thesis movie 1996

Thesis (1996)

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While doing a thesis about violence, Ángela finds a snuff video where a girl is tortured until death. Soon she discovers that the girl was a former student in her faculty...

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1996, Mystery & thriller/Horror, 2h 5m

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Thesis   photos.

A Spanish film student (Ana Torrent) finds a videotape showing the torture and murder of a missing coed.

Genre: Mystery & thriller, Horror

Original Language: Spanish (Spain)

Director: Alejandro Amenábar

Producer: José Luis Cuerda

Writer: Alejandro Amenábar

Release Date (Streaming): Nov 20, 2016

Runtime: 2h 5m

Production Co: Sogepaq, Las Producciones del Escorpión S.L.

Sound Mix: Dolby

Cast & Crew

Ana Torrent

Fele Martínez

Eduardo Noriega

Rosa Campillo

Miguel Picazo

Javier Elorriaga

Nieves Herranz

Olga Margallo

Alejandro Amenábar

José Luis Cuerda

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Alternate Title

Mpaa rating, produced by, thesis (1996), directed by alejandro amenábar.

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1996 ‘Tesis’ Directed by Alejandro Amenábar

My name is Angela. They're going to kill me.

While doing a thesis about violence, Ángela finds a snuff video where a girl is tortured until death. Soon she discovers that the girl was a former student in her faculty...

Ana Torrent Fele Martínez Eduardo Noriega Xabier Elorriaga Miguel Picazo Nieves Herranz Rosa Campillo Paco Hernández Rosa Ávila Teresa Castanedo José Miguel Caballero Joserra Cadiñanos Julio Vélez Pilar Ortega Olga Margallo José Luis Cuerda Emiliano Otegui Walter Prieto Florentino Sainz Helena Castañeda

Director Director

Alejandro Amenábar

Assistant Director Asst. Director

Producers producers.

Alejandro Amenábar José Luis Cuerda Hans Burmann María Elena Sáinz de Rozas Wolfgang Burmann Julio Madurga Ricardo Steinberg

Executive Producers Exec. Producers

José Luis Cuerda Emiliano Otegui

Writers Writers

Alejandro Amenábar Mateo Gil

Editor Editor

María Elena Sáinz de Rozas

Cinematography Cinematography

Hans Burmann

Production Design Production Design

Wolfgang Burmann

Composers Composers

Alejandro Amenábar Mariano Marín

Sound Sound

Pelayo Gutiérrez Ricardo Steinberg Nacho Royo-Villanova

Costume Design Costume Design

Makeup makeup.

Paca Almenara

Sogepaq Las Producciones del Escorpión S.L.

Releases by Date

11 apr 1996, 26 jun 1997, 22 nov 1997, 22 apr 2003, 07 oct 2009, releases by country.

• Physical 18

Netherlands

• Theatrical 16
• Physical 16 DVD

South Korea

• Theatrical 18

125 mins   More at IMDb TMDb Report this page

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Los delirios de Alfred Hitchcock han perseguido a toda una generación de cineastas, algunos charlatanes y otros dignos sucesores pero Tésis de Almenábar es mucho más que esto último.

Es un nuevo y transmutado sentido del pánico en un misterio lleno de sensaciones inquietantes. Las pistas falsas, revelaciones dentro de las revelaciones, personajes ambiguos, secuencias ensordecedoras y tensión para romperte los dientes pues el director español es todo un maestro en la construcción de atmosferas opresivas a la hora de filmar, sobre todo en la obscuridad.

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• Paco Hernández

• Joserra Cadiñanos
• Pilar Ortega
• Olga Margallo

• Walter Prieto

• See all credits
• #12 Best Spanish Movies of all time
• #49 Best Movies of the '90s
• #52 Best Thrillers in the history of film
• #60 Best Mystery Films
• "Alejandro Amenábar balances actual, terrifying visuals with Hitchcockian red herrings for one of the best debut films in years"  Jason Newman : Rolling Stone
• "Despite some whopping improbabilities 'Thesis' generates genuine tension"  Joe Leydon : Variety
• 2 My Favorite Movies from Spain (607)
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Jotted Lines

A Collection Of Essays

Tesis / Thesis (1996 Movie): Summary & Analysis

Summary: .

