“Jimmy Jaguar,” “Jimmy Jaguar,” “Jimmy Jaguar.” In his new film, Hungarian director Bence Fliegauf is calling out for a new revenge demon. 

“People believe in the just-world fallacy. If you eat healthy, you’ll live long. If you commit a crime, you’ll go to prison. The world should work like this – we all want to believe that. But what if it doesn’t?,” he wonders. 

“Then you need Jesus, Batman, Muhammad, Krishna, Spiderman. In our case, it’s Jimmy Jaguar, who goes after people who are only alive because it’s illegal to kill them.”

Modern world – “Especially the mental climate of my own country” – is already dark enough to summon a dark entity, he argues. 

“Hungary’s boiling like lava in hell.”

In “Jimmy Jaguar,” produced by Fraktal Film and vying for the Crystal Globe at Karlovy Vary Film Festival, Fliegauf’s characters give in to the mysterious presence that takes over the whole nation – with some actively seeking it out. While experts try to calmly debate the strange occurrence, others use it to enact vigilante justice: starting with a war criminal. 

Inspired by some real-life phenomena, Fliegauf shot his fictional story almost like a mockumentary.

“I prefer the term ‘pseudo-documentary,’ since we’re not really mocking anything. We use interview situations as an artistic tool. I found this format fascinating, and it was a real pleasure to write the scenes this way. Also, I’ve watched tons of true crime documentaries, like many people, so I hope this style will be easy to digest. We’ll see,” he says. 

An industrial catastrophe in Hungary in the 1970s, an explosion near a village called Zsana, was also on his mind.

“I’d describe it as a 3D Hieronymus Bosch painting of hell: a super disturbing event.” 

“Some of the firefighters had nervous breakdowns and ended up in psychiatric care. I happened to be sitting next to one of them at a playground when I was a kid. He said he saw something strange in the fire. It was black. It was roaring. And it was like a jaguar. This man took medication to rid himself of the vision. He tried to quit the pills, but the thing came back immediately. He saw it in the sandbox. Since then, I’ve started seeing it too.” 

In another, pre-internet era, Fliegauf’s film could’ve fooled the viewers just like a certain 1999 “found footage” horror. 

“I’m a fan of ‘The Blair Witch Project’ on many levels: it’s a no-budget film, full of innovations, and it taps into the deepest instincts of human existence. Some of that is true for ‘Jimmy Jaguar,’ too.”

Still, urban legends and new mythologies keep on taking over online communities also today, sometimes with tragic consequences.

“Slenderman, Serbian Dancing Lady and other creepy memes – I think they’ve all influenced me. When I write, something guides me through the pages. Whatever that force is – a desire or a demon – I’m sure it reacts to all the internet junk I bump into during my daily doomscrolling,” admits Fliegauf.

In 2014, two U.S. middle schoolers stabbed their classmate 19 times, arguing they were trying to appease Slenderman.

“Do you remember what the term ‘meme’ originally meant? They’re mental – or cultural – versions of genes: they evolve, copy themselves, but have no physical form. Christianity, the Marvel Universe, liberalism – these are memeplexes. Their vortex is what we call culture. Creepy, if you think about it. And yes, I think demons are memes. ‘Jimmy Jaguar’ is a meme. We’ll see how it evolves.”

Beware: Jimmy Jaguar might actually return.

“In this film, there’s no ending but many, many beginnings. We introduced the characters, the themes, and we played with storylines. And, most importantly, we captured a certain atmosphere. If there’s a chance, we’ll continue,” teases Fliegauf, who originally envisioned a miniseries. 

“I still see it that way, although I wanted to make it work as a standalone feature, too. Look – there are so many superheroes. Green, fast, tiny, metal ones or with spider webs. But I’ve never heard of a superhero who doesn’t have a physical body at all.” 

After all, JJ needs hosts to carry out its “socially sensitive” mission, exacting revenge on the people who used to consider themselves as untouchable. One of those hosts might be Fliegauf himself. 

“I spent two years being tossed and dragged around by this invisible superhero. But a miniseries… I’d still jump into that project immediately, as a showrunner or executive. Jagu will decide.”