"SLC-S25/W4-Movie Snapshots|Time Travel and twist(MIRAGE)

Hello friends welcome to my blog. It feels good to participate in this week's Movie Snapshots; Time Travel and twist

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MIRAGE (Durante la tormenta) is a 2018 Spanish movie about a time-shifting mystery that combines drama, suspense, and science fiction.

Plot Summary
The story is about Vera Roy(Adriana Ugarte), happily married to David Ortiz(Alvaro Morte) with a young daughter named Gloria who moves into a new house with her family, she discovers an old TV set in the attic that once belonged to a boy named Nico Lasarte(Julio Bohigas), who lived in the house 25 years ago.

In 1989 there was an occurrence of an electrical storm which lasted 72 hours, a 12 years old boy named Nico witnessed a murder. At that moment his neighbour Angel Prieto(Javier Gutierrez) walks out with a knife in his hand, Nico seeing this fled from the house into the street and is tragically killed by a car.

Young Nico
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Time Hop Begins
The present day opens in 2014 a during a similar 72 hour long electrical storm, Vera and her family watches some of Nico’s old videos on the old TV set. During dinner with their friend and now neighbour Aitor and his mother Clara, who were friends with Nico, Vera and David shares the TV incident with them and they learnt how Nico was killed.

The Television
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Vera and Nico communicating
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Later that night, Vera wakes up and hears the sound of the TV she went down stairs and sees the boy Nico on the TV thinking it was an old video but is shocked to see she could interact with him. She was scared at first but later warns Nico about the accident and asked him not to go out. This made Nico avoids getting hit by the car.
However, this act creates a butterfly effect — a ripple in time. When Vera wakes up the next morning, she woke to a new reality where everything has changed:
• Her daughter does not exist.
• She is unmarried
• No one remembers her previous life.

Now trapped in this alternate timeline, Vera sets out to understand what had happened, restore her old life, and uncover the consequences of saving Nico. She meets a police Inspector Leira(Chino Darin) who she tells the entire story, he agrees to help her out so they visit an author who had written a book about Nico and the woman from the future. She explains that scientifically during the current storm, they can communicate with Nico and try to change things. In order to convince the inspector Vera tells him of a vision/flashback she had and tells the inspector to dig and look for the body of Ms. Weiss beneath her husband's slaughterhouse.

They did and finds her remains in a suitcase. Her husband Angel Prieto was arrested. It happened that Ms. Weiss caught Angel and Clara in bed a fight ensurd and Clara accidentally stabbed Ms. Weiss and Angel Prieto in a bid to cover the murder buried the body beneath his slaughter house. Vera realises that Inspector Leira is Nico.

Vera and her family
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Leira (Nico) actions while waiting for her and eventually meeting her, had strangely altered her previous reality. Leira (Nico) uses the TV and recorder to communicate with his childhood self just before the 72 hours electric storm ends.

Vera woke up to her previous reality, where David is her husband and Gloria is her daughter, except this time Nico is still alive. She went to the slaughterhouse with a shovel to confirm the buried body of Ms Weiss, she found it and calls the police to report it, there she meets Inspector Leira(Nico), who would be handling the case and introduced herself to him with a smile.

Inspector Leira trying to help Vera find answers
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Mirage is written and directed by Oriol Paulo. It assembled a great cast that did a great job portraying their roles and bringing the story to life thereby creating a connection with the viewers. I applaud them for a job well-done.

Themes & Analysis

1. The Butterfly Effect
   At the centre of it all is the idea that an action in the past can lead to massive consequences in the future. Vera interfered with the past in order to save the boy Nico and this leads to her losing her daughter — illustrating how unpredictable and chaotic time can be when meddled with.
2. Motherhood and Sacrifice
   A major emotional motivation is Vera’s unshaking love for her daughter. She was determined and relentless in finding her way back to her daughter. This brings out the theme of maternal sacrifice and the idea that love can transcend even alternate realities.

Narrative style
The use of time loops, flashbacks, and alternate realities keep viewers constantly guessing. Also clues are cleverly planted early — the murder mystery subplot intertwines with the sci-fi twist.
There is also use of repetitive scene thereby creating a certain sequences with different outcomes, helping audiences track timeline changes.

Tools and Symbolism

1. The TV/Camcorder: Acts as a portal between timelines. Symbolizes how technology bridges reality and memory.
2. The Storm: A literal and metaphorical catalyst — representing chaos, transformation, and a break in time’s continuity.
3. The 72 hours- time frame: It is not just used as a plot device, but as a reminder of limited opportunities and consequences.

My impression
Mirage is not just a time-travel thriller; it is a call to meditation on loss, choices, consequences, and love. Its emotional depth is matched by a cleverly constructed plot that challenges viewers to think deeply about how every decision we make — no matter how small — can ripple through time. Vera discovered that by interfering with the past, she not only changed her own future but also uncovered a hidden murder that would have remained unsolved.

I would rate this movie 10/10 and like to invite @senehasa, @bela90 and @rossnenye