Film student Ángela is writing her thesis on violence in audiovisual media. At the university, she discovers the body of her thesis director, Prof. Figueroa, who died while watching a video that turns out to be a snuff film. The plot of this psychological thriller unfolds through Ángela’s research on the disappearance of a former classmate, tortured and murdered on tape. Unsure about whom to trust, Ángela is targeted as the next victim as she draws closer to exposing an underground ring of snuff films produced by a fellow student and professor. Set in the 1990s, the film engages a critique of violence in television and film, market forces producing audiovisual media, and voyeuristic desires of audiences, as well as the burgeoning practices of security camera vigilance in public spaces. 

Amenábar’s feature-length debut, a psychological thriller of the intrigue genre about ‘snuff’ film, is in many ways an exploration into the darkest underside of the demand for spectacle in which visual media are produced, whether for television or film. As the film student Ángela pursues research for her thesis on audiovisual violence (‘a daily occurrence in film and television’), her desire to view footage all too graphic to appear in the media is eclipsed by the dangers of exposing an underground ring of snuff films produced in the university. It is this turn from Ángela’s interest in viewing graphic violence to the threat that she herself could become the next victim of a snuff film which structures the narrative for viewers, similarly to the genre of a detective thriller whodunit, in which all relationships outside the family are suspect. The ensuing intrigue confronts viewers with complex questions about spectatorship itself in which the morbid interest in seeing tortured and mutilated bodies censored from the public eye is satisfied by an underground market that must ‘give the audience what it wants to see’, as Professor Castro (one author of the snuff ring) lectures to his film students. In this sense, the notion of desire constructed in the film is understood as a complex, intersecting terrain of psychological, market-driven, and sociocultural factors which generate, at once, the spectator’s libidinal desire to consume censored images, an underground market of snuff film produced in response to the demand for violence, and the gendered roles of the characters as either objects or perpetrators of this violence, among others. The demand for morbid images, in other words, exists within a market economy inseparable from the characters’ fascination with and horror for ‘real’ explicit visual material that is censored or in the case of Ángela’s research subject, conspicuous in the media. 

Notably, it is only once Ángela perceives that she is being pursued as the next victim of the snuff ring, as the very object of filmed violence which both terrifies and intrigues her, that her desire to view graphic images begins to wane, leading her to abandon her research altogether by the end of the film. Nevertheless, Ángela’s ambiguous transformation from a subject who desires to see recorded violence to become herself a target of ‘real’ violence is not entirely clear given that Amenábar constructs desire for his audience in less simplistic terms.1 Viewers are shown images of Ángela peeking through her fingers to catch a glimpse of the filmed horror that so fascinates her, an ambivalence which is evidently more complex in her character’s psychological portrait. For, Ángela also fantasises about a sexual encounter with the suspect Bosco in a disturbing dream sequence which oscillates between Ángela’s terrified resistance to her aggressor, who subdues her in bed with a suggestive phallic switchblade, and her erotic attempt held at knifepoint to seduce Bosco, which could be read as a survival tactic were it not for the director’s choice to portray this scene disturbingly with evident lust. To her horror, a dreaming Ángela realises that she is being filmed during the sex act, as an object of desire targeted for annihilation, which draws a clear parallel for the film’s viewers between woman as object in pornography and the brutal victimisation of the innocent in snuff. This parallel is furthermore reinforced by an earlier shot of the university film catalogue in which hardcore ‘pornography and other films’ (snuff) are categorised and archived together. The dream sequence, along with the late revelation that Ángela has been filmed secretly at home by her co-researcher Chema – a recording in which she caresses and kisses the image of Bosco displayed on the television screen – emphasises the perverse trappings of a desire through which Ángela’s character, unknown to the film’s audience, had demonstrated a conscious, invested sexual interest in the suspect Bosco, caught on tape. The voyeuristic recording likewise exposes her projected desire for simulacrum in the form of images (in film, television), a scene with greater social implications than Ángela’s character portrait alone. Sexual desire is played out similarly in displaced ways among other characters, in Bosco’s attempt to seduce Ángela’s unsuspecting younger sister, in Ángela’s ‘feigned’ kiss with Bosco in order to distance her sister from the suspected assassin, in the alleged jealousy of Bosco’s girlfriend towards Ángela, in Chema’s voyeuristic recording of Ángela, and even between men in Bosco and Chema’s former friendship which remained a secret to Ángela, a suspicious matter when this bond was revealed to her by Bosco’s girlfriend. 

