Manticore

Julián, a young video game designer, is jolted out of his routine and seclusion after a fire breaks out in the apartment next door. Considered and perceptive, ›Manticore‹ explores the extremes of the human psyche.

Julián (Nacho Sánchez) works from his laptop, preferring the seclusion of home office. He designs monsters and other creatures for video games. When a fire breaks out and he jumps to the rescue, saving a boy’s life, he throws his own off its tracks. His relationship with the student Diana (Zoe Stein) is meant to offer him stability. Salvation in the form of an ordinary life seems within reach, but the image that Julián projects of himself is increasingly called into question. A spiral has long been set in motion that threatens to pull him into the abyss.

This perceptive and elegantly directed film ventures to the extremes of human behavior and desire. ›Manticore‹ addresses a number of profound issues about gender, identity, illness, and guilt. Ultimately, it confronts us with one of the most significant questions of all: what is the extent of our tolerance?

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