Fantasia International Film Festival 2026 - Week Two

FANTASIA INTERNATIONAL FILM FESTIVAL 2026
Week Two

by "Doc" Hunter Bush
MovieJawn Staff Writer and Podcast Director, and cohost of the Hate Watch/Great Watch Podcast

Fantasia International Film Festival runs until Aug 2nd in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. Get your tickets HERE.

Good things take time. We've all heard that adage, but is it true? On one hand, Phil Tippett's Mad God and Richard Williams' The Thief and the Cobbler each took about thirty years to make and they're both marvels (even if Thief and the Cobbler is an imperfect version of the director's vision, but I digress). On the other hand, the Fantasia International Film Festival has also been around for thirty years, and while their 2026 line-up of films and events is great, in truth Fantasia has been going strong for a while now, as a showcase for international genre films, with an emphasis on Asian offerings. So I guess the jury is still ultimately out on the universality of that particular proverb.

Fantasia 2026 rolls along and I've just been trying to hold on! It's been a wild ride, with whimsical tales from the sea, explosive cat and mouse mind games, dangerous dancing, mysterious murders, and so much more! Below I've cobbled together a few titles that I think are worth seeking out when you get the chance. This won't run until the festival has wrapped up, but I intend to spend the days between then and now viewing as many films on offer as I reasonably can. Until next year, Long Live the Movies!

THE PERIL AT PINCER POINT
Written by Jake Kuhn, Noah Stratton-Twine
Directed by Jake Kuhn, Noah Stratton-Twine
Starring Jack Redmayne, Alyth Ross, Michael Mackenzie, Os Leanse

When a sound designer is sent to the titular location to hunt down the perfect sounds for a famous director's next project, he unknowingly wanders into the supernatural mystery that plagues a small town. The Peril at Pincer Point has been compared to the works of Ryland Brickson, Cole Tews and Mike Cheslik (The Lake Michigan Monster, Hundreds of Beavers) presumably because of its hand-made, low-fi aesthetic, gorgeous black and white cinematography, and absurdist tone. While that is a fair comparison, The Peril at Pincer Point also has a fair amount of campfire ghost story in it. Not as cartoonish as the works of Tews & Cheslik (which I love, don't get me wrong), The Peril at Pincer Point is a delight that's as much Twin Peaks or classic Doctor Who as it is John Carpenter's The Fog.

SUZUKE=BAKUDAN
Written by Masahiro Yamaura, Hiroyuki Yatsu, based on a novel by Katsuhiro Go
Directed by Akira Nagai
Starring Jirō Satō, Kan'ichirô Satô, Atsurō Watabe, Yuki Yamada, Sairi Itô

Suzuke=Bakudan (a.k.a. Bakudan) is a really fascinating version of the police procedural. When a man named Suzuke (Jirō Satō) is arrested for vandalizing a vending machine, he offers to assist the police in preventing a series of upcoming disasters using his innate psychic abilities. If you're wondering what kind of disasters, you may want to know that "bakudan" translates to "bomb". As his predictions come true, he becomes the prime suspect, and a complicated net of lies, wrongdoings, and abuse of police power is unearthed. The narrative repeatedly shifts focus from the police interrogation room to the city at large, and from the present to the past, all while Suzuke plays mind games with the detectives interrogating him, offering clues if they're able to decipher his rambling, tangled stories. I love a good criminal mastermind tale and Suzuke=Bakudan kept me in rapt attention the whole time.

BREAK FREE
Written by Yu Nakamoto
Directed by Yu Nakamoto
Starring Akito Fujii, Mai Fukagawa, Ui Mihara, Shogo Iwaya, Atomi Mizuishi

One of two yakuza dance movies at Fantasia 2026 ( * ) so once again, warm up the Doofenshmirtz meme, Break Free is just a complete delight. When a crackdown on criminal activities leads to a confrontation between Kunio (Akito Fujii) and an emboldened citizen streamed live, Kunio decides to intimidate the man via dance rather than violence! The dance goes viral and the clan begins to lean on Kunio's videos as their main moneymaking scheme, all while tensions build with a rival clan and Kunio's desires to be taken seriously as a dancer grow simultaneously. Despite featuring instances of violence and one character's tragic backstory, the tone of Break Free is masterfully maintained by writer/director Yu Nakamoto, making it a must watch for any film and/or dance lover. Plus, Kunio's sweater game is On. Point.

( * ) The other yakuza dance film is called The Specials and as of the time of this writing, I haven't gotten a chance to watch it, but I hope to do so before Fantasia 2026 concludes.

THE SAMURAI AND THE PRISONER
Written by Kiyoshi Kurosawa, based on a novel by Honobu Yonezawa
Directed by Kiyoshi Kurosawa
Starring Masaki Suda, Masahiro Motoki

An interesting companion piece to Suzuke=Bakudan, The Samurai and the Prisoner takes place in 1578, and is a fascinating bit of work: a film about opposing warlords that is almost completely unconcerned with combat. Written and directed by acclaimed filmmaker Kiyoshi Kurosawa (Cure, Pulse) The Samurai and the Prisoner is set largely within the grounds of Arioka Castle, examining a series of strange deaths for signs of either political betrayal or supernatural intervention. It's a film as much about honor and strategy as it is about the historical, sociopolitical mystery at its center. I'm not inherently familiar with the persons involved in this story, and The Samurai and the Prisoner made the somewhat complicated allegiances, and the political and military maneuvering very easy to follow and understand, leaving me free to focus on the film's more introspective concerns. A slow burn, but an incredible bit of filmmaking, with gorgeous cinematography by Yasuyuki Sasaki.