In this sense, Ángela’s confession earlier in the film ‘I don’t like to be recorded’ echoes Amenábar’s recurrent questioning of camera vigilance and its blurred distinction between the public eye and private intimacy, whether subjects are deliberately filmed, as in these scenes, or passively recorded by the university’s security cameras which provide evidence to incriminate Ángela in the discovery of Professor Figueroa’s dead body in the auditorium. Viewers might draw an immediate comparison between the growing presence of security cameras in public space at the time of the film’s release and Amenábar’s critique of camera vigilance, both public and private. Moving beyond this initial assessment, the film also suggests that even when institutional vigilance is justified under the guise of security (i.e., mandated by the university or state), and thereby presumably void of subjective interest, a voyeuristic desire indeed underpins authority and serves to both conserve and usurp it; as viewers will remember, the closed circuit cameras incriminate Ángela, but also film Professor Castro’s suspicious lurking presence in the university film archive before Figueroa’s death. 

In its increasingly muddied distinction between the public and private, intimacy and vigilance, the film also problematises the strict separation between access to mediated (recorded or simulated) violence in the form of images and ‘real violence’ experienced in the first person.2 Viewers are reminded throughout the film that any absolute distinction between the ‘mediated’ and the ‘real’ – whether desire, violent images, or otherwise – is ultimately ungrounded. Ángela asks Chema if he has ever seen a real dead body, which gives way to two interpretations: Chema asserts that he has, in the explicit video recordings he watches with Ángela, and yet to the contrary, for Ángela audiovisual violence is not ‘real’ per se (she argues, ‘not on television, but a real dead body’). From the film’s opening sequence in a train station, in which Ángela approaches the train tracks desiring to view a ‘body split in two’ that is never actually seen (through the camera that occupies her first-person gaze), Amenábar structures the film’s imagery, and at times Ángela’s sight, through similar camerawork that seldom shows significant footage of gore, if at all.3 Instead, the characters’ horror is transmitted to the audience through shots of their expressions when viewing the snuff film and, most importantly, through the viewer’s psychological response when imagining violent images through the use of diegetic and non-diegetic sound, particularly in the victim’s chilling screams for help as she is being tortured. In fact, Amenábar’s choice not to show viewers significant violence or gore, but rather to play on the viewer’s horror by imagining this violence through sound, is perhaps most noteworthy for film students interested in Amenábar’s use of diegetic and non-diegetic sound in conjunction with the full omission of visual information (i.e. established as a motif in the opening sequence with a recorded voice-off which fades to the first frame).4 Chema and Ángela’s tense adventure into the cellar of the university archives, equipped with only a box of matches that must be lit consecutively, also plays with the audience’s ability to see only the duration of each lighted match, interspersed with shots of complete darkness which play upon the viewer’s expectations of surprise in the thriller genre. Such is the nature of Ángela’s psychological, imaginative horror when she chooses not to view the snuff film, at first, but darkens her television screen through the contrast function so that only the audio recording can be heard, which proves disturbing for her character in later scenes, as she listens obsessively to the film’s audio recording on her portable tape recorder. 

Nevertheless, it should be noted that when violent images are shown to the film’s viewers, Amenábar often chooses to demonstrate the characters’ ability to analyse them critically. For, the rapid advances in digital camera technology at the time are what lead Chema and Ángela to deduce the brand of camera used to record the snuff film, through a close analysis of the recording’s image quality, as well as the camera’s date of release and purchase, which would serve as vital information to track down Professor Castro and Bosco as leaders of the snuff ring. Chema and Ángela furthermore provide a ‘close visual reading’ of the quick jump cuts in post-production editing, which aim to delete the victim’s mention of her torturer’s name, allowing them to conclude that the victim knows her murderer. It could be argued that these two fundamental pieces of information, used to crack the case, are derived from the protagonists’ critical analysis of graphic images, providing a similar key to Amenábar’s proposal for his viewers to deconstruct their own relationship to violence with critical reflection. 

