# Cerrar los Ojos
**Cerrar los Ojos** (Spanish for "Close Your Eyes") is a 2023 drama film directed by Víctor Erice, a Spanish-Argentine co-production about a retired filmmaker drawn back into the mystery of his best friend's disappearance during a film shoot decades earlier. It premiered in the Cannes Premiere section at the 2023 Festival de Cannes and is Erice's first feature since *El sol del membrillo* (1992), a gap of more than thirty years.[1](https://www.festival-cannes.com/en/f/cerrar-los-ojos/) • [2](https://www.canalsur.es/noticias/andalucia/cultura/victor-erice-finaliza-granada-rodaje_1_1207550.html)
| Key fact | Detail |
|---|---|
| Director and screenwriters | Víctor Erice, co-writing with Michel Gaztambide[1](https://www.festival-cannes.com/en/f/cerrar-los-ojos/) |
| Runtime and genre | 169 minutes; drama[1](https://www.festival-cannes.com/en/f/cerrar-los-ojos/) |
| Production | Spain and Argentina; produced by Tandem Films, Nautilus Films, Pecado Films, La Mirada del Adiós AIE, and Pampa Films[1](https://www.festival-cannes.com/en/f/cerrar-los-ojos/) • [3](https://pecadofilms.com/peliculas/cerrar-los-ojos-victor-erice-2/) |
| Lead cast | Manolo Solo (Miguel Garay), José Coronado (Julio Arenas / Gardel), Ana Torrent (Ana)[1](https://www.festival-cannes.com/en/f/cerrar-los-ojos/) |
| Premiere and Spanish release | Cannes Premiere, May 2023; Spanish theatrical release 29 September 2023[1](https://www.festival-cannes.com/en/f/cerrar-los-ojos/) • [3](https://pecadofilms.com/peliculas/cerrar-los-ojos-victor-erice-2/) |
| Goya Awards | 11 nominations at the 38th Goya Awards, with one win: José Coronado for Best Supporting Actor[4](https://www.premiosgoya.com/pelicula/cerrar-los-ojos) |
| Critical reception | 93% on the Rotten Tomatoes Tomatometer from 74 reviews; named the best film of 2024 by *The New Yorker*[5](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/close_your_eyes_2023) • [6](https://elpais.com/cultura/2024-12-23/the-new-yorker-elige-cerrar-los-ojos-de-erice-mejor-pelicula-del-ano.html) |
## Spoilers
### Plot
Miguel Garay, a retired film director, has lived apart from the world since his close friend and lead actor, the celebrated Spanish actor Julio Arenas, disappeared without a trace during a shoot that was left unfinished. Although his body is never found, the police conclude that Arenas suffered an accident by the sea. More than twenty years later, a television program about unsolved cases revives the disappearance, showing exclusive images of the last scenes Arenas filmed, shot by Garay himself. The renewed attention forces Garay to reconnect with the film's crew, former lovers, and Ana, Arenas's daughter, who long ago abandoned hope of finding her father.[1](https://www.festival-cannes.com/en/f/cerrar-los-ojos/) • [7](https://cinenacional.com/pelicula/cerrar-los-ojos-2023)
The unfinished film within the story is titled *The Farewell Gaze*, and Garay never directed another project after the disappearance, living instead as a writer by the coast.[5](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/close_your_eyes_2023)
## Production
Erice finished shooting the film in the provinces of Granada and Almería in December 2022, with the beach of Castell de Ferro in Granada serving as the setting for one of the final scenes. Canal Sur Televisión participated in the production.[2](https://www.canalsur.es/noticias/andalucia/cultura/victor-erice-finaliza-granada-rodaje_1_1207550.html) Producer Cristina Zumárraga described the schedule as tight: the average Spanish production runs five to seven weeks, but the long script and Erice's unhurried way of shooting, along with travel between locations, demanded more time than the financing allowed.[8](https://www.audiovisual451.com/cristina-zumarraga-produce-cerrar-los-ojos-la-pelicula-confesional-de-victor-erice/)
