Instinct (1999 film)

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Instinct is a 1999 American psychological thriller directed by Jon Turteltaub. It stars Anthony Hopkins, Cuba Gooding Jr., Donald Sutherland, Maura Tierney, George Dzundza, and John Ashton. The story is loosely inspired by the novel Ishmael by Daniel Quinn. In the United States, the film had the working title Ishmael.

The plot follows anthropologist Ethan Powell, who has been missing for years and is living with gorillas in Uganda’s Bwindi Impenetrable Forest. He is convicted of killing several park rangers in East Africa. A young psychiatrist, Theo Caulder, tries to understand Powell and, in the process, questions the fate of humanity. Caulder learns that civilization may have harmed the natural world, and Powell’s actions are tied to protecting his gorilla family. It is ultimately revealed that Powell’s gorilla group accepted him, but a prison incident interrupts his testimony. He escapes from prison and heads back to Africa.

Instinct was Spyglass Entertainment’s first produced film. Wolfgang Petersen was initially set to direct but became an executive producer. Principal photography ran from January 25 to August 7, 1998. Buena Vista Pictures Distribution released the film in the United States and Canada, while Spyglass handled international sales. Buena Vista International distributed the film in the United Kingdom, Australia, and Latin America. The movie opened on June 4, 1999, with a runtime of 124 minutes.

The film received mixed reviews. Rotten Tomatoes gave it about 26% based on 65 critics, and Metacritic scored it 43 out of 100 from 23 critics. Audiences gave it an A-minus on CinemaScore. Critics like Roger Ebert gave it 1.5 out of 4 stars, while James Berardinelli offered 2.5 out of 4.

Budgeted at $60 million, Instinct grossed approximately $34.1 million in the United States and Canada. It won a Genesis Award in 2000 for its themes about animal rights. On the day of the Orlando premiere, Cuba Gooding Jr. added his handprints to a Walk of Fame-style installation at Disney World, a replica of Hollywood’s famous Walk of Fame.