One should note that the word morbo used to describe Ángela’s ‘morbid’ desire to view extreme, violent images, is defined in Spanish as both ‘an unhealthy interest in persons or things’ and ‘an attraction to unpleasant events’. In this sense, the film’s dark reflection on spectatorship and the morbid fascination with explicit images in the media may be traced to the film’s release, contemporary to the upsurge in violence in Spanish cinema at the time, noted by Jordan and MorganTamosunas, Klodt, Moreiras-Menor and Tierney, among others, as well as the flourishing of the first private television networks in Spain in the 1990s. Summarised in the market-driven maxim of Professor Castro on the film industry, to provide viewers literally with what they most desire to see, programming in commercial television is largely dependent upon the number of viewers in a given audience share, supported by advertising spots (see Maxwell 1995). It is no surprise that Amenábar closes the film, then, with a sequence of images from a fictitious sensationalist news show, Justice and Law, whose anchor summarises the ‘unbelievable’ and ‘macabre’ story of gruesome murders of disappeared girls found on tape. Framing for her audience that it is ‘not easy for us to show these images,’ the anchor both conditions the viewer’s expectations before seeing the footage (‘and now, the images you’ve been waiting for’) and justifies the broadcast as ‘a document by itself’, unmediated and lacking critical analysis. In this final sequence, the camera shows Chema and Ángela walking through the hallway of a hospital, interspersed with images of patients fixated on the same television broadcast, a suggestive critique of a greater social desire to view violence in televised media, which is not altogether unique to Spain.5 Keeping in mind the film’s potential to question intimacy, vigilance, and the increasingly blurry distinction between the public and private – a more subtle gesture than the explicit nature of extreme violence in the film’s exploration of snuff – one could conclude in this final scene that Amenábar proposes a greater social critique of the production of and desire to consume images in a market-driven economy that jettisons ethical considerations in favour of audience share or box office revenue. In other words, the viewing audience most desires to consume, with morbid fascination, not only violence but voyeurism in which private matters are made public – the form of television programming that defines sensationalist news media and the gossip varieties of popular talk shows that turn the intimate details of private lives into spectacle-driven commodities for mass consumption. After all, perhaps summarised most disturbingly for the film’s viewers, when Ángela kisses the television screen, her secret desire for the assassin is only made public, terrifyingly and intriguingly so for the viewing audience, when caught on tape. 

Notes 

1. As Cristina Moreiras-Menor argues, ‘Lejos … de ser una película que trabaja exclusivamente en torno a la mirada fascinada del sujeto contemporáneo hacia la violencia, Tesis va más allá al exponer tanto su razón, la espectacularización masiva e indiferencia de la realidad, como su origen, la formación del sujeto y la manipulación de su mirada a la realidad a partir de procesos simbólicos de educación asentados fundamentalmente en estructuras de poder (institucionalizadas) que privilegian la espectacularización consumista del lado más sórdido de la naturaleza humana y social’ [Far … from being a film that works exclusively around the fascinated gaze of the contemporary subject towards violence, Tesis goes beyond this to expose both its raison d’être, mass spectacularization and indifference towards reality, and its origin, the formation of the subject and manipulation of the subject’s view of reality from symbolic processes of education seated fundamentally in (institutionalized) structures of power that privilege consumerist spectacularization of human and social nature’s most sordid side.] (Moreiras-Menor 2002: 260). 

2. See Dolores Tierney, ‘The Appeal of the Real in Snuff: Alejandro Amenábar’s Tesis (“Thesis”)’, Spectator – The University of Southern California Journal of Film and Television, Vol. 22, No. 2, Fall 2002, pp. 45–55. 

3. As Amenábar notes, ‘opté por el camino opuesto, mirando hacia el otro lado, a la cara de los actores, jugando con la proyección psicológica del espectador, con lo que no está viendo, con lo que se está imaginando’ [I chose the opposite route, looking the other way, at the actors’ faces, playing with the psychological projection of the viewer, with what one is not seeing, with what one is imagining.] (Marchante 2002: 59). 

4. See Dominique Russell, ‘Sounds like Horror: Alejandro Amenábar’s Thesis on AudioVisual Violence’, Canadian Journal of Film Studies, Vol. 15, No. 2, Fall 2006, pp. 81–95. 

5. See Jason E. Klodt, ‘En el fondo te gusta: Titillation, Desire, and the Spectator’s Gaze in Alejandro Amenábar’s Tesis’, Studies in Hispanic Cinemas, Vol. 4, No. 1, 2007, pp. 3–17. 

Cast and Crew:

[Country: Spain. Production Company: Las Producciones del Escorpión and SOGEPAQ. Director: Alejandro Amenábar. Executive producers: José Luis Cuerda and Emiliano Otegui. Screenwriters: Alejandro Amenábar and Mateo Gil. Cinematographer: Hans Burmann. Music: Alejandro Amenábar and Mariano Marín. Editor: María Elena Sáinz de Rozas. Cast: Ana Torrent (Ángela), Fele Martínez (Chema), Eduardo Noriega (Bosco Herranz), Xabier Elorriaga (Castro), Miguel Picazo (Figueroa), Nieves Herranz (Sena), Rosa Campillo (Yolanda).] 

Further Reading 

Barry Jordan and Rikki Morgan-Tamosunas, Contemporary Spanish Cinema, Manchester University Press, Manchester and New York, 1998. 

