# Close Your Eyes (2022 film)
**Close Your Eyes** (Spanish: *Cerrar los ojos*) is a Spanish-Argentine drama film directed by Víctor Erice, his first feature film since *El sol del membrillo* (1992). It was shot in the autumn of 2022 and premiered at the Cannes Film Festival on 22 May 2023, which is why some catalogs date it to 2022 and others to 2023.[1](https://revistalasartes.com/cine/victor-erice-el-cine-como-mirada-y-como-espera/) • [2](https://www.festival-cannes.com/en/2023/cerrar-los-ojos-close-your-eyes-the-return-of-victor-erice/) The film stars Manolo Solo, José Coronado, and Ana Torrent, and its story follows a director investigating the decades-old disappearance of the lead actor of his unfinished film.[3](https://www.cultura.gob.es/cultura/areas/cine/mediciones/2022/mdf.html)
A different film with the same English title, a Nigerian romance directed by Aniedi Awah Noba, was released on 2 September 2022; it is unrelated to the Erice film.[4](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt27030943/)
| Key fact | Detail |
|---|---|
| Director and writers | Directed by Víctor Erice; screenplay by Erice and Michel Gaztambide[3](https://www.cultura.gob.es/cultura/areas/cine/mediciones/2022/mdf.html) |
| Production and premiere | Shot in autumn 2022; premiered at Cannes on 22 May 2023 in the Cannes Première section, out of competition[1](https://revistalasartes.com/cine/victor-erice-el-cine-como-mirada-y-como-espera/) • [2](https://www.festival-cannes.com/en/2023/cerrar-los-ojos-close-your-eyes-the-return-of-victor-erice/) |
| Runtime and countries | 169 minutes (pressbook; IFFR lists 165 minutes); Spain and Argentina[5](https://www.newwavefilms.co.uk/assets/1729/Close_Your_Eyes_pressbook_2023.pdf) • [6](https://iffr.com/en/iffr/2024/films/close-your-eyes) |
| Lead cast | Manolo Solo as Miguel Garay, José Coronado as Julio Arenas / Gardel, Ana Torrent as Ana Arenas[7](https://www.metacritic.com/movie/close-your-eyes-2023/) |
| Erice's return | His fourth feature as a director and his first in 31 years, after *El espíritu de la colmena* (1973), *El sur* (1983), and *El sol del membrillo* (1992)[2](https://www.festival-cannes.com/en/2023/cerrar-los-ojos-close-your-eyes-the-return-of-victor-erice/) • [8](https://www.theguardian.com/film/2023/may/25/close-your-eyes-review-victor-erice-returns-with-enigmatic-tale-of-disappeared-actor) |
| Reception | 93% on the Rotten Tomatoes Tomatometer (74 reviews); Metascore 85 on Metacritic from 22 critic reviews[9](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/close_your_eyes_2023) • [7](https://www.metacritic.com/movie/close-your-eyes-2023/) |
| Awards | One Goya win from 11 nominations (José Coronado, Best Supporting Actor); Carmen Award for Best Film (2024)[10](https://europeanscreen.com/titles/close-your-eyes/) |
## Spoilers
### Plot
The story begins within a film-within-the-film: a 1947 drama in which a refugee from Franco's Spain asks a fellow Spaniard to help find his lost daughter, believed to be in Shanghai.[6](https://iffr.com/en/iffr/2024/films/close-your-eyes) This is the unfinished film *The Farewell Gaze* (*La mirada del adiós*), directed by Miguel Garay (Manolo Solo). During the shoot in 1990, its lead actor, Julio Arenas (José Coronado), Garay's close friend, disappears; although his body is never found, the police conclude that he suffered an accident at a cliff by the sea.[3](https://www.cultura.gob.es/cultura/areas/cine/mediciones/2022/mdf.html) • [9](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/close_your_eyes_2023)
The main action moves to 2012, when a television program devoted to unresolved cases revives the mystery and offers as a scoop the images of Arenas's last scenes, shot by Garay himself. Garay, who abandoned directing after the disappearance and lives quietly as a writer and translator by the coast, agrees to participate and begins interviewing old comrades and collaborators, reconnecting with the film's crew, former lovers, and Julio's daughter Ana (Ana Torrent) as he seeks closure.[1](https://revistalasartes.com/cine/victor-erice-el-cine-como-mirada-y-como-espera/) • [9](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/close_your_eyes_2023) • [11](https://www.timeout.com/movies/close-your-eyes-2023) The film's final act takes place in an old movie theater, where the last ten minutes of *The Farewell Gaze* are screened for an invited audience.[12](https://www.rogerebert.com/reviews/close-your-eyes-film-review)
Erice described the film's central themes as identity and memory, embodied by two friends, one an actor who has lost his memory and one a director who tries to forget. He also described two styles of cinema coming together in the film: a classic, illusionist style depicting life as it should have been, and a modern style impregnated with reality, in which neither memory nor the future is certain.[13](https://filmmovement.com/userFiles/uploads/films/close-your-eyes/CloseYourEyes_presskit.pdf)
