Merlin (Feature Film) - CIFF 2025

Merlin

Directed by: Webster Batista

Starring: Àngels Ratés,Víctor Cámara,Yekaterina Kiev, Jose Juan Segura

Run Time:1:40:00

Premiere Status: Arizona Premiere

Laura, A compassionate but struggling nurse is hired by a reclusive widower, to look after his bedridden daughter as a care giver. Merlin a young woman in her early twenties, is severely disabled, unable to move or communicate normally after a traumatic event years earlier, Vulnerable soul who needs constant care, and the isolated, grand estate where they live seems like the perfect place for her to heal.

At first, the job appears simple—too simple. But as the nurse settles into the routine of caring, she begins to sense that something is deeply wrong. Laura begins to have moments of clarity, where she gazes at the Merlin with pleading eyes, as if trying to communicate something desperately important. But when she presses her for answers, the "father" is always nearby, quick to intervene with a firm, controlling presence.

The care giver grows more suspicious as she starts to uncover odd details: the strange, locked rooms within the house; The more she digs into the past, the more she learns about the protective father he claims to be, but a man hiding a dangerous obsession. As Laura pieces together the unsettling truth, she begins to suspect that the Merlin is not just a victim of an accident, but possibly a captive in her own home, trapped under the influence of her father’s psychological manipulation—or worse, something darker. "accident" may not have been an accident at all, *Merlin* is a chilling psychological horror-thriller that explores themes of manipulation, captivity, and the dark lengths a person will go to for control.

As the lines between reality and madness blur, She must uncover the truth before it’s too late—before she becomes another victim of the malevolent force that lurks within the walls of the estate.

Host or Publisher Chandler International Film Festival