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 films, obscure hits ready for re-discovery, hidden gems destined to become cult classics, and major international premieres. Nicolas Winding Refn’s Her Private Hell will open Fantasia’s 30th edition, while Zach Lipovsky and Adam Stein’s Freaks Part II will close it. Thrilled to be back for my fifth year of remote coverage, here’s what I’m most looking forward to this year!
Teenage Sex and Death at Camp Miasma (2026)
Queer, polyamorous director Kris (Hannah Einbinder, Hacks) is obsessed with rebooting Camp Miasma, an outdated and overdone slasher franchise that has consumed her life. In her struggle to recast the final girl, Kris visits the franchise’s original star, Billy Presley (Gillian Anderson, The X Files), a now reclusive actress shrouded in mystery. Eventually, Kris’s obsession with the final girl transforms from cinephile fixation to full-on psychosexual infatuation as the two women fall into a blood-soaked world of desire, fear, and delirium. After the premiere of their first film, We’re All Going to the World’s Fair, in 2021, Jane Schoenbrun returns with Teenage Sex and Death at Camp Miasma to explore how complicated identity and desire is when informed by problematic pop culture.
Ferine (2025)
Wealthy and influential art collector Irene (Carolyn Bracken, Oddity) is excited to explore a new chapter in her life. She had just adopted a baby through a surrogate arrangement when a sudden tragedy shatters her world. As grief tears through Irene in paralysing extremes, a violent and primal instinct begins to guide her in ferocious ways. Her path fatefully crosses with Dama (Caroline Goodall, Schindler’s List), a lavishly wealthy trafficker of exotic predator cats, who recognises that Irene has become a dangerous and unpredictable predator herself. When a dark bond forms between them, few in their vicinity will be safe. Written and directed by Andrea Corsini, Ferine is a return to a provocative and stylish form of Italian horror cinema that has been absent for years, complete with volcanic emotion, stunning visual design, and a thematically rich exploration of custody as ownership and violence as fulfillment.
Junction Row (2026)
Army vet Juno (Katharine Isabelle, Ginger Snaps, American Mary) is a recovering addict who leaves her beloved Ruby (Natalie Brown, FX’s The Strain) at Junction Row, a troubled housing compound, in search of a better life. Juno finds solace in her twelve step meetings, but is haunted by her military past and her lost relationship. When Juno learns Ruby has gone missing, she discovers that Junction Row has become a hotbed of criminal activity—but she encounters much more than menacing drug dealers on her mission to find Ruby. Ashlea Wessel’s Junction Row is a creature feature with Lovecraftian dread and bleak social commentary, where the fear of the unknown isn’t confined to what lies above, but what waits below.
Our Effed Up World (2026)
As Sheri (Sara Thompson) struggles with the loss of her grandmother, a mysterious entity crashes in the woods. Soon, only Sheri and her friends stand between the survival of the world and an insatiable alien hunger that will consume us all. A returning crowd favourite director, 21-year-old Alice Maio Mackay’s seventh feature film, Our Effed Up World, is described as absurd, biting, and fun as it pays homage to films like Killer Klowns from Outer Space while injecting the cutesy girl-power vibes of The Powerpuff Girls.
When You Open the Door (2026)
Miki (Serena Motola, Girls’ Encounter), a 27-year old woman working at an architectural firm, wakes up in her small apartment, pulled out of her sleepy memory. Her world is quiet and strange, but will soon be interrupted by a transformative experience stemming from a half-remembered werewolf bite—not that anyone believes her. As her dazy life of memory, dream, and reality starts to collapse, Miki’s search for answers soon draws her towards a shrine in the woods. Directed by Eriko Katagiri, When You Open the Door tackles feminine isolation and alienation in one the most unique werewolf stories ever put to the big screen.
Nameless (2026)
After a security camera captures evidence of a vicious murder at a café, police are baffled that the suspect can slash people with a single touch. When their investigation points to the residence of Tarō Yamada (Jiro Sato, Swing Girls), the police find the rotting, bloody corpse of a woman. Who is this man? How is he able to kill without a sharp blade or a gun? Why is he shrouded in mystery? It’s up to the police to figure out who he is and stop him from slaughtering more innocent people. Directed by Hideo Jojo, Nameless is a compelling and gripping psychological thriller based on Sato’s own web-manga of the same name.
Captured! (2026)
Misaki (Runa Nakashima), an exceptionally bright and energetic high school senior who has grades good enough to get into a reputable university, has been living with her mother since her father’s death. Fearing she might have to get a job to help her mother, she follows her friend Satsuki’s (Maikichi) advice and starts a vlog to make money. To her surprise, her first videos gain a good amount of views despite their rather mundane content, but one in particular—where a silhouette stands behind her—gains special attention. Satsuki suggests they produce fake horror footage in an old, abandoned, and supposedly haunted building to attract viewers. When a silent, masked entity begins following Misaki everywhere she goes, the two students consult a medium who makes a startling revelation: the ghost watching over Misaki is actually a benevolent deity, while Satsuki finds herself threatened by a dangerous entity. With more and more YouTubers making the leap from the small screen to the big one, Japanese YouTuber Kouichi returns with his second feature film, Captured!, which blends the horror, comedy, and coming-of-age genres together in a zany and unsettling experience.
Head over to FantasiaFestival.com to see the festival’s full program and stay tuned for my coverage in the coming up weeks.
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