It’s 1978, the dictatorial regime in Chile is 5 years in and a government worker like Raúl, charged with making architectural models in a bureaucratic office, has quietly lived an apolitical life. But there is no door left untouched by an invasive dictatorship meddling in all citizens’ affairs, and Raúl will soon start listening, ever so closely, to the rumblings coming from the house next door. And he will soon start to understand how his menial job hides darker intentions.

Starting off like a political thriller before taking a deep dive into the psychological horrors in the mind of its protagonist, A YARD OF JACKALS is a portrait of paranoia and vulnerability, and of the trappings of individual and collective guilt. Taking a cue from the most suspenseful Hitchcock and Polanski, and with a dose of surrealism borrowed from Lynch, Diego Figueroa’s assured debut feature is sure to provoke nightmares in some viewers, with its spectral presences and with the way it turns everyday objects and conversations into something despairing.