Horror Movie Review: Nahual (2025)

Within Mesoamerican beliefs, a Nahual (also known as a Nagual or Nawal) is a supernatural being of sorts that can transform into an animal. It is also the basis for director Ricardo Islas’s film, Nahual.

A low-budget horror film that stars Katia Montero as Jenny Sanchez. She is a nurse, filling in for her friend and visiting a patient at home. Arriving at the house, she finds a disturbing scene. The patient is tied up in bed, clearly suffering, and her daughter is dead in the bathtub. Desperate to help, Jenny frees the woman, which turns out to be a mistake. She is not well, and while Jenny is able to survive the encounter, it leaves her physically and mentally scarred.

Some time later, she is encouraged to take a break and get away from the city life, so heads off on an exotic South American holiday where she meets all manner of characters and sets about having a good time. Which is abruptly brought to a halt when people begin to disappear, animals are killed, and there are whispers in the dark of a wild animal being on the loose.

Spoilers, should you care, but Jenny is a Nahual and the one responsible for the chaos and death around the hotel and local town. Except she is seemingly unaware, transforming into a hairy beast when she least expects it, and somehow, no-one really notices. Although, there are times where the film seems to suggest that she might know more than we think. I don’t know, the rules around the creature are confusing. On the one hand, it acts like possession, but on the other, it takes on the form of a traditional transformation horror.

Not that it really matters as the film is so dull, very few viewers will actually care about Jenny, her experience, and what the creature can or can’t do.

I didn’t hate Nahual, and that’s mainly because Katia Montero is likable as a lead, but it is a patience tester, especially when it comes to actual horror. Which is a shame as the opening first few minutes is enjoyable and it does promise some violence and gore. It’s all downhill from there sadly, even if some of the gore effects are decent.

The fact of the matter is the Nahual legend just isn’t that interesting, and while Ricardo Islas does try to make it something more, he simply can’t. I ended up hoping that it was all going to be one big analogy for menopause or a woman finding her sexuality at an older age. Spoilers, if you care, it’s not. It’s literal, and it takes a long time to get to that stage. Chances are, very few will make it to the end, it’s just too dull.