Oti Rodríguez Marchante, Amenábar, vocación de intriga, Madrid, Páginas de Espuma, 2002. 

Steven Marsh and Parvati Nair (eds), Gender and Spanish Cinema, Oxford and New York, Berg, 2004. 

Rosanna Maule, ‘Cultural Specificity and Transnational Address in the New Generation of Spanish Film Authors: The Case of Alejandro Amenábar’, in Cristina Sánchez-Conejero (ed.), Spanishness in the Spanish Novel and Cinema of the 20th-21st Century, Newcastle, Cambridge Scholars, 2007, pp. 107–20. 

Richard Maxwell, The Spectacle of Democracy: Spanish Television, Nationalism, and Political Transition, Minneapolis, MN, University of Minneapolis Press, 1995. 

Cristina Moreiras-Menor, Cultura herida: Literatura y cine en la España democrática, Madrid, Ediciones Libertarias, 2002. 

Joan Ramon Resina (ed.), Burning Darkness: A Half Century of Spanish Cinema, Albany, NY, State University of New York Press, 2008. 

Paul Julian Smith, Television in Spain, from Franco to Almodóvar, Woodbridge, UK and Rochester, New York, Tamesis, 2006. 

Source Credits:

The Routledge Encyclopedia of Films, Edited by Sarah Barrow, Sabine Haenni and John White, first published in 2015.

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Snuff movies, true-crime TV shows and other forms of violent entertainment figure heavily in restrained thriller about a film student who becomes the star in her own life-or-death drama. Newcomer Alejandro Amenabar provides an inventive plot and a sufficient supply of red herrings. Could click in the international video market with savvy handling.

By Joe Leydon

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Snuff movies, true-crime TV shows and other forms of violent entertainment figure heavily in the plot of “Thesis,” a surprisingly restrained thriller about a film student who becomes the star in her own life-or-death drama. Newcomer Alejandro Amenabar provides an inventive plot and a sufficient supply of red herrings, but fails to sustain suspense in the pic’s draggy second half. Theatrical prospects are iffy. Even so, “Thesis” could click in the international video market with savvy handling.

Ana Torrent is well cast as Angela, a Madrid film student who wants to write her thesis on violence in movies. Her faculty adviser offers to help by searching the university’s archives for violent videos. Unfortunately, he wanders into a secret storage room and picks up an unmarked videocassette, and he’s shocked into a fatal heart attack while viewing the tape.

Angela discovers her mentor dead in a university screening room. Impulsively, she steals the tape he was watching. At home, she discovers the video is a recording of the torture-murder of a co-ed who disappeared three years earlier.

Rather than alert the police, Angela decides to investigate on her own. She seeks info about violent video from an eccentric classmate, Chema (Fele Martinez), an avid fan of porno and splatter movies. He looks at the snuff video and immediately recognizes that it was shot with a special model of video camera. Just a few days later, Angela spots one of those cameras in the hands of a handsome student, Bosco (Eduardo Noriega), who just happens to know the long-missing co-ed.

Amenabar effectively develops a slow-simmering attraction between Angela and Bosco, slyly hinting that she may be drawn to him because of the danger he possibly represents. Meanwhile, Chema fumes jealously and does a great deal to arouse audience suspicion. Other prime suspects include Castro (Javier Elorriaga), Angela’s new faculty adviser; and Yolanda (Rosa Campillo), Bosco’s possessive girlfriend.

Despite some whopping improbabilities — would snuff movie producers really hide their master tapes in a university storage room? –“Thesis” generates genuine tension. Pic also manages a few pointed comments about the relationship between violence and voyeurism, particularly in a final scene that has the host of a Spanish tabloid TV show warning viewers that they’re about to see a clip from a snuff movie. The viewers appear to be raptly attentive.

Torrent manages the difficult trick of seeming intelligent even when her character does some pretty dumb things. Martinez is aptly ambiguous in his portrayal of the surly Chema.

Hans Burmann’s moody cinematography is a major asset. Other tech values are first-rate.

According to pic’s production notes, Amenabar is, at 23, the youngest feature filmmaker in Spain. It will be interesting to see whether he can fulfill the promise he displays here.

