Known for creating and directing the Ju-On franchise, including the American remake starring Sarah Michelle Gellar, Takashi Shimizu is back with two brand new films, both of which screened at Fantasia International Film Festival. While I didn’t get the chance to watch Village of Eight Gravestones, which had its world premiere on 28th July, I…
Fantasia 2026 Review: Unholy Night
The holidays are a time for family, food, and cheer, but they can be a real nightmare for those with difficult family dynamics. That’s certainly the case for the family in writer-director Michael Gabriele’s feature debut, Unholy Night, which had its world premiere at Fantasia International Film Festival. The film opens on an idyllic Christmas…
Fantasia 2026 Review: When You Open the Door
Eriko Katagiri’s When You Open the Door had its world premiere at Fantasia International Film Festival on 25th July. The film, which was written by Katagiri and Tomoko Shinozuka, follows 27-year-old Miki (Serena Motola). She wakes up in her small apartment from her sleepy memory of herself as a child, with a red-haired doll and…
Fantasia 2026 Review: Sour Minnows
Imagine you’re hanging out with your roommate, having casual conversation, and then you both return home from the supermarket to see six men laid on the floor licking the pavement. That’s exactly what happens to Ricky (David Brown) and Tepper (Chase Williamson) in Harrison Atkins’s Sour Minnows, which had its world premiere at Fantasia International…
Fantasia 2026 Review: Godhead
Mark H. Rapaport’s Godhead, which had its world premiere at Fantasia International Film Festival, begins with a Priest (Al Warren) who finds a baby on the doorstep of his church. When the Boy (Luke Speakman) is a little older, the Priest tells him about how God created the universe in seven days—but he adds an…
Fantasia 2026 Review: Tight Lettuce
Joel (Dakota Daulby) has a lot going for him. He works in the construction industry and has a healthy relationship with his partner Taylor (Christie Burke), his mother Lucy (Maxim Roy), and his grandmother (France Castel). But there’s one thing that just keeps getting in the way: his father, Bodo (Emmanuel Bilodeau), who has been…
Fantasia 2026 Review: Insectasy
Insectasy had its world premiere at Fantasia International Film Festival yesterday and I would’ve loved to have been in the room when it screened. Not only as a witness to everyone’s reactions, but also as a participant. Writer and director Angus Silver wastes no time dropping his audience into the bizarre and sensual world he’s…
Fantasia 2026 Review: Ancestral Beasts
If you’ve ever suffered from a severe mental health condition, you may have viewed it as an uncontrollable force that lives inside you. But what if it externalised itself into a real presence that lurked in the shadows, an extension of yourself that forced you to confront your intergenerational trauma? Tim Riedel’s Ancestral Beasts, which…
Fantasia 2026: Most Anticipated Films
Fantasia International Film Festival is just one week away from hosting its 30th edition, running 16 July through 2 August, in Montreal, Canada. Known for its rich, weird, and transgressive genre cinema, the festival is set to screen over 100 feature films across the horror, sci-fi, action, and fantasy genres, including a selection of classic…
Review: Voicemails for Isabelle
I am convinced that there is no stronger bond than the one between two sisters, which the opening of Voicemails for Isabelle captures perfectly. Isabelle (Iris Everly, then Ciara Bravo) has missed out on many common life experiences due to having cystic fibrosis, which means she lives vicariously through her sister Jill (Alice Comer, then…