Silver Nitrate – Moreno-Garcia Silvia (2023)

A breathtaking blend of Mexican horror movies and dark occultism from the author of Mexican Gothic. Montserrat has always been overlooked. She is a talented sound editor, but she is excluded from the boys’ club running the film industry in 1990s Mexico City. She is also all but invisible to her best friend Tristan, a charming but faded soap opera star, despite having been in love with him since childhood. When Tristan discovers that his new neighbour is cult horror director Abel Urueta, the legendary auteur claims he knows how to change their lives. His story of a Nazi occultist imbuing highly volatile silver nitrate film stock with magic sounds like sheer fantasy. The magical film was never finished, which Urueta says is why his career vanished overnight. He is cursed. Now the director wants Montserrat and Tristan to help shoot the missing scene and lift the curse, but Montserrat soon notices a dark presence following her. As they unravel the mystery of the film and the obscure occultist who once roamed their city, they may discover that sorcerers and magic are not only the stuff of movies.