Doubling down on my extreme immersive horror experiences in Spain, a few hours after 3AM Visitors, with barely enough time to get yet another fresh set of clothes, I found myself panicking to get to a location again a reasonable distance outside of Barcelona on time
‘Cince veces duele’ roughly translated as ‘Five times it hurts’ is the inaugural show from Insania Files, one of several groups now offering temporary extreme immersive horror shows close to Barcelona. It’s an interesting phenomenon that this area has become the main European hub for these types of shows, but it’s great to have them closer than all of the ones in the USA.
Insania Files gives little away from their social media, and it’s not until a few weeks before the show, after you’ve secured and paid for a slot as well as agreeing to an initial, but not final waiver, that you start to get a sense of the story. Since they are understandably secretive about it I can only really describe in more general terms. Even then these types of descriptions will constitute spoilers for some, so please do avoid them if you’re ever hoping to do this show in the future as I’m sure they will do remounts.
Without spoilers, I found this show to be absolutely beautiful, with great use of light, blocking, and sounds throughout. Some of the scenes were incredibly captivating and added real emotional heft to the narrative. The cast and crew were superb throughout, clearly responsible and safe, with some brilliant acting. If you’re after a more traditional extreme immersive horror show with the usual level of intensity that brings then definitely try and attend this show in the future.
So potential spoilers, and I’ll start with my main criticism, but it is slight. I found the broader theme of the narrative a little too overdone for my tastes as I’ve experienced a few other shows that have used the same general concept to give an explanation as to why you are going through the experiences that you will go through. It’s a perfectly reasonable way to anchor the narrative to the experiences, but perhaps can feel a little repetitive in 2026.
That criticism aside, the actual narrative itself was great, with a well written story that was acted and performed with aplomb. It also made perfect sense for the elements that you go through ensuring there is a meaningful reason for these elements. It used some of the more classic techniques as well as some that were completely new to me. One in particular perhaps didn’t have the desired effect on me as I honestly found it incredibly relaxing, where I feel I should have been a bit more panicky. Some elements were pretty painful, but I felt that the cast were very responsive and knew when to push and when to dial back, ensuring that your limits were pushed, but never broken. They clearly want you to see the story through to its impactful conclusion.
I was initially worried about whether I would be able to get to the end of this show based on some spoiler-lite feedback I’d heard from an earlier test and Spanish language audiences, but thankfully this iteration of the show was perfectly manageable for me, and others that also attended on Insania’s first weekend of their English language shows. Tolerances to pain and other extreme elements is always going to be understandably subjective though. I knew from the moment the first main scene opened I was in for something special and that no matter what, I had to see it through to the end.
Another smaller criticism is more about logistics and again I can’t say too much for spoilers, but if you can get an earlier timeslot for your show it may end up improving the overall experience.
I felt that ‘Cinco veces duele’ was a stunning first show from Insania Files. Beautiful and horrible in parts, with some scenes that will stick with me for a long, long time. The show lasted for about 90 minutes for me, and cost €80, which for a solo show with multiple actors for that length of time is good value. I’d highly recommend it for anyone that has an affinity for these types of extreme immersive horror shows and I eagerly await whatever they come up with next.
