Directed by Michael Chaves, “The Curse of La Llorona” is based on a long-running Mexican folktale on the lore of La Llorona (or “The Weeping Woman”). The movie stars Linda Cardellini as Anna Tate-Garcia, a social worker who unknowingly draws the wrath of the vengeful spirit named La Llorona. The film is currently streaming on Netflix.
Plot Summary: Set in 1970s Los Angeles, Anna tries to help two children from their seemingly odd mother. However, unknowingly she gives the children up to La Llorona when she separates the two boys from their mother. In an act of revenge, the grieving mother prays to the evil spirit of La Llorona to take Anna’s two children and give back hers. This plunges Anna into a tumultuous plight to save her children.
Currently trending on Netflix, “The Curse of La Llorona” is a horror fest (set in the Conjuring universe) that relies a lot on jump scares and eerie sounds. While the plot may not seem entirely unique, the movie is successful in its delivering chilling visuals and goosebumps inducing suspense.
Here are 10 scenes from the movie that will keep you on your toes and make you look back in fear!
1. La Llorona takes Carlos and Tomas (12:28–15:25)
In this scene, we see Patricia’s two sons, Carlos and Tomas, sleeping in the government facility after being rescued by Anna. At night, Carlos is suddenly woken up and sees Tomas in the doorway.
He follows Tomas as he goes out in the corridor. Carlos sees him point towards the convex mirror on the corridor, where he is horrified to see the reflection of the malevolent entity, and then the mirror cracks. The scene ends with a jumpscare and a scream.Â
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2. Chris sees La Llorona (18:08–22:00)
When Anna is called to the scene where Carlos’ and Tomas’ bodies are found, she brings her two children, Chris and Sam, and tells them to stay in the car. Out of curiosity, Chris goes out of the car and secretly watches the crime scene.
There, he hears the sound of a woman crying. That woman, dressed in a veiled wedding gown, talks in Spanish and burns his wrist. Scared, Chris runs away and enters the car when weird things keep happening, like the door and windows automatically opening.Â
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3. Paranormal Incidents and Sleepwalking (34:28–38-02)
The next day at night, Anna is in her room reminiscing about her husband when she suddenly hears sounds coming from downstairs. This eerie and suspenseful sequence starts with Anna checking all the rooms in the dark. She sees her son Chris trying to open the door while sleepwalking. She wakes him up, and then, in a freaky jumpscare, the door automatically snaps wide open. Then Chris falls unconscious.
4. Anna sees La Llorona (38:20–40:45)
After tucking in Chris in his bed, Anna finds all the pictures that were on her bed cluttered on the floor. She gets frightened at the thought of an intruder and asks the intruder to come out, then she turns back and sees La Llorona in the mirror of her daughter’s room. She screams, and the door to her own room shuts. Then, La Llarona appears in her room, and she, with a bat in her hand, asks her what she wants. The scene ends with the children opening the door and asking Anna what’s wrong. This is the first time in the movie that Anna sees La Llorona.
5. The Bathtub Scene (49:14–53:10)
The scene begins after child protective services leave Anna’s house. Anna urges Chris to open up, and while in the bathtub, we see horrific-looking hands grab Sam’s hair as she bathes. Sam, thinking it’s her mother, lets her do it. Chris confesses to seeing a weeping woman with a white dress on.
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The evil spirit tries to drown Sam when Anna goes ahead and rescues her. La Llorona manages to appear in front of Anna and burn her wrists as well.
6. Calling Out La Llorona (01:03:00–01:05:00)
In an effort to get rid of La Llorona, Anna takes the help of a priest turned shaman (“curandero”) named Rafael Olvera. Rafael does a lot of rituals to protect the house. At night, the lights go out, and Anna and her kids sit in a circle bordered by candles. After a series of sounds and thuds, a wind blows away the light of candles, and La Llorona appears. She throws Anna away with a scream.
7. The Pool Scene (01:09:28-01:13:45)
In an effort to fetch her doll, Sam breaks the barrier (made from the seeds of the fire trees that witnessed La Llorona’s sins) and is taken by her before Anna can reach her daughter. They go to the pool, and Anna jumps in to save her.
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However, Anna is attacked by the evil spirit underwater. Rafael quickly sanctified the pool and made it holy water, so La Llorona had no choice but to leave Anna.Â
8. When Patricia enters (01:17:00-01:20:13)
Anna hides her children in the cupboard to keep them safe. The scene is erroneous as it shows Anna and Rafael downstairs making coffee while the door opens in their house and a woman with dark feet enters and goes upstairs. Chris screams, and Anna follows the voice, seeing Patricia, with a gun, trying to take away her kids. In a scuffle, Patricia shoots Rafael and removes the seed barrier, and La Llorona enters the house quickly. She injures Anna and locks her in the basement. Before she can catch the kids, they run towards the attic.
9. La Llorona appears in the attic (01:20:19-01:21:50)
In the attic, the children fasten the rope of the door to a staff when the spirit appears. They try to escape; their flashlights go out, and then they are confronted by the malevolent spirit. The dark and scary figure stands in the attic in front of them with the light of the window, illuminating her silhouette in a spine-chilling manner.
10. La Llorona’s End (01:21:52-1:24:38)
As the spirit comes towards them, Chris shows her the locket Anna found in the pool. La Llorona transforms into her original image and caresses Chris’ cheek as she thinks of him as her own son. Suddenly, though in another jumpscare, the mirror behind Chris is revealed, and La Llorona sees herself and screams in terror. Patricia helps free Anna, and she runs to save her kids. Rafael also wakes up. In a series of dramatic events, Rafael hands Anna a cross made from the fire tree, which she uses to stab La Llorona. Hence, the spirit of La Llorona is killed.
“The Curse of La Llorona” Ending Explained
The lore of La Llorona surrounds a woman in 1600s Mexico who drowns her children in an act of revenge against her disloyal husband. She then kills herself and walks the earth trying to find her children.
Spine-chilling and with nerve-wracking visuals, this horror film directed by Michael Chaves keeps the viewers on the edge of their seats until the very end. Nevertheless, after the conclusion of the movie, the audience may ponder on what exactly happened to its characters and how the curse was resolved.
La Llorona is faced by protagonist Anna Tate-Garcia as portrayed by Linda Cardellini in a desperate struggle to save her family towards the climax of the film. Old rituals and religious artefacts are used by Anna with help from Rafael Olvera (Raymond Cruz), a Catholic priest turned curandero.
When Patricia enters Anna’s house to take revenge for the death of her kids, she lets the vengeful spirit enter the house. La Llorona locks Anna and tries to take her kids. Anna’s son Chris unknowingly uses the locket to ward off La Llorona. However, when the evil spirit sees itself in the mirror things go awry. Patricia comes to her senses and decides to help Anna by unlocking the door to the basement. Anna runs to save her children. Rafael passes her the cross made of the wood of the fire tree (the witness and weakness to La Llorona’s sins) and she stabs the evil spirit with it, thus, killing her. It is not known whether she is gone forever or not however this is a happier ending than what we are used to in the Conjuring Universe.
By using a sacred artefact to defend her children and break La Llorona’s curse, Anna achieves victory at last in an electrifying moment.
We suggest you watch the full movie to understand the plot better and enjoy this trending horror flick!
