Name: The Gilr in the Mirror
Director: Kike Maíllo, Sergio G. Sánchez
Released: 2022-08-19T12:30:00

The Girl in the Mirror is a Spanish horror/thriller series. After losing her memory in a bizarre accident that kills most of her classmates, Alma tries to unravel what happened that day and regain her identity.

Story

Alma, Deva, Tom, Roque and Martin go on a trip with their high school to a resort in the mountains. Alma, Deva and Tom are best friends. Deva is shown to be in love with Tom but Tom loves Alma so Deva is consumed with jealousy.

On their way back through the misty mountains, they get into an accident. Many students die, and some others are comatose. Alma gets temporary amnesia and doesn’t remember who she is, or anyone else in her life when she wakes up in the hospital. Deva dies on the spot while Tom loses a leg.

Since the accident, Alma feels that she is being haunted by a ghost. Soon, she learns that she had a twin sister, Lara, who died of cancer. Alma thinks that the ghost, who looks like her, is Lara.

Meanwhile, Martin goes missing after the accident. He is found in the caves by his sister, Diana and his lover, Bruno. Martin has been prophesied to be the reincarnation of a demon, Thorein, who according to a legend will enter this world when five youths are possessed by the shadow creatures from other realms. Roque is the evil one who is a threat to all.

Performances

All performances in the series are praise-worthy. Mireia Oriol who plays both Alma and Lara does a good job of playing the differing personalities of the twins.

Special mention goes out to Marta Belaustegui and Joxean Bengoetxea who play the twins’ mother and father respectively, for playing the roles of heartbroken parents going through the loss of their child with nuance.

Positives

Unlike most horror shows with jump scares and superficial plots, The Girl in the Mirror gives its ghost stories depth and significant historical background.

It has all its storylines figured out which aren’t revealed to the audience until the very end. So, the story has many exciting twists and turns.

More than just horror, The Girl in the Mirror also makes use of drama. It’s not just a story about creatures from other realms haunting humans but the pain of death, suffering and tragedies that haunt the human experience in this plane.

It touches upon themes of friendship, love, grief, losing one’s child, sibling love and even child sexual abuse. Multiple scenes bring out tears because of how well-written and well-acted these scenes are.

Negatives

What could have been explained by science and a professional understanding of psychological conditions in the real world, is instead explained with the help of ghosts and supernatural phenomena.

This might encourage viewers to undermine trained professionals and seek mystics for their problems which is the wrong sort of message to put out in the world. Horror filmmakers and producers must be careful about what they are promoting whenever they depict serious social and mental issues.

Verdict

The Girl in the Mirror has a convincing and thought-out plot, good drama and a set of engaging characters. It talks about a lot of sensitivity issues. At the same time, it has the drawback of using psychological disorders as a horror plot that could have been avoided. Overall, the series is convincing despite its drawbacks and is quite enjoyable.