• Production: A Las Productions del Escorpion production. Produced by Jose Luis Cuerda. Executive producer, Emiliano Otegui Piedra. Directed, written by Alejandro Amenabar.
• Crew: Camera (color), Hans Burmann; editor , Maria Elena Saenz De Rozas; music, Amenabar, Mariano Marin; art direction, Wolfgang Burmann; sound (Dolby), Goldstein & Steinberg; assistant director, Walter Prieto. Reviewed at Berlin Film Festival (Panorama), Feb. 16, 1996. Running time: 125 MIN.
• With: Angela ... Ana Torrent Chema ...Fele Martinez Bosco ... Eduardo Noriega Sena ... Nieves Harranz Yolanda ... Rosa Campillo Figueroa ... Miguel Picazo Castro ... Javier Elorriaga

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Tesis (Original Motion Picture Soundtrack)

Different stars.

• 1 Alejandro Amenabar Títulos Iniciales 1:26
• 2 Alejandro Amenabar Figueroa 1:17
• 3 Alejandro Amenabar Míralo Otra Vez 1:18
• 4 Alejandro Amenabar Bosco 2:26
• 5 Alejandro Amenabar Persecución 3:17
• 6 Alejandro Amenabar Sueño 3:29
• 7 Alejandro Amenabar Investigando 1:08
• 8 Alejandro Amenabar Castro 1:57
• 9 Alejandro Amenabar Snuff 1:29
• 10 Alejandro Amenabar La Princesa y el Enano 5:48
• 11 Alejandro Amenabar Beso en la Discoteca 0:41
• 12 Alejandro Amenabar El Parque 0:44
• 13 Alejandro Amenabar Ángela Encuentra la Cámara 2:08
• 14 Alejandro Amenabar La Casa de Bosco 2:04
• 15 Alejandro Amenabar Pelea en la Cocina 1:19
• 16 Alejandro Amenabar El Garaje 1:17
• 17 Alejandro Amenabar Me Van a Matar 1:13
• 18 Alejandro Amenabar El Hospital 1:05
• 19 Alejandro Amenabar Títulos Finales 2:33
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(The) director Alejandro Amenábar balances actual, terrifying visuals with Hitchcockian red herrings for one of the best debut films in years. The...

Despite some whopping improbabilities – would snuff movie producers really hide their master tapes in a university storage room? -"Thesis...

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Beautiful, interesting, incredible cinema.

While doing a thesis about violence, Ángela finds a snuff video where a girl is tortured until death. Soon she discovers that the girl was a former student in her faculty…

The chilling first feature from the master of psychological thrillers, The Others director Alejandro Amenábar, examines society’s insatiable obsession with violent imagery. Located in the sleazy underworld of amateur snuff films, this tense, creepy campus-set thriller is rife with unsettling turns.

Thesis Stream and Watch Online

Watch 'Thesis' Online

Looking to watch ' Thesis ' on your TV or mobile device at home? Discovering a streaming service to buy, rent, download, or view the Alejandro Amenábar-directed movie via subscription can be challenging, so we here at Moviefone want to help you out. Below, you'll find a number of top-tier streaming and cable services - including rental, purchase, and subscription alternatives - along with the availability of 'Thesis' on each platform when they are available. Now, before we get into the fundamentals of how you can watch 'Thesis' right now, here are some finer points about the Sogepaq Las Producciones del Escorpión SL horror flick. Released , 'Thesis' stars Ana Torrent , Fele Martínez , Eduardo Noriega , Xabier Elorriaga The movie has a runtime of about 2 hr 5 min, and received a user score of 74 (out of 100) on TMDb, which collated reviews from 764 experienced users. What, so now you want to know what the movie's about? Here's the plot: "While doing a thesis about violence Ángela finds a snuff video where a girl is tortured to death Soon she discovers that the girl was a former student at her college" 'Thesis' is currently available to rent, purchase, or stream via subscription on Apple iTunes, Google Play Movies, and YouTube .

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32 facts about the movie thesis.

Written by Truda Cleland

Modified & Updated: 05 Mar 2024

Reviewed by Sherman Smith

"Thesis" is a gripping and thought-provoking film that has captivated audiences worldwide since its release. Directed by Alejandro Amenábar, this Spanish thriller delves into the dark and complex world of academic research, uncovering a web of secrets and mysteries. As we delve into 32 fascinating facts about this compelling movie, we will unravel the intricate layers that make "Thesis" a timeless cinematic masterpiece. From its inception to its impact on the film industry, this article will shed light on the captivating journey of "Thesis" and its enduring influence. Join us as we embark on a captivating exploration of this iconic film, uncovering little-known details and behind-the-scenes insights that will deepen your appreciation for this cinematic gem.

