Between care and threat
the figure of the grandmother in contemporary horror cinema
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.18568/cmc.2026.e3188Keywords:
contemporary cinema, horror, female aging, grandmotherhood, old ageAbstract
This article investigates representations of grandmotherhood in contemporary horror cinema, with particular attention to the cultural tensions associated with women’s aging. Drawing on debates about gender, aging, and representations of the body in media culture, the article examines how horror cinema mobilizes older women as sources of narrative unease. The study situates the film The Grandmother (La Abuela, Paco Plaza, Spain, 2021) within a broader group of recent horror films in which older characters become central to the production of fear. Methodologically, the article undertakes a film analysis of The Grandmother, treating it as a case study of contemporary representations of women’s aging in horror cinema. The analysis shows how the grandmothergranddaughter relationship shifts from care to threat, revealing cultural tensions surrounding the overvaluation of youth and the expectations placed on women within family structures.
Downloads
References
A AVÓ. Direção: Paco Plaza. Espanha: Sony Pictures International Productions, 2021. 1 filme (100 min.).
ALEXANDER, C. S. The horrific feminine: terrifying women. In: WETMORE JR., K. J. (org.). The streaming of hill house: essays on the haunting Netflix adaptation. Jefferson: McFarland, 2020. p. 166-175.
A POSSESSÃO DE DEBORAH LOGAN. Direção: Adam Robitel. Estados Unidos: Millennium Entertainment, 2014. 1 filme (90 min).
ARNOLD, S. Maternal horror film: melodrama and motherhood. Londres: Palgrave Macmillan, 2013.
A VISITA. Direção: M. Night Shyamalan. Estados Unidos: Universal Pictures, 2015. 1 filme (94 min.).
BATCH, M.; RYAN, M. D. Dementia and contemporary horror movies: gendered ageing and the haunted home. New Review of Film and Television Studies, Bristol, v. 22, n. 3, p. 760-780, 2024. https://doi.org/10.1080/17400309.2024.2396699
CASTRO, G. G. S. Lindas para sempre e jovens de coração: imagens do envelhecimento na publicidade natalina brasileira. In: CASTRO, G. G. S. Os velhos na propaganda: atualizando o debate. São Paulo: Pimenta Cultural, 2018. p. 65-90.
CHERRY, B. Horror. Londres: Routledge, 2009.
CREED, B. The monstrous-feminine: film, feminism, psychoanalysis. Londres: Routledge, 1993.
HEREDITÁRIO. Direção: Ari Aster. Estados Unidos: A24, 2018. 1 filme (127 min.).
KRISTEVA, J. Powers of horror: an essay on abjection. Nova York: Columbia University Press, 1982.
MENDONÇA, M. C.; CESAROTTO, O. A maternidade na publicidade: uma análise semiótica de anúncios brasileiros. In: OLIVEIRA-CRUZ, M. F. (org.). Publicidade e gênero: representações e práticas em questão. Santa Maria: FACOS-UFSM, 2018. p. 29-50.
RELÍQUIA MACABRA. Direção: Natalie Erika James. Austrália: IFC Midnight, 2020. 1 filme (89 min.).
RENNER, K. J. The evil aging woman of American horror. In: MILLER, C. J.; VAN RIPER, A. B. (org.). Elder horror: essays on film’s frightening images of aging. Jefferson: McFarland, 2019. p. 89-103.
SONTAG, S. The double standard of aging. The Saturday Review, Nova York, p. 29-38, 23 set. 1972.
WOODWARD, K. Aging and its discontents: Freud and other fictions. Bloomington: Indiana University Press, 1991.
X. Direção: Ti West. Estados Unidos: A24, 2022. 1 filme (105 min.)
Downloads
Published
How to Cite
Issue
Section
License
Copyright (c) 2026 Giovana Vernilo, Rogério Ferraraz
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.
Authors retain the copyright and grant the journal the right to first publication, with the work simultaneously licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution License that allows the work sharing with acknowledgment of authorship and initial publication in this magazine.
