This should not be categorized as a horror movie. You can see from other reviews that people are upset at their expectations not being met. Although it does have some horror-like scares, it is a different experience altogether, more of a character study. However, the way that the story unfolds requires patience and an open mind. There are some allegorical elements that are not explicitly made clear in the movie. This could lead to some viewers feeling like the story leaves too many details unexplained. I thought it was well-written and gave an interesting look into the experience of a young Mexican woman dealing with the limited options imposed on her by family and society. The few supernatural elements sprinkled in are a smaller part of the story, which is mostly a psychological drama. I ended up liking the main character, so that influenced my enjoyment of the film, but not every viewer is going to understand or support her choices.

Valeria just found out she is pregnant, and she and her husband Raul are ecstatic. We then notice her withdrawing a bit from Raul with her joy and enthusiasm dwindling. One night, she witnesses a woman jump from her apartment window, but all is not what it seems.

Soon after, Valeria starts sensing and seeing things. Is it her imagination? Is she hallucinating? Or is it something far more sinister? If you've watched 'Huesera: The Bone Woman', then the answer will be obvious, but I'm not doing spoilers here for those who haven't seen it yet!

The film offers so many creepy moments and disturbing images. This is not your average Hollywood-style possession movie and some viewers might be disappointed in that regard. The narration makes the viewer wonder and question what is real, and what is a figment of Valeria's imagination. It also doesn't explain everything as clearly as most mainstream movies do. Either way, it makes for a disturbing watch in the vein of 'Under the Shadow', while the ending (sort of) reminded me of 'The Witch'.

The film takes a bit of a dip around the end of the second act and into the third, but Natalia Solián's fantastic performance as Valeria kept me interested and wanting more. The ending is not what I expected, but then again, this is not your average horror movie and it is unpredictable.

This is a great folk drama or supernatural drama but it's not a horror film at all. The only time in the entire film that I experienced horror was when I thought Val had thrown her baby out of the window or broken the infant's neck in a fit of post-partum sleep deprived psychosis.

Basically, a bisexual woman leaves her lesbian lover at a young age - late teens from all appearances - and attends college, gets into a serious relationship with a man, and becomes pregnant. All of the things she thought would make her happy.

It turns out the "demons" that she's fighting is simply that this was never the life she wanted. She doesn't like children, she doesn't want to be a mother, she's still in love with her lesbian ex from when she was younger, and she has to undergo an extreme ritual ceremony to make peace with leaving her male partner and newborn baby for the life she actually wants.

It's a good movie in many ways, but I don't consider it a horror movie.

I see so many reviews here saying that Valeria is somehow "irresponsible" or "avoiding motherhood" who missed the point completely. Mexican culture is still extremely traditional and there's a lot of pressure on women to be mothers. Clearly there also is in the conservative parts of the US too. This is basically a movie about a queer person trying to play straight and give society what it wants, only to break down and realize she's living a lie.

In the opening scene, Valeria doesn't seem to even be that into sex with her male partner. I noticed that right off the bat. Then he rejects her sexually while she's pregnant, and she turns back to her female lover, not to another man. I mean I think it's obvious what's actually going on here, and Valeria is not irresponsible at all - she realizes she could hurt the baby and is protecting the child by leaving. Plenty of folks would accept that a child is better off without its biological father, why not the biological mother?

This is a complex film about women and about how religion and traditional society forces people into roles they might not really want, like trying to force gay people to be straight or trying to force women to be mothers when they don't want to be.