Key Takeaways:

• “Thesis” is a gripping Spanish thriller that explores the dark side of academia, captivating audiences with its intense storyline and thought-provoking themes. It delves into ethical dilemmas in research and the chilling underbelly of society, leaving a lasting impact on viewers.
• Directed by Alejandro Amenábar, “Thesis” follows a student who uncovers a snuff film while researching her thesis, sparking a series of chilling events. The movie garnered commercial success and critical acclaim, solidifying its status as a must-watch thriller that continues to captivate audiences worldwide.

Alejandro Amenábar wrote the screenplay for "Thesis" at the age of 23.

At a remarkably young age, Amenábar exhibited his exceptional talent by crafting the compelling narrative of "Thesis," showcasing his early prowess as a filmmaker.

The movie was released in 1996.

"Thesis" made its debut in 1996, marking the beginning of its enduring impact on the thriller genre.

It explores the sinister aspects of academic research.

The film delves into the dark and often overlooked world of academic research, shedding light on the potential dangers that lurk beneath the pursuit of knowledge.

"Thesis" was a commercial and critical success.

The movie garnered both commercial success and critical acclaim, solidifying its status as a must-watch thriller in the Spanish film industry.

It features a gripping storyline centered around a student's thesis project.

The plot revolves around a student who stumbles upon a snuff film while conducting research for her thesis, setting off a series of chilling events.

The film addresses ethical dilemmas in academia.

"Thesis" confronts ethical quandaries within the academic sphere, prompting viewers to contemplate the moral implications of research and the pursuit of knowledge.

"Thesis" marked Alejandro Amenábar's directorial debut.

Amenábar made a striking entry into the world of directing with "Thesis," showcasing his distinctive style and storytelling prowess from the outset of his career.

The movie received seven Goya Awards nominations.

Its impact on the Spanish film industry was evident as "Thesis" garnered seven nominations at the prestigious Goya Awards , a testament to its cinematic excellence.

"Thesis" won the Goya Award for Best Film.

Amidst stiff competition, the film clinched the esteemed Goya Award for Best Film, solidifying its position as a standout production in the industry.

It offers a chilling portrayal of the underbelly of society.

Through its narrative, "Thesis" offers a chilling glimpse into the darker facets of society, leaving a lasting impression on audiences.

The movie sparked critical discussions about voyeurism and violence.

"Thesis" sparked thought-provoking conversations about voyeurism and violence, prompting viewers to contemplate the implications of these themes within the context of the film.

It showcases the complexities of human nature.

The characters in "Thesis" are intricately woven into the fabric of the storyline, offering a compelling exploration of human nature and its multifaceted dimensions.

The film's cinematography enhances its suspenseful atmosphere.

With masterful cinematography, "Thesis" creates a palpable sense of suspense, immersing viewers in its gripping storyline.

"Thesis" serves as a testament to Alejandro Amenábar's early talent.

Amenábar's directorial debut with "Thesis" showcased his innate storytelling ability and foreshadowed his future success in the film industry.

The movie received international acclaim.

"Thesis" transcended geographical boundaries, earning international acclaim and captivating audiences beyond Spain's borders.

It explores the intersection of academia and crime.

The film skillfully intertwines academic pursuits with criminal elements, crafting a narrative that blurs the lines between scholarly endeavors and perilous realities.

"Thesis" offers a nuanced portrayal of fear and vulnerability.

Through its characters and storyline, the film presents a nuanced exploration of fear and vulnerability, resonating with audiences on a profound level.

It features a compelling female protagonist.

The lead character in "Thesis" is a strong, multidimensional female protagonist, adding depth and complexity to the film's narrative.

The movie confronts the consequences of unchecked ambition.

"Thesis" delves into the repercussions of unchecked ambition, highlighting the potential dangers that arise from unbridled pursuit of success.

It showcases the dark undercurrents of the film industry.

Through its thematic exploration, "Thesis" sheds light on the shadowy undercurrents of the film industry, offering a compelling commentary on its intricacies.

The film's soundtrack enhances its suspenseful ambiance.

With a haunting soundtrack, "Thesis" amplifies its suspenseful ambiance, heightening the emotional impact of pivotal scenes.

"Thesis" prompted critical discourse on the ethics of research.

The film sparked conversations about the ethical considerations surrounding research, prompting viewers to contemplate the ethical dimensions of academic pursuits.

It captivated audiences with its gripping narrative.

"Thesis" captivated audiences with its gripping narrative, drawing viewers into its compelling storyline from start to finish.

The movie's success solidified Alejandro Amenábar's position in the film industry.

"Thesis" served as a launching pad for Amenábar's illustrious career, cementing his status as a formidable talent in the film industry.

It continues to resonate with audiences worldwide.