## Production
News that Erice was preparing a new feature became public in early July 2022, when financing from Canal Sur was disclosed. Shooting took place in the autumn of 2022, with locations in Granada (Castell de Ferro, Gualchos, and Dúrcal), Almería (Aguadulce), Asturias, and Madrid, including the [Museo del Prado](https://www.edgepedia.org/museo-del-prado); the pressbook also lists [Alcalá de Henares](https://www.edgepedia.org/alcala-de-henares) and Segovia among the shooting locations. The film was finished in Madrid.[1](https://revistalasartes.com/cine/victor-erice-el-cine-como-mirada-y-como-espera/) • [5](https://www.newwavefilms.co.uk/assets/1729/Close_Your_Eyes_pressbook_2023.pdf)
**Crew and financing.** The cinematography is by Valentín Álvarez, the original score by Federico Jusid, the editing by Ascen Marchena, the art direction by Curru Garabal, and the sound by Iván Marín and Juan Ferro.[1](https://revistalasartes.com/cine/victor-erice-el-cine-como-mirada-y-como-espera/) The production companies were Tandem Films, Nautilus Films, Pecado Films, and La mirada del adiós A.I.E., in coproduction with the Argentine company Pampa Films, with participation from RTVE, Movistar Plus+, Vodafone, Canal Sur, EiTB, and Telemadrid and support from the ICAA, the Junta de Andalucía, INCAA, the Comunidad de Madrid, and the Diputación de Granada.[5](https://www.newwavefilms.co.uk/assets/1729/Close_Your_Eyes_pressbook_2023.pdf) International sales are handled by Film Factory Entertainment.[6](https://iffr.com/en/iffr/2024/films/close-your-eyes)
## Cast
Manolo Solo plays Miguel Garay and José Coronado plays Julio Arenas, also known under the name Gardel. Ana Torrent, who as a child starred in Erice's *The Spirit of the Beehive*, plays Julio's daughter Ana Arenas. The supporting cast includes Petra Martínez as Sister Consuelo, María León as Belén, Mario Pardo as Max Roca, Helena Miquel as Marta Soriano, Antonio Dechent as Tico Mayoral, Josep Maria Pou as Ferrán Soler (Mr. Levy), Soledad Villamil as Lola San Román, and Juan Margallo as Doctor Benavides.[7](https://www.metacritic.com/movie/close-your-eyes-2023/) • [13](https://filmmovement.com/userFiles/uploads/films/close-your-eyes/CloseYourEyes_presskit.pdf)
## Release and reception
*Close Your Eyes* premiered at the 76th Cannes Film Festival on 22 May 2023 in the Cannes Première sidebar, out of competition. Festival director Thierry Frémaux introduced the 82-year-old director's return, noting that the 31-year gap since Erice's previous feature exceeded the record previously held by [Terrence Malick](https://www.edgepedia.org/terrence-malick).[2](https://www.festival-cannes.com/en/2023/cerrar-los-ojos-close-your-eyes-the-return-of-victor-erice/) • [14](https://www.josemariapou.com/media/upload/pdf/ojos-critica-the-hollywood-reporter_1736019729.pdf) The film later screened at festivals including the International Film Festival Rotterdam and the Melbourne International Film Festival, and reached Spanish streaming platforms including Movistar Plus+, Filmin, and [HBO Max](https://www.edgepedia.org/hbo-max).[6](https://iffr.com/en/iffr/2024/films/close-your-eyes) • [15](https://miff.com.au/festival-archive/films/33047/close-your-eyes) • [16](https://www.justwatch.com/es/pelicula/cerrar-los-ojos)
**Critical response.** On Rotten Tomatoes the film holds a 93% Tomatometer from 74 reviews, with a critics' consensus calling it "a near-masterpiece" and "a moving meditation on memory, identity, and cinema itself."[9](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/close_your_eyes_2023) Metacritic assigned a Metascore of 85, labeled Universal Acclaim, based on 22 critic reviews, with 86% positive and 14% mixed and no negative reviews.[7](https://www.metacritic.com/movie/close-your-eyes-2023/) Reviewers singled out the final scene in an old movie theater; Time Out called it "little short of transcendent," and RogerEbert.com described the opening twenty minutes as spellbinding while noting that the film's sense of cinema is intertwined with considerations of age and mortality.[11](https://www.timeout.com/movies/close-your-eyes-2023) • [12](https://www.rogerebert.com/reviews/close-your-eyes-film-review) In December 2024, *The New Yorker* named *Cerrar los ojos* the best film of the year.[17](https://elpais.com/cultura/2024-12-23/the-new-yorker-elige-cerrar-los-ojos-de-erice-mejor-pelicula-del-ano.html)
## Awards
At the 2024 [Goya Awards](https://www.edgepedia.org/goya-awards), the film received 11 nominations and one win, José Coronado as Best Supporting Actor. It also won the Carmen Award for Best Film, CEC Medals for Best Director (Erice) and Best Original Screenplay, and a Platino Award for Best Supporting Actor (Coronado).[10](https://europeanscreen.com/titles/close-your-eyes/) In September 2023, Spain placed the film on its shortlist of three candidates for the [Academy Award for Best International Feature Film](https://www.edgepedia.org/academy-award-for-best-international-feature-film), alongside *20.000 especies de abejas* and *La sociedad de la nieve*.[18](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)
