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Review: Amat Escalante’s The Untamed

The Untamed is the little engine that could. After premiering earlier this year at Fantastic Fest, it started a very small theatrical run this summer in America and select European countries. Despite never being in more than five theaters at a time, the new feature film from director Amat Escalante has made $28,000 in American cinemas and at least $31,000 in foreign markets. It’s a big accomplishment that should be applauded and the best part it these achievements were made possible through strong word of mouth. Something was drawing audiences to this movie and it was certainly showing great potential to be a sleeper hit. So, when a representative from Strand Releasing dropped this puppy in my work inbox, I jumped at the chance to watch it for review. I didn’t know what to expect, but I knew it was going to be a crazy experience. I mean, the poster features a distraught woman on a mattress. Not exactly wholesome material.

Filmed in Mexico and parts of Europe, The Untamed is presented in Spanish with English subtitles. This is a source of contention with some viewers, so let me assure you that the subtitles aren’t a nuisance because a ton of smart decision making skills were used behind-the-scenes. There are enough gaps in dialogue, action, and scenes of story building that make it possible to take in the whole movie without constantly glancing at the bottom of the screen. It also helps that all the lead actors are extremely emotive and you can tell what’s happening based solely on their facial expressions and tone of voice. That’s masterful acting, folks. A ton of credit goes to Ruth Ramos, Simone Bucio, Jesus Meza, Eden Villavicencio, Andrea Pelaez, Oscar Escalante and Bernarda Trueba for their award winning performances here. It’s so unfortunate that their characters are part of a damaged family being provoked by an otherworldly presence.

In The Untamed, a struggling family – Alejandra, Angel, and their two children – is turned upside down when a mysterious woman practically falls out of the sky in the nearby woods. With her arrival comes a slew of new problems and pitfalls that the couple and their brother, Fabian, must overcome. Soon, it becomes apparent that all of the recent, unfortunate circumstances are tied to the mysterious woman, and death and pleasure are soon to follow. It’s now up to Alejandra and Angel to decide which side of the spectrum they wish to rest in. Written by Amat Escalante and Gibran Portela, The Untamed is a dark, backwards, scifi version of the Cinderella story as produced by Amat Escalante and Jamie Romandia. It’s an uncomfortable, murderous story with fantasy and drama pushing it towards a crazy climax. And even with all these hardcore elements, somehow it’s able to remain quite artistic.

This can probably be chalked up to the cinematography from award winning Manuel Alberto Claro and the effective musical scores. They coupled to make an experience that was pleasing to two of our most important senses and made The Untamed a more palpable world. I think I enjoyed all of the mood setting elements and story progression more than the attempts at horror and science fiction, for once! Going back to Manuel Alberto Claro’s camera work, I literally have a list of shots of scenes that I dubbed as “masterful.” They include, without spoilers, ‘motorcycle shot,’ ‘fireplace shot,’ ‘goats shot’ and ‘barn shot.’ I know they seem vague, but The Untamed is coming out on Blu-ray November 7, 2017 through Strand Releasing and I don’t want to lean into any spoilers so close to its disc debut. I will say – with tremendous respect on both sides – that sometimes international film-makers can show independent American film-makers a thing or two about working the camera. Anyway, The Untamed is low on violence but sky high on everything else.

Final Score: 7.5 out of 10.

Michael DeFellipo

(Senior Editor)

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