From werewolves to vampire bats, the concept of a human turning into an animal has been a long-standing trope in horror, reflective of an innate existential fear that comes from the acceptance that, despite all our delusions of grandeur, human beings are simply (mostly) hairless apes. More recently, addressing similar themes, a number of horror thrillers, including Viljar Bøe's Good Boy and Justin Long's Fur Babies, have explored the perverse fear of a man being forced to live as a dog, deprived of autonomy, freedom, and forced to obey the wrath of the hand that feeds them. Unlike the surrealist, black comedy of the aforementioned two films, El Instinto (aka The Instinct), the feature debut from Juan Albarracín, explores these themes through the lens of a slick, mostly single-location thriller that goes to places much darker.
Javier Pereira stars as Abel, a gifted architect unable to work due to crippling agoraphobia. As his career threatens to tank, Abel is approached by dog trainer José (Fernando Cayo), who believes he can modify Abel's instincts to “cure” his anxiety. He accepts, although reluctantly, and allows José to move in so the pair can embark on a program of very alternative therapy. While the results initially seem promising, blindfolds quickly turn to shock collars as Abel realizes he has walked right into the sadistic trap of a maniac.
From the get-go, Albarracín shows promise as a director able to craft an unnerving atmosphere. The queasy shakiness of a handheld cam and minimal score ramp up the realism, situating us firmly in the center of this sweaty saga. Pereira and Cayo provide two solid central performances, with the more timid former put under pressure by the aggressive latter feeling reminiscent of the socially awkward dynamics in other nerve-wracking Euro thrillers such as Speak No Evil or Michael Haneke's Funny Games.
However, the pair is let down by a repetitive script that belies the point that humans are not as far removed from the habits of our animal brethren as we might like to think by consistently telling, rather than showing. This leads to El Instinto, even at a tight 90-minute runtime, feeling far slower, duller, and annoyingly safer than the twisted central premise belies – Abel isn't even chained up until over an hour into the film. While El Instinto marks Albarracín as a director to watch, sadly, the film boasts neither enough bark nor bite to make it a particularly enthralling experience.
El Instinto had its UK premiere at FrightFest 2025 on 25 August
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