The Untamed
Description
A sensual, erotic, and often bizarre meditation on pleasure and destruction, The Untamed is a cinematic adventure not soon forgotten. Ángel is a difficult man who exerts grim control over his wife Alejandra, while conducting an affair with her brother Fabian. All three of these characters find their lives lacking, whether it be unfulfilling jobs, abusive and adulterous spouses, or challenging economic situations. So when a willowy stranger named Verónica enters their realm and brings them to a remote farmhouse where a creature that can bring otherworldly pleasure resides, the result will transform all of their lives. Taking a grand leap into the fantastical after the brute realism of his celebrated 2013 Heli, Escalante has crafted a uniquely unsettling intersection between sci-fi horror, allegory, and messily dysfunctional domestic drama. Though very different in style, The Untamed acknowledges (literally, in its closing credits) one clear predecessor—the late Andrej Zulawski’s 1981 cult favorite Possession, another portrait of a deteriorating marriage in which love is a many-tentacled thing.
Born in 1979 in Barcelona, Amat Escalante studied film in Spain, Cuba, and Mexico, where he struck up a long professional association with Carlos Reygadas. His 2005 debut feature Sangre won the FIPRESCI Un Certain Regard prize at Cannes, while Heli (2013) earned him that festival’s Best Director award as well as as numerous other laurels. Additional films include the feature Los Bastardos (2008), shorts Amarrados (2002) and Escalava (2014), a segment in the omnibus Revolucion (2010), and The Untamed (2016).
Trailer
//player.vimeo.com/video/207679061?autoplay=1Film Details
Language Spanish
Year 2016
Runtime 100
Country Mexico/Denmark/France/Germany/Norway/Switzerland
Director Amat Escalante
Producer Jaime Romandía, Fernanda de la Peza, Amat Escalante
Writer Amat Escalante, Gibrán Portela
Editor Fernanda de la Peza, Jacob Secher Schulsinger
Cinematographer Manuel Alberto Claro
Music Martín Escalante, Guro Moe, Lasse Marhaug
Cast Ruth Ramos, Simone Bucio, Jesús Meza