HOLLYSHORTS FILM FESTIVAL 2025 REVIEW! Who Calls (Quién llama) marks the debut of writer-director-producer J.A. Villalobos. His horror short starts with an unseen girl on the other side of a door asking if anyone is there. The lady inside asks who is there. The girl begs to be let in because a gang of men is after her. The lady hesitates, and her husband clearly states that they cannot let the girl into their home. But the girl pleads and pleads, fearing for her life. Is the girl in trouble, or is she attempting some sort of scam? Can the older couple live with themselves if it is the former?
Neither the end credits nor IMDb list the character names, so I’m unsure who played which person. But the four actors in this 4-minute, 45-second short are Pau Cólera, Mabel del Pozo, Ainhoa Larrañaga, and Fran Cantos. Each of them does an excellent job and conveys being afraid, paranoia, and confusion in a relatable way. Villalobos generates fear out of the unknown. For the people inside the house, their fright stems from uncertainty about the girl telling the truth and the guilt of doing nothing if she is. For the girl, it comes from not knowing if she’ll get the help she is pleading for. The roving shot down a hallway does much to instill that same sense of scariness into the audience.
“…an unseen girl on the other side of a door asking if anyone is there. The lady inside asks who is there.”
Admittedly, the ending does not entirely work. There’s a lack of context regarding how certain things happened, which makes the reasoning behind everything seem awkward and questionable. Perhaps in-depth knowledge of Spain’s current economic state would mitigate this, but alas, that’s not the case here.
Who Calls (Quién llama) is an intense and interesting piece of work. The filmmaker derives a sense of terror from the circumstances for most of the running time. The cast exceptionally conveys the intensity of the unknown. While the final few seconds don’t completely land, there’s still plenty to enjoy about this dread-filled outing.
Who Calls (Quién llama) screened at the 2025 HollyShorts Film Festival.
"…an intense and interesting piece of work."