The casting carried its own resonance. Ana Torrent, who plays Ana, had debuted in Erice's *El espíritu de la colmena* (1973) as a child, and returned to work with him fifty years later.[2](https://www.canalsur.es/noticias/andalucia/cultura/victor-erice-finaliza-granada-rodaje_1_1207550.html) The supporting cast includes Petra Martínez as Sister Consuelo, María León as Belén, Mario Pardo as Max Roca, Josep Maria Pou as Ferrán Soler, and Soledad Villamil as Lola San Román.[7](https://cinenacional.com/pelicula/cerrar-los-ojos-2023) Federico Jusid composed the music, Valentín Álvarez was the cinematographer, and Ascen Marchena edited.[1](https://www.festival-cannes.com/en/f/cerrar-los-ojos/)
## Release and festival run
After its Cannes Premiere screening in May 2023, the film circulated widely on the festival circuit. It was selected at Toronto, the [New York Film Festival](https://www.edgepedia.org/new-york-film-festival), Busan, the San Sebastián Festival (where Erice received the Donostia Award on 29 September 2023, the day of the commercial Spanish release), the [BFI London Film Festival](https://www.edgepedia.org/bfi-london-film-festival), Venice-adjacent Viennale, Mar del Plata, and many others through 2023 and 2024, including [Rotterdam](https://www.edgepedia.org/rotterdam), Hong Kong, and Palm Springs in 2024.[3](https://pecadofilms.com/peliculas/cerrar-los-ojos-victor-erice-2/) • [9](https://ficunam.unam.mx/pelicula/cerrar-los-ojos/) • [10](https://elpais.com/cultura/2023-09-07/20000-especies-de-abejas-cerrar-los-ojos-y-la-sociedad-de-la-nieve-preseleccionadas-por-espana-para-el-oscar-a-mejor-pelicula-internacional.html) At the Leffest Lisboa Film Festival it won Best Film in competition.[9](https://ficunam.unam.mx/pelicula/cerrar-los-ojos/) Spain placed it on the shortlist of three films preselected for the Oscar for Best International Feature.[10](https://elpais.com/cultura/2023-09-07/20000-especies-de-abejas-cerrar-los-ojos-y-la-sociedad-de-la-nieve-preseleccionadas-por-espana-para-el-oscar-a-mejor-pelicula-internacional.html)
In the United States, Film Movement gave it a limited theatrical release on August 23, 2024, followed by streaming on December 3, 2024; the film grossed $44.1K at the US box office.[5](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/close_your_eyes_2023)
## Reception and awards
The film received 11 nominations at the 38th [Goya Awards](https://www.edgepedia.org/goya-awards), including Best Film, Best Director, and Best Original Screenplay, and won one Goya, for José Coronado as Best Supporting Actor.[4](https://www.premiosgoya.com/pelicula/cerrar-los-ojos) At the 2024 Cinema Writers Circle Awards, Ana Torrent won Best Supporting Actress and Coronado Best Supporting Actor.[11](https://www.imdb.com/es-es/title/tt21284358/awards/) It was also nominated for Best Dramatic Film and Best Supporting Actress at the 2024 Premios Feroz, where Erice and Gaztambide were nominated for the screenplay.[12](https://sede.mcu.gob.es/CatalogoICAA/es-es/Peliculas/GetPdf?Pelicula=124422) • [13](https://los40.com/2024/01/26/premios-feroz-2024-horario-donde-ver-nominados-y-como-conseguir-entradas/)
