Fantastic Fest 2025 Exclusive: The Cast and Crew of Disforia on Family, Madness, and the Horror of Control
- Travis Brown
- 4 hours ago
- 3 min read
At Fantastic Fest 2025, one of the most surprising gut-punches came from Disforia, a surreal, unrelenting thriller from director Christopher Cartagena with commanding performances by Fariba Sheikhan and Claudia Salas. What begins as a family drama quietly simmering with resentment erupts into a vicious, nightmarish descent—one that left audiences rattled and fully invested in the fates of its fractured characters.
We sat down with the filmmaker and stars to unpack the film’s genesis, the psychology driving its characters, and the unnerving role of social media in its story.
On blending horror with family drama
Christopher:
“I wanted to talk about maternity—what happens when a mother doesn’t want to be a mother, and the conflict with her daughter. Most people would tell that story as a straight drama. For me, horror was the only way to reach a different kind of audience. It’s a genre that lets us confront these taboos head-on.”
Preparing to play Esther
Fariba (Esther):
“We had a lot of rehearsals and worked with Christopher’s brother, who’s a psychologist. I play a bipolar woman, and Vera [Claudia] is a psychopath—so we had to dig deep into specifics with professional guidance. I also watched films that carried similar psychological weight. For me, the rehearsals were essential. They gave me the chance to live inside Esther, to carry her inner world with me. Even subtle moments—the quietness—felt loaded because she was always talking with herself, even when she wasn’t speaking out loud.”
Becoming Vera
Claudia (Vera):
“What drew me first was the script. I hadn’t done anything this extreme before. Vera is physical, volatile, and dangerous, but there’s also a strange humor in her. I built her through physical work—separating myself from the psychology because she’s a predator, and I needed that distance. With the help of my coaches, I leaned into Vera’s physicality, her unpredictability, her raw power. She represents the darker side of society, the violence lurking beneath.”
Christopher added, “Vera is the predator—the evil part of our society connected with technology, with our obsession with what’s good, what’s not, who is a good mother, who isn’t. She’s dangerous, but also strangely funny. That was essential.”
Balancing the build and the payoff
Christopher:
“The beginning is more family thriller—slow, oppressive, about the conflict between mother, daughter, father. But when Vera appears, everything shifts. The rhythm changes, the editing picks up, and suddenly the movie accelerates toward chaos. It was important to earn that ending. The climax only works if you’ve lived inside the family drama first.”
When performance cuts too deep
Fariba :
“There’s a scene in the bathroom where Esther completely unravels. I don’t remember that moment. I blacked out because I was so deep in the tension. Later they told me it was perfect. For me, it was frightening but also freeing. Esther is fragile and fierce—lifting cars for her child one moment, collapsing under the weight of her mind the next.”
Claudia:
“I didn’t want to take Vera home with me. I kept her physical, on set only. Otherwise, it could have been dangerous. The role was extreme enough—it needed boundaries.”
The role of social media
Christopher:
“This wasn’t in the original novel—we added it because of today. Violence is consumed online. People pay to watch it. It’s terrifying, and it’s real. Vera becomes almost like an influencer of death. It’s commentary on how we laugh, joke, and share violence like it’s entertainment. That’s the horror of now.”
What they hope audiences take away
Fariba :
“I hope people feel the emotion and intensity. It’s a small film, but it has a huge spirit.”
Christopher:
“I hope audiences feel the fight—the desperation between these women. That’s the core of the movie.”
Claudia:
“I just hope people enjoy it. And maybe they’ll see themselves reflected in parts of the story.”
Disforia is an oppressive, visceral descent into fractured family ties, mental illness, and the predatory lure of violence in the digital age. At its core, though, it’s a human story—raw, bruising, and impossible to ignore.
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