THE UNTAMED (LA REGIÓN SALVAJE) World Cinema

Alejandra is a young mother who works at a factory and takes care of her two boys. Her husband Angel spends nights away from home, involved in an extramarital affair and neglecting his wife’s sexual needs. Her brother, Fabian, is a nurse at the local hospital who is involved in an unhealthy relationship with a married man. When the mysterious Veronica shows up wounded at the hospital, all of these characters’ provincial lives are thrown into upheaval as she shows them something that allows them to experience pleasure purely and more intensely than they have ever known. In many ways a spiritual sequel to Andrzej Zulawski’s POSSESSION (1981), director/writer and AFI FEST alum Amat Escalante explores the notion that our base instincts, sexual wants and desires often conflict with values and taboos ingrained in us as a society. The film brilliantly uses fantasy elements to explore what would happen if something allowed us to access pure sexual gratification. — Jenn Murphy