Decades after its release, "Thesis" continues to resonate with audiences worldwide, attesting to the enduring impact of its narrative.

The film's themes remain relevant in contemporary society.

The themes explored in "Thesis" remain relevant in contemporary society, offering a timeless quality that continues to captivate viewers.

It blends elements of suspense and psychological intrigue.

"Thesis" seamlessly blends elements of suspense and psychological intrigue, crafting a narrative that keeps viewers on the edge of their seats.

The movie's success paved the way for Alejandro Amenábar's future projects.

The acclaim garnered by "Thesis" laid the groundwork for Amenábar's future projects, setting the stage for his continued contributions to the film industry.

It offers a chilling commentary on the human psyche.

Through its storyline, "Thesis" offers a chilling commentary on the complexities of the human psyche, delving into the darker recesses of the mind.

The film's impact reverberates through the thriller genre.

"Thesis" left an indelible mark on the thriller genre, influencing subsequent works and leaving a lasting legacy within the cinematic landscape.

It garnered accolades for its innovative storytelling.

The film received accolades for its innovative storytelling, earning recognition for its unique approach to narrative and thematic exploration.

"Thesis" remains a timeless classic in the realm of thriller cinema.

Decades after its release, "Thesis" stands as a timeless classic in the realm of thriller cinema, captivating audiences with its enduring allure and thought-provoking themes.

Directed by Alejandro Amenábar, "Thesis" is a gripping Spanish thriller that delves into the dark underbelly of academia. The film follows a student who stumbles upon a snuff film while conducting research for her thesis, setting off a series of chilling events. Through its compelling narrative, "Thesis" addresses ethical dilemmas in academia and offers a chilling portrayal of the underbelly of society. The movie garnered both commercial success and critical acclaim, solidifying its status as a must-watch thriller in the Spanish film industry. With its timeless themes and masterful storytelling, "Thesis" continues to captivate audiences worldwide, leaving an indelible mark on the thriller genre.

In conclusion, "Thesis" is a captivating and thought-provoking film that delves into the complexities of human nature and the pursuit of truth. With its gripping storyline, compelling characters, and masterful direction, this movie has left an indelible mark on the world of cinema. Through its exploration of themes such as identity, morality, and the power of knowledge, "Thesis" continues to resonate with audiences, sparking discussions and inspiring critical thinking. Whether you're a fan of suspenseful thrillers or thought-provoking dramas, "Thesis" is a must-watch film that will keep you on the edge of your seat while prompting introspection and contemplation.

Q: What genre does "Thesis" belong to? A: "Thesis" is a psychological thriller that seamlessly blends elements of suspense, mystery, and drama, offering a gripping and intense viewing experience.

Q: Who are the main characters in "Thesis"? A: The main characters in "Thesis" include Angela, Chema, and Bosco, each contributing to the intricate and compelling narrative in their own unique ways.

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Thesis (1996)

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• Movies for the Masses Joseph Proimakis mia filodoksi apopeira sholioy sti bia toy mesoy poy ypiretei [o skino8etis], ton tropo poy ayti hrisimopoieitai os opioyho skeyasma, kai etsi gia ton habale, ton symbolismo toy ergaleioy poy koybalaei ston omo toy (os ergaleio apokalypsis tis alitheias,
• Goatdog's Movies Michael W. Phillips, Jr. The thinking man's 8mm.
• Bryant Frazer's Deep Focus Bryant Frazer Spanish filmmaker Alejandro Amenbar ('Open Your Eyes') is already in his element with this low-budget thriller debut.
• PopMatters Imran Khan Tesis won't exactly knock the socks off of viewers; However, it is exceptionally acted, with all actors delivering solid performances and fully submitting to the demands of some of the more arduous action sequences.
• MovieMartyr.com Jeremy Heilman It only manages to be startling in passing.
• Dennis Schwartz Movie Reviews Dennis Schwartz The young director has an exciting way of filming and keeping one engrossed in the story...
• Rolling Stone Jason Newman (The) director Alejandro Amenábar balances actual, terrifying visuals with Hitchcockian red herrings for one of the best debut films in years. The technology might be quaint, but the fear remains resonant.
• AV Club Scott Tobias Amenábar dodges the moral hysteria and hypocritical prurience that infected Joel Schumacher's 8mm three years later, and his cinephilia suffuses the film in mostly exciting ways.
• Variety Joe Leydon Despite some whopping improbabilities - would snuff movie producers really hide their master tapes in a university storage room? -"Thesis" generates genuine tension

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