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Spain’s Tamar Novas, star of Netflix’s top non-English pic “Nowhere” in 2023, leads a top-tier cast that includes Marina Salas, Iván Marcos and Annick Weerts in Rubén Pérez Barrena’s upcoming debut feature “The Devil Within.”
The rural thriller is produced by Beatriz Bodegas at La Canica Films who won a Goya for the 2016 thriller “The Fury of a Patient Man” (“Tarde para la ira”).
Set in a remote Spanish village during the 1980s, “Walking with the Devil” follows Philippe, a young French boy who arrives with his parents seeking peace—but instead, they meet Miguel (Novas), a local man unraveling after the mysterious disappearance of his son.
Blending emotional depth with slow-burning tension, the film explores how grief and trauma can push people to their limits—and asks a chilling question: What if tragedy brings out our darkest selves?
“I am very grateful to this film project and especially to Bea Bodegas for thinking of me as the first option for such a complex character. I had a meeting with the director and I quickly realized it would be a huge challenge I had to accept,” said Novas.
“Miguel embodies the heart of the film showing how far a human can go to overcome a personal tragedy, the loss of innocence…he is a broken soul. The weight of guilt and absolute darkness in which he lives, and the violence that comes from it, makes him a great character to portray,” he said of his character.
The Devil Within
Credit: Manolo Pavon
“I started the shoot right after being at the Malaga Film Festival, presenting ‘8’, by Julio Medem, which received the Audience Award. I love to work with directors I admire so much (Medem, Amenábar, Almodóvar, Coixet…), but also with young filmmakers, in their feature debuts, especially if the script captivates me so much and brings me to a genuine story that has never been told this way, like in ‘Walking with the Devil.’ With an amazing production team, Rubén is creating an atmosphere that couldn’t be better,” he added.
Pérez Barrena, who made a name for himself with his suspenseful short films “Walkie Talkie,” “Rewind” and “Terror.app,” is directing the thriller from a screenplay penned by him and Jesús Miguel Quintana (“Km. 38”).
“For me, ‘Walking with the Devil’ is, above all, a dramatic thriller, about the loss of innocence and how far a tragic event or experience can lead us to walk with that devil we all have inside,” he said.
“I’m experiencing the production with the intensity that all shoots have, a roller coaster of emotions, but I’m fortunate to have a great team of professionals, which is a luxury for a debut film. As Coppola said: ‘My film isn’t about Vietnam. It is Vietnam.’ My film ‘Walking with the Devil’ is the devil,” he continued.
Bodegas recalls how she first heard from Pérez Barrena in an email where he pitched his script to her: “I read it and thought it was a harrowing and powerful rural thriller. I met with Rubén to find out how he wanted to shoot it and I immediately decided to move forward with the project.”
Given it was his debut feature, she assembled an experienced crew led by Javier Salmones, Guillermo Navajo, Sergio Bürman, Maite Pérez Nievas, Naza Colomina, Patricia Rodríguez and Julián Altuna that she knew would support him and “help his talent and the story grow.”
“To bring the characters to life and truth, we are fortunate to have Tamar Novas (Miguel) and Marina Salas (Alicia), a couple suffering from a past loss who find in Alban Petit (Philippe) a way out of that pain. Iván Marcos (Tomás) and Annick Weerts (Marie) portray a couple traveling to the former’s hometown in a difficult, everyday way (where less is more),” she explained.
“As an anecdote, Rubén and I were so convinced that Tamar and Marina were ‘our Miguel and Alicia’ that we moved filming up six weeks from the originally planned date. Every day we are glad we made that decision. They are also surrounded by great supporting actors such as Vicente Vergara, Mateo Media, and Álvaro Dafora, among others. They all play their roles with absolute generosity,” she added.