Critical response was strongly favorable. Rotten Tomatoes recorded a 93% Tomatometer from 74 reviews, with the critics' consensus calling it a near-masterpiece that ends Erice's long gap between films with a meditation on memory, identity, and cinema itself.[5](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/close_your_eyes_2023) In December 2024, *The New Yorker* named it the best film of the year, describing it as the first new feature in more than three decades from an indispensable author of film history, though the magazine noted the film had passed without major recognition at the Goya ceremony and at the box office.[6](https://elpais.com/cultura/2024-12-23/the-new-yorker-elige-cerrar-los-ojos-de-erice-mejor-pelicula-del-ano.html) Spanish critics read the film as Erice's testament, with references to his earlier features *El espíritu de la colmena* (1973), *El sur* (1983), and *El sol del membrillo* (1992).[14](https://www.aceprensa.com/resenas-cine-series/cerrar-los-ojos/) • [15](https://as.com/meristation/cine/20-peliculas-modernas-con-las-que-impresionar-a-cualquier-cinefilo-f202604-n/)
## References
1. [Cerrar los ojos (Close Your Eyes), Festival de Cannes](https://www.festival-cannes.com/en/f/cerrar-los-ojos/)
2. [Víctor Erice finaliza en Granada el rodaje de "Cerrar los ojos", Canal Sur Media](https://www.canalsur.es/noticias/andalucia/cultura/victor-erice-finaliza-granada-rodaje_1_1207550.html)
3. [Cerrar los ojos, Pecado Films](https://pecadofilms.com/peliculas/cerrar-los-ojos-victor-erice-2/)
4. [Cerrar los ojos, Premios Goya, 38 edición](https://www.premiosgoya.com/pelicula/cerrar-los-ojos)
5. [Close Your Eyes (2023), Rotten Tomatoes](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/close_your_eyes_2023)
6. ['The New Yorker' elige 'Cerrar los ojos' de Erice, mejor película del año, El País](https://elpais.com/cultura/2024-12-23/the-new-yorker-elige-cerrar-los-ojos-de-erice-mejor-pelicula-del-ano.html)
7. [Cerrar los ojos (2023), cinenacional.com](https://cinenacional.com/pelicula/cerrar-los-ojos-2023)
8. [Cristina Zumárraga produce 'Cerrar los ojos', Audiovisual451](https://www.audiovisual451.com/cristina-zumarraga-produce-cerrar-los-ojos-la-pelicula-confesional-de-victor-erice/)
9. [Cerrar los ojos, FICUNAM](https://ficunam.unam.mx/pelicula/cerrar-los-ojos/)
10. ['20.000 especies de abejas', 'Cerrar los ojos' y 'La sociedad de la nieve', preseleccionadas por España para el Oscar, El País](https://elpais.com/cultura/2023-09-07/20000-especies-de-abejas-cerrar-los-ojos-y-la-sociedad-de-la-nieve-preseleccionadas-por-espana-para-el-oscar-a-mejor-pelicula-internacional.html)
11. [Cerrar los ojos (2023), Premios, IMDb](https://www.imdb.com/es-es/title/tt21284358/awards/)
12. [Cerrar los ojos, ficha ICAA, Ministerio de Cultura de España](https://sede.mcu.gob.es/CatalogoICAA/es-es/Peliculas/GetPdf?Pelicula=124422)
13. [Premios Feroz 2024: horario, dónde ver, nominados, los40](https://los40.com/2024/01/26/premios-feroz-2024-horario-donde-ver-nominados-y-como-conseguir-entradas/)
14. [Cerrar los ojos. Sinopsis y crítica, ACEprensa](https://www.aceprensa.com/resenas-cine-series/cerrar-los-ojos/)
15. [20 películas modernas con las que impresionar a cualquier cinéfilo, AS MeriStation](https://as.com/meristation/cine/20-peliculas-modernas-con-las-que-impresionar-a-cualquier-cinefilo-f202604-n/)
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*Topic: Encyclopedia › Arts and culture › Screen and stage › Film and television › Films and standalone screen works › Individual films by title and year › Drama and biographical films (individual works) › Drama films 2023 and 2024 › Titles A to G*
*Initially written Oct 3, 2026 · Reviewed: Oct 3, 2026; Oct 25, 2026 · Edited: Oct 3, 2026; Oct 25, 2026; Nov 1, 2026 · Last review: Oct 25, 2026*
*Copyright 2026 EdgeChat AI, a subsidiary of Biostate AI.*
License: Edgepedia Community License 1.0, https://www.edgepedia.org/edgepedia/license