Abstract

Close Your Eyes (Victor Erice, 2023) develops a self-reflexive parable about the transcendental potential of the cinema experience and what it means to be a moviegoer. The main character is Miguel Garay, a film director whose second feature film is interrupted by the disappearance of its star, Julio Arenas. The plot of the film is one of mirroring, duplicity and mystery, with the gaze, the cinematographic image and the past being some of its main themes. This text aims to provide a close reading of Close Your Eyes that unravels the web of meanings carefully woven by Victor Erice.