Costa Rican filmmaker Neto Villalobos Brenes returns to TIFF
with a dystopian thriller about family, aging and the dangerous limits of love

Bendita Film Sales and La Sucia Centroamericana

present

AMOR ES EL MONSTRUO | LOVE IS THE MONSTER

A film by Neto Villalobos Brenes

World Premiere Screening
Monday September 14 – 2:30pm – Scotiabank Theatre 11

Press & Market Screening – Tuesday September 15 – 9:30am – TIFF Lightbox 4

2nd Public Screening – Tuesday September 15 – 8:50pm – Scotiabank Theatre 11

3rd Public Screening – Saturday September 19 – 11:30am – Scotiabank Theatre 11

Tickets

Bendita Film Sales and La Sucia Centroamericana present the World Premiere of Amor es el monstruo | Love Is The Monster, the third feature from Costa Rican writer and director Neto Villalobos Brenes, at the 2026 Toronto International Film Festival as part of the Centrepiece programme.

Filmed in Costa Rica’s South Pacific region, the Spanish-language dystopian thriller stars acclaimed Chilean actress Paulina García as a grandmother determined to make the most of the time she has left with her granddaughter. When a series of unforeseen events threatens the life they share, she is forced to make choices she never imagined, pushing love, loyalty and survival into increasingly tense territory.

Love Is the Monster marks Villalobos Brenes’ return to TIFF, where both of his previous features premiered. His debut, Por las Plumas, premiered at the Festival in 2013 before screening at San Sebastián, BAFICI, Rotterdam, Miami and Toulouse. His second feature, Cascos Indomables, also premiered at TIFF in 2018.

“A few years ago, I lost the person I loved most, my mother,” says Villalobos Brenes. “As everyday life became more difficult for her, she found in her granddaughter the strength to keep fighting. That experience sparked the question at the heart of this film: how far would you go to protect the person you love most?”

Moving into the thriller genre after directing two comedies, Villalobos Brenes uses the film’s escalating suspense to explore old age, family bonds, class inequality and the fear that grows when violence becomes part of everyday life. At its centre is a woman whose fierce devotion to her granddaughter gradually leads her beyond the boundaries she once believed she would never cross.

García, widely regarded as one of Latin American cinema’s leading actresses, received the Silver Bear for Best Actress at the Berlin International Film Festival for her performance in Gloria. Her career spans more than four decades across film, television and theatre, with roles in nearly 33 feature films.

“I don’t think love really has limits,” says García. “You only discover that when you’re put to the test and find yourself doing things you never imagined you were capable of. When a child is involved, that feeling becomes even stronger. You’re willing to do absolutely anything to protect them.”

Love Is the Monster also stars Natalia Regidor, Gloriana Vargas and Ericka Reikendorf. The film is written by Neto Villalobos Brenes and Diego van der Laat and produced by Ana Lucía Arias, Felipe Zúñiga Sánchez, Jimena Hospina and Neto Villalobos Brenes. The executive producers are Isabella Gálvez, Clara Larraín, Carlos Rossini, Sumie García and Carlos Paz. 

Love Is the Monster is produced by La Sucia Centroamericana and co-produced by Cine Infinito, Expansiva Cine, Clara Films, Avalancha Studio and Liminal Estudio. Cinematography is by Nicolás Wong Díaz, with production design by Mauricio Esquivel Fallas, costume design by Patricia Alvarado Hurtado, editing by Yibrán Asuad and Neto Villalobos Brenes, sound by José Rommel Tuñón and music by Pablo Rojas Carballo. Bendita Film Sales handles world sales.