Parents' Guide to

Veronica

By Brian Costello, Common Sense Media Reviewer

age 17+

Scary Spanish horror film with demonic imagery, violence.

Movie NR 2017 101 minutes
Veronica Poster Image

A Lot or a Little?

What you will—and won't—find in this movie.

Community Reviews

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age 16+

Based on 9 parent reviews

Pelfrey Montgomery
Pelfrey Montgomery Adult
July 24, 2020
age 18+

Unoriginal

Same blah, quiji board-posession storyline as many other films, but this one is in subtitles....yay! You see a penis for a few seconds. That was why I suggested the audience to be 18+. The rest of the movie was very PG 13. This reminded me a lot of the Posession of Emily Rose...a lot less scarier than that, really. It was boring. I couldn't finish it because I was just too annoyed by the predictability. Sister Death seemed cool in a way....but again, I never got to see her full character development.
Aaron C.
Aaron C. Parent
April 4, 2020
age 17+

Lame Horror movie.

Veronica is a so-called horror movie that has a lot of bloody content & disturbing visuals. But it certainly doesn't give the creeps like a good horror movie should. And also it's spanish, and it's difficult to watch it without subtitles. It just doesn't keep you engaged. It's quite slow & boring.

This title has:

Too much violence
See all 9 parent reviews

What's the Story?

During a solar eclipse in 1991, while everyone else in the Catholic girls' school she attends is outside watching it happen, 15-year-old VERONICA goes to the attic of the girls' Catholic school she attends, joined by her friends Irene and Lucia. They set up a Ouija board and conduct a seance in the hopes of making contact with Verónica's deceased father. To the dismay of Irene and Lucia, the game takes a disturbing turn when Verónica appears to be possessed, paralytic, and whispering that she's going to die soon. In the apartment where Verónica lives with her three younger siblings, strange things start to happen. Verónica begins to have visions: a naked zombie version of her father lurching toward her, her siblings trying to eat her alive, lights flickering, TVs turning on and off, fire, blood, demons, the youngest sibling believing that the father has read him a story. As Irene and Lucia, completely creeped out, begin to distance themselves from Verónica, the only one who's aware of what's happening is an elderly blind nurse the kids call "Sister Death," a nun presumed by the other nuns to be senile and deranged and therefore left in the attic. Sister Death tells Verónica that she must find the proper way to end the seance she started with her friends, and only then will she have a chance to survive. After believing she has found the solution, Verónica attempts another seance -- this time with her two younger sisters as her brother watches. During this seance, Verónica must find a way to contain the demons she has unleashed and prevent them from wreaking further havoc on her and her family.

Is It Any Good?

Our review:
Parents say (9):
Kids say (8):

While disturbing, violent, and creepy, this is most definitely not "the scariest movie ever made!" Not by a long shot. While the acting is above-average, especially for a horror movie, and there are some frightening moments of haunting demonic imagery, this is basically another tale of teens unwittingly unleashing paranormal terror. It's a "Demon Git-R-Dun To-Do List" familiar to any horror movie fan: Make lights turn on and off, slam doors, possess poor Verónica while she's trying to eat dinner, etc., until said demons get bored with these antics and turn increasingly murderous.

Then the movie muddies the waters. Are the demons inside or outside poor Verónica? Was the father a good or bad person, and if bad, why would Verónica try to bring him back via a Ouija board? Even with the heavy-handed flashback montage reminders of plot points the viewer might have missed, it's unclear what exactly has been let loose to scare everyone. The result is a lot of occult and Catholic imagery paired with the requisite predictable and occasionally less predictable scares layered over the kind of "demons set loose" story seen in so many other horror movies. Horror fans will probably enjoy Veronica. Definitely not for kids.

Talk to Your Kids About ...

  • Families can talk about horror movies. How does Veronica compare to other horror movies you've seen?

  • The movie claims that the story is "based on actual events." How does this disclaimer add to any terror and suspense the movie might hold for the viewer? What are some other examples of horror movies allegedly "based on actual events"?

  • How was nightmarish imagery used to scare audiences in this movie? How was horror movie violence used?

Movie Details

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