Set in a post-apocalyptic world where a biotech virus has transformed humans into violent cannibals, Rory (Lily Sullivan, Evil Dead Rise) hides in an isolated cabin in the New Zealand wilderness with her father-in-law, Otto (Richard Roxburgh, Van Helsing). Two years earlier, Rory lost her husband and daughter to the virus, moments that still haunt…
Film
Fantastic Fest Review: Coyotes
Set against the backdrop of the Palisades wildfires, Scott (Justin Long), his wife Liv (Kate Bosworth), and their daughter Chloe (Mila Harris) become stranded in their Hollywood Hills home when a windstorm knocks out their power and destroys their SUV. Driven towards the neighbourhoods by the fires, a pack of savage coyotes has been picking…
Review: American Sweatshop
If you’ve been on the internet long enough, it’s likely that you’ve had the misfortune of coming across some disturbing content—even if you only caught a quick glimpse before hastily scrolling away. You can usually report such content with the swift click of a button, but it’s rare we think about what actually happens next:…
Review: Freakier Friday
Freakier Friday, the sequel to 2003’s Freaky Friday, reintroduces us to mother-daughter Tess (Jamie Lee Curtis) and Anna Coleman (Lindsay Lohan). Having left her band Pink Slip when her daughter Harper (Julia Butters) was born, Anna is now a single-mother working as a music producer and manager to pop star Ella (Maitreyi Ramakrishnan). Tess, who…
Fantasia 2025 Review: Sugar Rot
Exploitation film Sugar Rot, which had its Quebec premiere at Fantasia Festival, follows punk girl Candy (Chloë Macleod, Foreigner) who works at an ice cream shop. When she is brutally assaulted by an ice cream man, she becomes the host of a mutant foetus and begins to transform into ice cream. Around her, store owner…
Fantasia 2025 Review: Foreigner
Set in 2004, Iranian teenager Yasamin AKA Yasi (Rose Dehgan) has just moved to Canada with her dad, Ali (Ashkan Nejati), and grandma, Zoreh (Maryam Sadeghi), following her mother’s dealing some years prior. Nervous about starting a new school, Yasi sits watching her favourite sitcom, repeating the English dialogue, often at the same time as…
Fantasia 2025: The Wailing (2024)
Pedro Martín-Calero’s The Wailing, which had its Canadian premiere at Fantasia Festival, tells the story of three interconnected women who are all haunted by the same supernatural entity and an eerie wailing. In 2022 Madrid, young student Andrea (Ester Expósito, Venus) spends most of her time at university texting and video calling her boyfriend, Pau…
Fantasia 2025 Review: Hold the Fort
As a Brit, I’ve heard enough about Homeowners Associations to know that Americans generally hate them. It makes you wonder why they don’t show up as the antagonist in American media more often. Perhaps it would be boring, but William Bagley’s new film, Hold the Fort, which had its world premiere at Fantasia Festival, makes…
Fantasia 2025 Review: I Fell in Love with a Z-Grade Director in Brooklyn
Japanese writer/director Kenichi Ugana has made a name for himself among cult and genre fans, with chaotic hits such as Love Will Tear Us Apart, We Are Aliens, and The Gesuidouz. Usually delivered in a collision of genres, like comedy, horror, and fantasy, Ugana’s films often explore the human condition while showcasing his passion for…
Fantasia 2025 Review: Every Heavy Thing
Writer and director Mickey Reece (Agnes, Climate of the Hunter) returns to Fantasia Festival with the world premiere of his latest film, Every Heavy Thing. The comedy-thriller opens to the bare breasts of a woman called Birdie (Bethany Jester) who is talking on the phone to her friend about how she’s sick of Hightown City…