Instinct - film - Instinct was a film produced in 1999 starring Anthony Hopkins, Cuba Gooding, Jr., George Dzundza, Donald Sutherland, and Maura Tierney. It was based upon Ishmael, a novel by Daniel Quinn.[2] In the USA the film had the working title Ishmael. In the year 2000 the film was nominated for and won a Genesis Award in the category of feature film. The film examines the mind of an anthropologist (Hopkins) who has been missing for a few years, living in the jungle with gorillas. He has been accused of killing gorilla poachers in Africa, and is sent to prison. A bright young psychologist (Gooding Jr) tries to find out why he killed the poachers.