Michelle Garza Cervera has made some polished, creepy short films, but she truly announced herself as a unique presence in the world of horror and filmmaking in general with Huesera: The Bone Woman, her feature film debut that has garnered lots of buzz. It’s an expertly written, carefully crafted slow-burn that nods to the great psychological horror films of the past (Rosemary’s Baby, Jacob’s Ladder, Don’t Look Now) more than the present era of extreme gore and musically cued jumps cares.

While there’s nothing wrong with those latter films when done well, Huesera proves that thoughtfully developed characters, meaningful themes, rich atmosphere, and believable, grounded world-building are often the best foundations for horror. The film follows Valeria as she prepares to give birth. Like Sheena before her, Valeria was a punk rocker with deep affection for a woman named Octavia, but has since ‘settled down’ and met the expectations of her family and their friends.
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As Valeria attempts to put her past behind her (and repress her actual feelings and former identity), she becomes haunted by disturbing visions and sounds which drive her to the brink of madness. The delightfully cool Cervera spoke with MovieWeb about Huesera: The Bone Woman and its themes and influences.

The Punk Rock and Grandmas Behind Huesera

There are a variety of influences bubbling beneath the surface of Huesera, from an old Mexican folk tale of a ‘bone woman’ and Cervera’s roots in the punk music scene, to the discoveries she made about her grandmother. Growing up, Cervera’s family referred to the woman as the “‘unnamable witch’ because she was a woman who took the decision of leaving her family home.”

“I never had the chance to meet her, but it was that aspect, that her existence was denied because she was a woman that didn’t fit in to that box, the domestic box, [that interested me],” explained Cervera. “When we’re so complex, there should be space for other ways to relate or to build families. I never had access to her story, or a name or picture, for so long until I was very pushy about it. To hear a story changes completely the concept of what an evil person is, or what a bad woman is. Since I had that power, because filmmaking is a power and I feel very privileged to be able to direct a film, I was like, ‘Okay, I need to give justice to a character of this time […] I want to use this to give light to this kind of character.'”

Related: Huesera Review: The Bone Woman Fights Society in Creepy New Horror Film

Perhaps Cervera identified with her grandmother because she also pushed against that box of domesticity. “I was in part of the punk scene in Mexico City for many years. I played in different bands, so many of my best friends and my big influences come from that world. I think I learned a lot from it, or at least I built a world vision that maybe has to do with that scene. It really is kind of like the glasses in They Live — once you put them on, it’s hard to forget,” said Cervera. “It does help me question everything, everything that is kind of imposed […] and I do think it has helped me out to lower the fear that comes with not following the stereotyped paths that we’re supposed to follow, in my case as a Mexican woman.”

Motherhood, Frankenstein, and The Bone Woman

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Women and motherhood have certainly been highlighted in horror films of recent years, from The Babadook to The Monster, but this is a theme that isn’t as trendily current as most people think. The idea of ‘pregnancy horror’ or horror films about mothers go back to Rosemary’s Baby and even much earlier. It’s not so unusual, after all, considering that everyone comes from a mother, and that half the planet is female.

“It’s like, we all come from that, we all came from mothers and that labor process, which is brutal,” said Cervera. “But how many labors have we actually seen? It’s something that is very taboo, but then at the same time, that’s how we all arrived to the world. We’re all traumatized by our parental relationships, and we all have that potential of becoming parents. So it’s something that touches our lives in the most instinctive and complex ways, but then it’s so normalized, and there are so many social rules about it, that it becomes very entrapping and terrifying in many aspects. There are so many taboos around it, so that’s why it doesn’t surprise me that motherhood is all around horror. Horror allows you to stop and see the quotidian, daily life with another lens.”

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Cervera takes it a brilliant step further, long before even Rosemary’s Baby. “Starting from Frankenstein, Mary Shelley’s big trauma was that her mom died when she was giving birth to her, and that she had an abortion,” explained Cervera. “There was a big thing for her about bringing life into the world. And this has to do completely with Frankenstein — the birth of the monster itself is something that is like motherhood and is very important for narrative.”

These themes of motherhood and trauma dovetailed with the inspiration she got from her grandmother’s life. “Back in the moment, I had a lot of things to explore that had to do with my personal family story and myself, but felt like I really wanted to make a good Mexican horror film about this theme [of motherhood], that is very toxic in so many aspects regarding social expectations in countries in Latin America.”

Cervera’s Influences and the Unsung Horror of The Tenant

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Utilizing all these inspirations and influences, Cervera tapped into her own distinct artistry to create the masterful Huesera. That artistry, though, is again a byproduct of influence, birthed from the inspiration certain directors had on Cervera. Above all, perhaps, is Roman Polanski and his claustrophobic horror trilogy of Repulsion, Rosemary’s Baby, and The Tenant.

“I know exactly what kind of horror I like,” said Cervera, “and it’s not the one that is very flashy or like exploitative. My favorite kind of films would be more like the Polanski trilogy, or Don’t Look Now, Jacob’s Ladder — they have to do more with atmosphere and with the craft and the character building, or like the weirdness or sinisterness around a world that is changing from the familiar to unfamiliar […] to me, that’s way more frightening sometimes than a CGI monster.”

Related: Best Spanish Horror Movies of Recent Years, Ranked

“I think that The Tenant might be the film that I studied the most at University,” continued Cervera. “I think I watched it more than 30 times. I was obsessed by it when I was very young and studying filmmaking, maybe even more than Rosemary’s Baby. I think it was a film that really inspired me in many ways.” While Rosemary’s Baby is a classic, Cervera is among the few people who (more than understandably) prefer The Tenant. Regardless, the themes of identity present in these three Polanski films come across beautifully in Huesera without ever feeling downright cribbed from.

Separating Society from Identity in Huesera and Beyond

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Ultimately, Huesera transcends being just about the horrors of motherhood, or this or that influence, and confronts the universal issue of how to be an individual in society. How often are our thoughts and desires our own? How often are they the result of what family, society, and time period we were born into? Does every woman want to have children and a family, or is that merely a byproduct of historical expectations? Cervera elaborated:

I feel like more than motherhood itself, to me Huesera’s a film about buying the social package, the social expectations of what you’re supposed to do with your life, and then that horrible fear deep down, like, ‘Oh my God, am I happy? Or am I just fulfilling someone else’s expectations?’ And that’s terrifying.

Our influences and inspiration define us, our lives, and our art, and it’s often hard (or impossible) to separate our individual identities from them. The same could be said for Huesera, which is birthed from disparate sources, but in this case, manages to expertly define itself as its own creepy thing. Huesera: The Bone Woman is now in theaters and landing on VOD beginning February 16th from XYZ Films.