Film: The Diary/  (El Diario)  (Amazon Prime)
Cast: Juan Acosta, César Antonio, Isabella Arroyo, Irene Azeula
Directors: Emma Bertrán, Alba Gil
Rating: 2.5/5
Runtime: 72 min

This Mexican film is a psychological horror thriller that focuses on a divorced mother Olga (Irene Azeula) and her daughter Vera(Isabella Arroyo). They have just moved into a new house in order for Vera to have a chance to recuperate from the traumas she has experienced in the past. Olga is doing everything to help Vera heal but the move to the new house doesn’t get the results Olga was expecting. Instead there’s a haunted feel to the place. Flickering lights and other eerie occurrences lead Olga to explore the attic where she finds a chest with some suspicious items including an unfinished diary. It happens to be that of a killer and Olga becomes fascinated by its dark secrets. She eventually starts imagining paranormal activity, visions and apparitions and finds that her daughter Vera is also behaving quite self-destructively…

The narrative opens like a horror film but eventually plays out as a psychological thriller using imagination and story-telling smarts to craft a thriller that is fairly credible. The film opens with Vera calling out to her dog, Nelson, in the woods. There’s a gunshot and next Vera is shown carrying the injured dog to the vet. Thereafter we see Vera at her therapist Dr. Carlos’s office, unwilling to talk about Nelson. Vera also appears to have problems with her Dad, Victor’s new girlfriend Marianna.