Annual Top Films Lists

Top 100 Most Anticipated Foreign Films of 2016: #36. Amat Escalante’s The Untamed

Published on January 11, 2016

The Untamed

Director: Amat Escalante
Writer: Amat Escalante and Gibran Portela

Amat Escalante, protégé of Carlos Reygadas, snagged the Best Director award at Cannes 2013 for his unpleasant but striking third feature, Heli (previously, he’d won the FIPRESCI prize for his debut Sangre in 2005, while his 2008 sophomore film Los Bastardos playing in Un Certain Regard). He’s back with a very ambitious project, The Untamed, described as a “social/sci-fi movie about machismo, homophobia, and the repression of women,” catalyzed by the crash of a meteorite into a mountain. Based on his heavy-hitting past works, we can only image what’s in store for us with this mixture of ‘horror’ and ‘realism.’

Cast: TBA.

Production Co./Producer(s): Mantarraya Film’s Jaime Romandia, SnowGlobe Films’s Katrin Pors

U.S. Distributor: Rights Available. TBD (domestic) TBD (international).

Release Date: The film’s producers have stated the project will be ready for May, 2016, and with Escalante’s past three features premiering at the fest, we’re willing to be he’s offered another slot in competition.

Nicholas Bell

Los Angeles based Nicholas Bell is IONCINEMA.com's Chief Film Critic and covers film festivals such as Sundance, Berlin, Cannes and TIFF. He is part of the critic groups on Rotten Tomatoes, The Los Angeles Film Critics Association (LAFCA), the Online Film Critics Society (OFCS) and GALECA. His top 3 for 2021: France (Bruno Dumont), Passing (Rebecca Hall) and Nightmare Alley (Guillermo Del Toro). He was a jury member at the 2019 Cleveland International Film Festival.