Outside the Walls

Outside the Walls (Extramuros) is a 1985 Spanish drama film directed by Miguel Picazo based on the novel by Jesús Fernández Santos which stars Carmen Maura and Mercedes Sampietro.

Plot
Set during the reign of Philip II, the plot follows two nuns bonded by Lesbian affection (sor Ana and sor Ángela). With help from Ana, Ángela decides to fake stigmata to save her convent from economic hardship. These developments raise the prioress' suspicions and eventually the Holy Office intervenes.

Production
The film was produced by Blau Films and Miguel Picazo PC, and it had the participation of TVE. Shooting locations included the convent of San Pedro de Dueñas (province of Segovia), Talamanca de Jarama, Peñaranda de Duero, Ávila, and Alcalá de Henares.

Release
The film screened at the 33rd San Sebastián International Film Festival in September 1985. Distributed by Incine, the film was released theatrically at Madrid's Palacio de la Música on 27 September 1985. It had 156,158 admissions.

Reception
Clifford Terry of Chicago Tribune considered that Picazo managed to create a "bizarre, uneven but strangely compelling" film.

Ángel Fernández-Santos of El País assessed that upon translation into images of the literary story the film "suffers from a multitude of defects that gradually become visible", and by the time the film ends, the latter "is difficult to sustain" "due to the accumulation [of those deffects].