“El mal is basically a suspense story, where the audience senses that something disturbing is going to happen, but doesn't know how or when. But it also aims to get the viewer to question their own certainties, their capacity to love and to accept their own dark side.”

Ismael breaks into the house of a fine art restorer and shoots the homeowner dead, leaving her daughter orphaned and traumatized for life. Years later, Ismael is working in a bar where he sees the daughter again. Paranoid that she has recognised him and will report him, he kidnaps her and holds her hostage, demanding that her hospital pay a ransom for her release. As he spends more time with her, a strange bond develops that causes him to delay the ransom request or fulfil his threats of throwing her in front of a train. But he can’t delay forever…