Director Amat Escalante's sci-fi horror fantasy THE UNTAMED (a.k.a. La región salvaje) is making the festival rounds, with its next screenings set to take place at the San Francisco International Film Festival within the next week. If you can't catch one of its festival screenings, there is hope for a wider release on the horizon, as Strand Releasing has acquired the North American distribution rights for the film.
Set in Guanajuato, Mexico, THE UNTAMED tells the story of
Ángel, 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.
Escalante drew inspiration from two tragic true crime cases and the Andrej Zulawski classic POSSESSION while crafting the story for his "sensual, erotic, bizarre" tale. If I weren't sold on this movie already, knowing that there's some POSSESSION in its DNA would be the thing that guarantees a viewing from me.
Strand intends to release THE UNTAMED sometime in the late summer.
If you can make it to the festival in San Francisco, the film is showing at the Roxie Theater on April 16th and the Victoria Theatre on April 19th.