Mirage
Watch TrailerCast:
Adriana UgarteVera Roy
Chino DarínInspector Leira
Javier GutiérrezÁngel Prieto
Álvaro MorteDavid Ortiz
Nora NavasClara Medina
Miquel FernándezAitor Medina
Mirage Review: Why Oriol Paulo’s “Durante la Tormenta” Works So Well as a Time-Bending Thriller
A woman saves a twelve-year-old boy from dying in 1989 and wakes up the next morning to find her own daughter was never born.
The Premise of Mirage
Back in November 1989, while a three-day electrical storm hits Spain and the Berlin Wall comes down on the news, a young boy named Nico Lasarte tapes himself playing guitar on a VHS camcorder right before he witnesses a murder next door. Twenty-five years later, Vera Roy moves into that same house with her husband David and their little girl Gloria, where they find Nico’s old tapes and television set in a storage closet. When an identical storm rolls in during 2014, the old TV allows Vera to talk to Nico across time. She warns him enough to save his life, only to wake up in an altered reality where her daughter doesn’t exist and her husband doesn’t even know her.
Oriol Paulo’s Direction and Time-Travel Storytelling
Mirage, released in Spain as Durante la tormenta, is a well-made sci-fi mystery thriller from Oriol Paulo, the same director who gave us Contratiempo: The Invisible Guest and The Body. Right from the first act, the setup reminded me of Frequency mixed with The Butterfly Effect and Source Code, while the eerie feeling of waking up in a family that no longer matches your memories echoes the Netflix thriller Forgotten. Paulo takes the premise in his own direction by turning a time-warp glitch into a tense murder investigation. The pacing drags a bit during the middle stretch when the script stops to explain how the two timelines connect, and a couple of coincidences ask you to suspend your disbelief. Still, the plot logic holds together well enough to keep the suspense high.
Cast and Acting Performances
Across-the-board terrific acting is what really carries the show. Adriana Ugarte is wonderful in the lead role. She plays Vera with raw panic and grief, making it completely believable when everyone around her thinks she has lost her mind. Chino Darín does a fine job as Inspector Leyra, the one police officer who actually listens to her story and helps her dig up the 1989 case. Álvaro Morte, who should be familiar to most viewers from Money Heist, fits right in as her cold husband David, while Javier Gutiérrez is genuinely creepy as the nosy neighbor Ángel Prieto.
Cinematography and Soundtrack
Another treat is the camera work by Xavi Giménez, the cinematographer behind The Machinist. Instead of relying on flashy visual effects to show time travel, he uses warm, grainy lighting for 1989 and cold, rain-soaked blues for 2014 so you always know which era you’re looking at. Composer Fernando Velázquez, who also scored The Orphanage, backs the whole thing with a moody orchestral soundtrack that builds tension without overpowering the dialogue.
The Verdict
All in all, Mirage is an engaging two-hour Spanish thriller with plenty of twists and turns that will keep you guessing right up to the surprise ending. Even when the third act piles on a few too many reveals at once, Adriana Ugarte’s performance and Oriol Paulo’s knack for misdirection make the effort well worth it.
Score: 8 / 10 Stars
Mirage Ending Explained
⚠️ Major spoilers ahead! ⚠️
When Vera connects with twelve-year-old Nico Lasarte through the old television set during the electrical storm, she warns him not to run out into the street on the night of November 9, 1989. Nico listens to her warning and survives. Changing the past sets off a massive chain reaction, much like the timeline shifts in The Butterfly Effect.
Vera wakes up the next morning in 2014 to find her entire reality rewritten. Because Nico survived that night in 1989, the train-station accident where Vera originally met her husband David never happened the same way. In this new timeline, she never gave birth to her daughter Gloria, and instead she works as a respected neurosurgeon who is not married to David. Nobody in this altered reality believes her memories of Gloria, leaving everyone around her convinced she is suffering from a breakdown.
Desperate to bring her daughter back before the 72-hour storm ends, Vera turns to Inspector Leyra, played by Chino Darín, and digs into what happened to Nico after 1989. Together they uncover the dark truth about the old house: back in 1989, young Nico watched his neighbor Ángel Prieto murder his wife, Hilda Weiss, and hide her body inside a slaughterhouse suitcase.
The big plot twist in Mirage is that Inspector Leyra is actually the adult Nico Lasarte. After Vera saved his life through the television in 1989, Nico grew up searching for the mysterious woman from the future who rescued him. When he finally crossed paths with Vera years later at the train station, he recognized her right away, fell in love with her, and stepped in so that she never started a family with David. By changing her path, Nico also quietly spared Vera from a broken marriage in which David was secretly cheating on her with her friend Úrsula.
Refusing to accept a world where her child was never born, Vera jumps from a balcony to force Nico’s hand. Heartbroken, Leyra uses the storm’s final moments to contact 1989 through the television once more and undo his interference. Vera wakes up back in her original timeline with Gloria safe in her arms. Carrying the memories of both realities, she immediately confronts David about his affair, leads the police to Hilda Weiss’s buried remains to arrest Ángel Prieto, and finally tracks down Inspector Leyra, who is alive in this timeline too and ready to meet her for the very first time. If you enjoy time-travel mysteries where every detail loops back on itself, check out Predestination and Source Code next.
Frequently Asked Questions About:
"Mirage"
Is Mirage the same movie as Durante la tormenta?
Yes, Mirage is the official international English title for the 2018 Spanish mystery thriller Durante la tormenta, which translates to During the Storm. Directed by Oriol Paulo, the movie gained a huge global following when it was released internationally on Netflix.
Who is Inspector Leyra in Mirage and how is he connected to Nico?
The biggest plot twist in Mirage reveals that Inspector Leyra, played by Chino Darín, is actually the adult Nico Lasarte. After Vera saved twelve-year-old Nico through the television in 1989, he grew up waiting to meet the woman from the future and intentionally altered her life path so she would fall in love with him instead of her husband David.
Does Vera get her daughter back at the end of Mirage?
Yes, Vera gets her daughter Gloria back by jumping from a balcony in the altered timeline, which forces Inspector Leyra to use the final minutes of the 72-hour electrical storm to warn his younger self in 1989 not to interfere with Vera’s future. Vera wakes up back in her original reality with Gloria alive and still retains all her memories from both timelines.
Who directed Mirage and what other twist movies did he make?
Oriol Paulo directed Mirage and co-wrote the screenplay with Lara Sendim. Paulo is famous in Spanish cinema for crafting twist-heavy mystery thrillers, including Contratiempo, known in English as The Invisible Guest, and The Body.
Where can I watch Mirage online?
Mirage is available to stream globally on Netflix with both original Spanish audio and English dubbing or subtitles. Fans of time-loop and alternate-reality thrillers like The Butterfly Effect, Source Code, and Predestination will feel right at home with its twisty plot.
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