Cria cuervos, released in 1976, shares something very specific with Veronica: its actress Ana Torrent.
Torrent played a character called Ana in Cria cuervos, and she does so again in Veronica.
On the shared name, Plaza told Cineuropa: “That was a very obvious reference: she’s also called Ana in my film, just as she is in Cria cuervos.
“I enjoyed pondering the girl’s history: she ends up marrying a man from Vallecas, setting up a bar and having four children. I love to think of Verónica as a false sequel to [Cria cuervos].
“Ana Torrent is a mythical actress, as a teenager I was very disturbed by her performance in Jaime de Armiñàn’s El nido.
“I wanted to play games and include a few references to Cria cuervos, but I didn’t want to exaggerate, as the film needs to have a life of its own to some extent, and when you use homages to other films to drive a film, you run the risk of losing sight of the film’s aim in itself.”
Veronica has been spooking audiences since it landed on Netflix last month – not lest because it takes inspiration from a true story.
“There is a nod to reality: an intention to locate the film in a specific space and time, in Spain before the Olympics,” Plaza said in the same interview.
“It deals with the transformation from girl to woman, and I think that year the country underwent a transformation of its own, into modern times: it was a turning point as it marked the end of Post-Francoism and the beginning of a settled democracy.”
Veronica has been dubbed by some viewers as too scary to even finish.
Veronica is streaming on Netflix now.