Sanfic Mórbido Lab Unveils Six-Title Genre Slate Led by 'L4IK4', 'The Hostess'

Six genre projects — five from Latin America, one from Spain — will compete at the 7th Sanfic Mórbido Lab, running Nov. 2-8 in Santiago de Chile as part of Sanfic Industria. The lineup ranges from Cold War sci-fi to extreme horror, a Mapuche identity parable and a gay alien monster comedy, in a program that has become a fixture on Latin America's genre scene.

Potential standouts include Simón and Raimundo Bucher's "L4IK4," Roberto San Sebastián's "The Hostess" and Javier Attridge's "Beneath the Flesh," according to the program's presentation. Beyond the marquee titles, the 2026 slate covers a broad generic spread: gay alien masculinity comedy ("Chupacu"), realist adult horror ("Spring Curse") and folk horror mixed with social observation ("Tonalli").

At least four of the six projects ground their genre premises in Latin American reality, as regional genre cinema assumes the arthouse role of reflecting social malaise — machismo, identity shame, artificial intelligence, miracle faith culture.

Who is behind the standout titles?

"L4IK4" marks the first feature from Simón Bucher, a rising star of Chilean animation and creator of the animated sequence in Chilean box office hit "Denominación de Origen." Produced by Santiago-based La Mazmorra Studio and co-directed with Raimundo Bucher, the film is set in an alternate Cold War universe, where a dachshund is sent as an experiment into the first virtual world; facing Earth's doom, a scientist dives into the network to save her and transcend physical death through mutual love and loyalty. The film is described as a 3D, stop-motion and pixilation hybrid. Simón Bucher also co-directed the Vimeo Staff Pick "The Feast," a Universidad Católica graduation short selected for Annecy's 2025 edition.

"The Hostess" ("La Anfitriona") is the first feature in 10 years from San Sebastián and writer Guillermo Guerrero, following the cult — and divisive — "The Night of the Virgin" (2016), which Bloody Disgusting hailed as "disgustingly unforgettable" and which played Fantasia and Mórbido. Lead produced by Bizkaia-based Monndo, with Basque outfits CSC Films and Plátanobolígrafo, the film is, in San Sebastián's words, "a cruel, sophisticated and deeply disturbing exploration of our darkest human instinct: the need to inflict pain in order to feel alive. On others and on ourselves. A visceral and unforgettable cinematic experience that will leave no one untouched."

"Beneath the Flesh" ("Lo que duerme bajo la carne") reunites director-writer Javier Attridge with Chile's south after his multi-prized Prime Video pick-up "Wekufe: the Origin of Evil" (2017), praised by Ain't It Cool News as a "smart and tension filled little found footager." Produced by Panóptico Films, the film follows a young Mapuche woman who hides her heritage behind an online sexual persona while, in her homeland, something grows beneath her skin each time she sacrifices part of herself to belong. "I'm troubled by how shame can be passed down through generations," Attridge tells Variety, calling the project "visceral psychosexual horror, where the violence of the past resurfaces beneath the skin."

What else does the 2026 Lab include?

• "Chupacu" (Antonia Baudouin, Carneiro Verde Filmes, Brazil). A second debut at the Lab, inspired by the creepypasta legend of a gay alien monster whose name literally means "ass-sucker." At a testosterone-fueled barbecue in Brazil's agribusiness heartland, the monster assaults ultra-macho revellers one ass at a time, forcing the men to rethink masculine pleasure. Baudouin calls it a "very stylized gore horror-comedy about the straight man's fear of anal pleasure." The writer of horror comedy "Furnas Fundas," which opened in Brazilian cinemas last month, she is produced by Rodrigo Carneiro, a partner at Carneiro Verde Filmes and producer of Gustavo Vinagre's "Three Tidy Tigers Tied a Tie Tighter," a Berlinale 2022 best feature Teddy Award winner.
• "Spring Curse" ("Maldición en primavera") (Pablo Vergara, Coruya Cine, Argentina). The latest from Vergara, whose "Ojos verdes rojos malditos" won best director and screenplay in Buenos Aires Rojo Sangre's Argentina competition, and writer-director of the series "Cuentos para viernes por la noche." A young Uber driver and her uncle give a ride to a mysterious doll, then find themselves pursued by an AI digital presence. Vergara, based in Córdoba, describes "realist adult horror, working classic genre elements, pictured with an aesthetic contaminated by daily life where I live."
• "Tonalli" (Jesus "Chiva" Rodríguez, Tirando Terror, Mexico). Rodríguez's 2015 drug-run nightmare "The Bosses" became a cult item, ranking No. 8 among that year's Top 10 movies at the Mexican box office; he also made the road movie "Metaflm." In "Tonalli," a young trans punk in the hard-scrabble Mexico City neighborhood of Tepito appeals to Santa Muerte for her life to change — it does, but those around her begin to die. "Via folk horror and Tepito urban realism, the film tackles marginal existence, identity and the need to believe from a profoundly Mexican perspective," Chiva tells Variety.

The takeaway: with a Berlinale Teddy-winning producer, an Annecy-selected animator and three directors returning to the Lab with award-winning track records, the 2026 edition positions Latin American genre cinema as both a festival draw and a mirror of the region's social anxieties.