Working mother Alejandra lives with her husband and two sons in a small city. She doesn’t have much to look forward to in her life, and her brutal partner Ángel, who likes to drink, is a constant worry. True, her brother Fabián is a support, but he’s not the happiest of campers and, like Ángel, he’s holding onto a big secret. When the mysterious Verónica appears, however, the siblings’ lives are irreversibly turned inside out. As in his previous films, director Escalante’s The Untamed criticizes Mexican society, taking stock of its oppressive system head-on and never allowing the camera to swerve away from systematic violence, especially misogyny and homophobia. This time, however, he adds fantasy elements to a reality rife with injustice, thereby shifting the family drama toward science fiction and allowing pure cinema to express the animality and pleasure that rise suddenly to the surface. For his chilling and unsettling film, Escalante was awarded Best Director at last year’s Venice IFF.