‘Disforia’ Trailer: Spanish Horror-Thriller World Premieres At Austin’s Fantastic Fest

EXCLUSIVE: Spanish director Christopher Cartagena’s horror-thriller Disforia world premieres at Fantastic Fest in Austin, Texas this weekend and Deadline can reveal the international trailer.

Set against the backdrop of a city ravaged by looting and economic collapse, Disforia follows married couple Esther and Tomás who flee with their young daughter to a countryside home they bought in better days, hoping to sell it quickly and escape to safety abroad.

Their plan soon unravels. The morning after their arrival, Esther wakes to find Tomás missing—and a stranger at the door. What begins as a bid for survival spirals into a violent nightmare.

After Fantastic Fest, which kicks off today and runs until September 25, the film heads to Strasbourg European Fantastic Film Festival (Sept 25-Oct 5), where Alexandre Aja is guest of honor this year.

Vortex, the genre label of Dubai-based sales agency Cercamon, has recently acquired worldwide rights to the film. The label was launched by former Tribeca Film Festival director of programming David Kwok earlier this year with the aim of handling sales on eight to 10 genre features a year

“Disforia is a perfect addition to our growing line-up,” said Kwok. “Christopher is a talent to watch and an exciting new voice in genre filmmaking. He has crafted a visceral film full of tension and disturbing terror that continually surprises.”

Cartagena, an acclaimed commercials director, makes his feature debut with Disforia following a series of award-winning shorts, including La Carrera, which screened at Sitges. He co-wrote the screenplay with Joan-Pol Argenter and Imanol Ortiz, adapting the novel of the same name by David Jasso.

“I’m thrilled to partner with Vorteks on my first feature,” Cartagena said. “I’m deeply proud of what my collaborators and I have achieved in adapting David Jasso’s haunting story of a family’s survival under extreme circumstances, and I look forward to sharing it with audiences worldwide.”

Disforia is produced by Aliwood Mediterráneo Producciones, whose credits include the Goya-winning Un Cuento Chino, alongside Robot Productions SL. Producers are Isabel G. Peralta, Pablo López Torres, and Cartagena, with Raúl Cerezo and Silvia Melero (The Passenger) serving as executive producers.

The cast includes Claudia Salas (Piggy, Netflix’s Elite), Fariba Sheikhan (Operation: Raqqa), Eloy Azorín (All About My Mother), and Noah Casas (Culpa Mía).

Vorteks’ current slate features Stuart Ortiz’s Strange Harvest, recently released in the U.S. by Roadside Attractions and Saban Films, as well as Tim Riedel’s upcoming supernatural horror Ancestral Beasts, which is set to begin production in November.