Netflix horror is so terrifying that viewers struggle to even finish it

The film is based on a real-life story

If you fancy yourself as the sort of horror fan who can stomach pretty much anything, this could be your version of Everest, the final horror mountain for you to conquer.

Its title? Verónica.

Released in 2017, this lesser-known Spanish production arrived on Netflix a year later, and comes from director Paco Plaza, who was one of the minds behind the •REC zombie films.

In Verónica, Plaza switches his focus from zombies to the Ouija board and demonic possession. Inspired by an actual unsolved case in Spain, the film tells the story of Verónica, a teenage girl that’s burdened with the responsibility of caring for her younger siblings following the death of their father.

With her mother always at work, Verónica is plagued by loneliness until one day she decides to perform a séance in an attempt to contact her late parent. Naturally, things don’t go as hoped. Very much in the spirit of The Conjuring series, Plaza’s tale of terror places family drama at its core.

You can watch the trailer below.

In their review of the film, The Hollywood Reporter stressed that “the real horror in Verónica is not in the CGI visuals, or in Pablo Rosso’s frantic cinematography, or in the aural bombardment of sound effects and music; it’s in the relationship between the children.” 

Reel Film said that “Plaza has suffused the proceedings with a number of impressively striking images and sequences, with the creepiness factor at its highest as Verónica slowly begins to realize that something very sinister is afoot.”

Don't just take the critics' word for it though.

The Daily Star reports that just one per cent of people were able to watch it all the way through to the end, and on social media, viewers have been raving about the film.

One person wrote on X: "Ok, I'm watching #Veronica on my own. I've nearly had to turn it off twice... I'm only halfway through."

A second commented: "Verónica is so good at showing things just a bit unnatural and it’s unsettling as F**K. And the family has such incredible chemistry."

“Umm just watched the Spanish horror movie on Netflix Veronica and I legit almost cried, it’s so scary, holy sh**," another person said.

What makes Verónice even more terrifying though is that it's based on true events. The film is inspired by the death of Spanish teenager Estefanía Gutiérrez Lázaro in 1991.

Born in 1973, Estefanía had become interested in the occult as a teenager, leading to her using a Ouija board with friends in her school basement.

The ritual was eventually stopped by a teacher, but in the six months after the incident, Estefanía started suffering from seizures and hallucinations.

She would later be found dead in her bedroom, with the cause of her death given as an “unexplained, sudden and suspicious respiratory restriction.”

Her family claimed she was distressed in the period before her death, and had reportedly seen strange shadows and heard voices, believing she was being stalked by something evil.

Veronica is available to stream on Netflix in the UK and Ireland now.