 2019, and was released onBlu-rayandDVDon August 6, 2019.[17]

Reception

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Box office

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The Curse of La Lloronagrossed $54.7million in the United States and Canada, and $68.4million in other territories, for a worldwide total of $123.1million, against a production budget of $9million.[2]Deadline Hollywoodcalculated the net profit of the film to be $45.6million, when factoring together all expenses and revenues.[18]

In the United States and Canada, the film was released alongsideUnder the Silver Lakeand was projected to gross $15–17million from 3,372 theaters in its opening weekend.[19]It made $11.8million on its first day, including $2.75million from Thursday night previews. It went on to over-perform, grossing $26.5million in its opening weekend and topping the box office; 49% of the audience was Hispanic.[16]In its second weekend, the film fell 69.5% to $8million, finishing third.[20]

Critical response

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On thereview aggregatorwebsiteRotten Tomatoes,28% of 192 critics' reviews are positive, with an average rating of 4.5/10. The website's consensus reads: "Content to coast on jump scares rather than tap into its story's creepy potential,The Curse of La Lloronaarrives in theaters already broken. "[21]Metacritic,which uses aweighted average,assigned the film a score of 41 out of 100, based on 28 critics, indicating "mixed or average" reviews.[22]Audiences polled byCinemaScoregave the film an average grade of "B−" on an A+ to F scale, while those atPostTrakgave it 2.5 out of 5 stars and a "definite recommend" of 48%.[16]

Accolades

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Award nominations forThe Curse of La Llorona
Year Award Category Nominee(s) Result
2019 Golden Trailer Awards Best Horror Poster The Curse of La Llorona Nominated
MTV Movie & TV Awards Most Frightened Performance Linda Cardellini Nominated

References

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  1. ^"The Curse Of La Llorona(15) ".British Board of Film Classification.September 15, 2024.RetrievedSeptember 19,2024.
  2. ^abc"The Curse of La Llorona(2019) ".Box Office Mojo.RetrievedJuly 5,2019.
  3. ^"The Curse of the Weeping Woman".YouTube.October 18, 2018.RetrievedFebruary 9,2019.
  4. ^Kroll, Justin (October 9, 2017)."Linda Cardellini to Star in James Wan Horror-Thriller 'The Children' (EXCLUSIVE)".Variety.RetrievedJanuary 9,2018.
  5. ^Squires, John (October 9, 2017)."Linda Cardellini Will Star in New Line's James Wan-Produced 'The Children'".Bloody Disgusting.RetrievedJanuary 9,2018.
  6. ^abBarkan, Jonathan (October 9, 2017)."Linda Cardellini to Take on The Children in James Wan-Produced Feature".Dread Central.RetrievedJanuary 9,2018.
  7. ^Ramos, Dino-Ray (July 19, 2018)."'The Curse Of La Llorona' Terrifies ScareDiego With First Look, 'It: Chapter 2' & 'The Nun' Debut Unnerving New Footage – Comic-Con ".Deadline Hollywood.RetrievedOctober 18,2018.
  8. ^Kroll, Justin (October 11, 2017)."'Barbershop's' Sean Patrick Thomas Joins James Wan's Horror Film 'The Children'".Variety.RetrievedJanuary 9,2018.
  9. ^Navarro, Meagan (March 16, 2019)."[SXSW Review] 'The Curse of La Llorona' Scares Up Its Own Space in 'The Conjuring' Universe".Bloody Disgusting!.RetrievedMarch 21,2019.
  10. ^Hermanns, Grant (June 14, 2021)."Curse of La Llorona Director Explains Why it Isn't Part of the Conjuring Universe".Screenrant.
  11. ^Dawe, Luke (July 21, 2023)."'The Curse of La Llorona' Isn't Part of the 'Conjuring' Universe ".Collider.RetrievedSeptember 18,2023.
  12. ^Squires, John (July 19, 2023)."Confirmed: 'The Curse of La Llorona' Is DEFINITELY Not Part of the Official 'Conjuring Universe'".Bloody Disgusting!.RetrievedSeptember 18,2023.
  13. ^"That's a wrap! Had an amazing time working with old friends and now the best new ones on The Children directed by Michael Chaves. #setlifeisthebestlife 🎥🎬🎭".Instagram.Archived fromthe originalon December 26, 2021.
  14. ^McNary, Dave (July 19, 2018)."Film News Roundup: Horror Movie Re-Titled 'The Curse of La Llorona' for Spring Release".Variety.RetrievedOctober 28,2018.
  15. ^Nolfi, Joey (February 6, 2019)."Pet Sematary remake to world premiere at 2019 SXSW Film Festival".Entertainment Weekly.RetrievedFebruary 7,2019.
  16. ^abcD'Alessandro, Anthony (April 21, 2019)."Lowest Easter Weekend At The B.O. Since 2005 Despite $26M Purse Of 'La Llorona' – Saturday AM Update".Deadline Hollywood.RetrievedApril 21,2019.
  17. ^"The Curse of La Llorona DVD Release Date August 6, 2019".DVDs Release Dates.RetrievedAugust 21,2019.
  18. ^D'Alessandro, Anthony (April 27, 2020)."Small Movies, Big Profits: 2019 Most Valuable Blockbuster Tournament".Deadline Hollywood.RetrievedApril 27,2020.
  19. ^D'Alessandro, Anthony (April 16, 2019)."Will 'Shazam!' Be Cursed By 'Llorona' Over Easter Weekend? – Box Office Preview".Deadline Hollywood.RetrievedApril 16,2019.
  20. ^D'Alessandro, Anthony (April 28, 2019)."Avengers: Endgame' Rests At $357M+ Opening Record; Eyes $33M+ Monday & Record $180M 2nd Frame; Weekend Biz Hits $401M+ High".Deadline Hollywood.RetrievedApril 28,2019.
  21. ^"The Curse of La Llorona".Rotten Tomatoes.Fandango Media.RetrievedSeptember 19,2024.Edit this at Wikidata
  22. ^"The Curse of La Llorona".Metacritic.Fandom, Inc.RetrievedSeptember 19,2024.
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