## Context in Erice's career
The film ended a gap of 31 years since *El sol del membrillo* (1992) and 40 years since Erice's last fiction feature, *El sur* (1983). In that period he had made the documentary *The Quince Tree Sun*, a 1992 film about painter Antonio López García, and several shorts, but had struggled to get another feature-length drama off the ground; in 2002 he abandoned *El embrujo de Shanghai* over artistic differences with the producer, and the film was eventually directed by Fernando Trueba.[2](https://www.festival-cannes.com/en/2023/cerrar-los-ojos-close-your-eyes-the-return-of-victor-erice/) • [19](https://www.latinolife.co.uk/articles/close-your-eyes-2023-victor-erice-bfi-victor-erice-season-2024) • [20](https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2024/08/26/close-your-eyes-movie-review) • [22](https://ivc.gva.es/es/audiovisuales/pelicula-3102/el-sol-del-membrillo) Erice has resisted the "legend" of his supposed inactivity during those decades, pointing out that he repeatedly declined opportunities to pick up a camera rather than being unable to work.[21](https://www.cultura.gob.es/va/dam/jcr%3A46545574-fdd0-4c4e-b33a-9d644ea0870a/programacion-noviembre-2023-filmoteca-espa-ola.pdf) The film's title echoes a line spoken by the older sister in *The Spirit of the Beehive*, and the film-within-the-film structure continues Erice's long-standing preoccupation with cinema itself as a subject.[20](https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2024/08/26/close-your-eyes-movie-review)
## References
1. [Víctor Erice, el cine como mirada y como espera - Revista Las Artes](https://revistalasartes.com/cine/victor-erice-el-cine-como-mirada-y-como-espera/)
2. [Cerrar los ojos (Close Your Eyes), the return of Victor Erice, Festival de Cannes](https://www.festival-cannes.com/en/2023/cerrar-los-ojos-close-your-eyes-the-return-of-victor-erice/)
3. [Close your Eyes, Instituto de la Cinematografía y de las Artes Audiovisuales (Ministry of Culture of Spain)](https://www.cultura.gob.es/cultura/areas/cine/mediciones/2022/mdf.html)
4. [Close your eyes (2022), IMDb](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt27030943/)
5. [Close Your Eyes pressbook, New Wave Films](https://www.newwavefilms.co.uk/assets/1729/Close_Your_Eyes_pressbook_2023.pdf)
6. [Close Your Eyes, International Film Festival Rotterdam](https://iffr.com/en/iffr/2024/films/close-your-eyes)
7. [Close Your Eyes Reviews, Metacritic](https://www.metacritic.com/movie/close-your-eyes-2023/)
8. [Close Your Eyes review, The Guardian](https://www.theguardian.com/film/2023/may/25/close-your-eyes-review-victor-erice-returns-with-enigmatic-tale-of-disappeared-actor)
9. [Close Your Eyes (2023), Rotten Tomatoes](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/close_your_eyes_2023)
10. [Close Your Eyes, European Screen](https://europeanscreen.com/titles/close-your-eyes/)
11. [Close Your Eyes review, Time Out](https://www.timeout.com/movies/close-your-eyes-2023)
12. [Close Your Eyes movie review, RogerEbert.com](https://www.rogerebert.com/reviews/close-your-eyes-film-review)
13. [Close Your Eyes press kit, Film Movement](https://filmmovement.com/userFiles/uploads/films/close-your-eyes/CloseYourEyes_presskit.pdf)
14. [Close Your Eyes review, The Hollywood Reporter (PDF)](https://www.josemariapou.com/media/upload/pdf/ojos-critica-the-hollywood-reporter_1736019729.pdf)
15. [Close Your Eyes, Melbourne International Film Festival archive](https://miff.com.au/festival-archive/films/33047/close-your-eyes)
16. [Cerrar los ojos, JustWatch](https://www.justwatch.com/es/pelicula/cerrar-los-ojos)
17. [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)
18. [Preselección española al Óscar, 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)
19. [Close Your Eyes at the BFI Victor Erice Season 2024, Latinolife](https://www.latinolife.co.uk/articles/close-your-eyes-2023-victor-erice-bfi-victor-erice-season-2024)
20. [With "Close Your Eyes," a Legendary Filmmaker Makes a Stunning Return, The New Yorker](https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2024/08/26/close-your-eyes-movie-review)
21. [Con los ojos bien abiertos, Filmoteca Española program (PDF)](https://www.cultura.gob.es/va/dam/jcr%3A46545574-fdd0-4c4e-b33a-9d644ea0870a/programacion-noviembre-2023-filmoteca-espa-ola.pdf)
22. [El Sol Del Membrillo, ivc.gva.es](https://ivc.gva.es/es/audiovisuales/pelicula-3102/el-sol-del-membrillo)
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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 15, 2026; Oct 25, 2026; Nov 1, 2026 · Last review: Oct 25, 2026*
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License: Edgepedia Community License 1.0, https://www.edgepedia.org/edgepedia/license