STUDIO Q
Written by Marcela Fernández Violante, based on a novel by Vicente Leñero
Directed by Marcela Fernández Violante
Starring Juan Ferrara, Helena Rojo, Armando Silvestre, Víctor Junco, Jorge Dizan

One more wonderful aspect of Fantasia is their selection of "retro" offerings; screenings of (frequently) remastered older films before they become widely available as physical media through boutique labels. Studio Q (a.k.a. Misterio) is a Spanish language meta-thriller originally released in 1980, that has been restored by Severin Films. Telenovela actor Alex (Juan Ferrara) finds his day-to-day on the set of his latest job blending with his real life: his character is also named Alex, and is married to a character with the same name as Alex's wife; the plot revolves around a telenovela actor trying to film a new project amid constant distractions from salacious costars, hordes of fans, and a quietly megalomaniacal director. But am I talking about the film itself or the project the film is about? The answer is: YES. I loved the playful ways this just kept twisting in and around on itself, constantly moving the audience further and further from a clear idea of what was really going on.

Fun fact: writer / director Marcela Fernández Violante was, when the film was made, only the third female feature film director in the Mexican film industry!

Fantasia International Film Festival 2026 - Week One

FANTASIA INTERNATIONAL FILM FESTIVAL 2026
Week One

by "Doc" Hunter Bush
MovieJawn Staff Writer & Podcast Director, cohost of the Hate Watch/Great Watch Podcast

Fantasia International Film Festival runs until Aug 2nd in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. Get your tickets HERE.

For three decades, something has been happening, and you probably didn’t even notice. Right under your nose, something has been growing. Well actually, it's happening in Canada, so if you're a U.S. resident like I am, it's right above your nose. Regardless, from the great snowy north, the Fantasia International Film Festival is once again upon us!

Fantasia 2026 has kicked off, for me, with a bang. I've been sorting through their generous list of available titles that check off so many different boxes: martial arts / combat films, psychological dramas, unconventional love stories, elegant monster movies, animation, faux documentaries, and so much more! Below I've highlighted just a few stand-out viewing experiences that I think you should keep your eye on:

NO REST FOR THE WICKED
Written by Rasmus Birch, Kasper Kalle, Karl Heinrich Ulrichs (short story)
Directed by Kasper Kalle
Starring Egor Venned, Pilou Asbæk, Sofia Nolsøe, Jóhannes Haukur Jóhannesson, Kjartan Hansen

No Rest For the Wicked was high on my list (and mentioned in my Fantasia 2026 preview) and it still managed to completely blow me away. A queer romance with a supernatural angle, set in a fishing village on a pastoral island, you can bet this one has its fair share of seamen. I kid, but the romance is genuinely handled incredibly sensually and delicately. It also features one of the most unique takes on the concept of the "vampire" that I've seen in recent years. But what really truly took my breath away was the cinematography by Jacob Møller, which captures the cold light of the Faroe Islands and makes it as vital and beautiful as the love story at the film's center. 

YOU ARE THE FILM
Written by Makoto Ueda
Directed by Makoto Ueda
Starring Marika Ito, Kai Inowaki, Riko Fujitani, Takafumi Imai, Gôta Ishida

Another film that I was highly anticipating was You Are the Film, the directorial debut of Makoto Ueda, who is more traditionally a screenwriter known for his high concept "tiny loop" films. Here he plays with space rather than time, where two young people, each in the middle of some personal strife, find that they are each the star in a movie that the other is watching. Ueda wastes no time in exploring these concepts, and finding unique ways to twist expectations and the film is just genuinely delightful. I am a big fan of his work overall and hope more people will seek it out. You Are the Film makes a solid starting point.

DANCE FREAK
Written by Robby Rackleff, Alan Resnick
Directed by Alan Resnick, Robby Rackleff
Starring Robby Rackleff, Megan Koester, Stavros Halkias, Sheila Mears, Conner O'Malley

2026 has been a big year for filmmakers previously known for their YouTube offerings making more officially recognized movies, like Kane Parsons or Curry Barker, so I was very excited to see what Robby Rackleff and Alan Resnick had on offer, having previously worked together on shorts like Unedited Footage of a Bear (2014) and This House Has People In It (2016). While Dance Freak isn't as polished or digestible as Backrooms or Obsession, it is a huge step forward in Rackleff and Resnick’s creative output. With fantastical, mostly black and white imagery and cartoonish characters inhabiting an extremely heightened world, Dance Freak will make a perfect midnight movie for those who are so inclined, but don't be mistaken: the film has a strong emotional core that comes through as much on intuition as dedicated dialogue.

CORPUS
Written by Lily Cowles, Corrin Evans
Directed by Corrin Evans
Starring Jeff Wahlberg, Brodie Townsend, Michael Vlamis, Lily Cowles, Nuha Jes Izman

Warm up the Doofenshmirtz meme, because Corpus is another film with unbelievably beautiful cinematography (by Charlie Cole) and a queer love story that has supernatural elements at its center. There are parallels that can be drawn to other horror films, but what sets Corpus apart is its serene pacing. Three friends attempt to navigate the internal tensions of their relationships long enough to go to a very exclusive high society party and once they're there, the heat rises like the proverbial frog in the pot of water and before you know exactly how bad things have gotten, it's far too late. Great, sensuous performances and dreamlike visuals only add to the appeal.

ATTACK ON PARADISE
Written by Saïd Boumazoughe, Sven Huybrechts, Salahdine Ibnou Kacemi
Directed by Bob Colaers
Starring Saïd Boumazoughe, Clara Cleymans, Achmed Akkabi, Soroush Helali, Fatima Khanfour

This Belgian action film will rightfully be compared to The Raid: Redemption (2011), and those are big shoes to fill. Both are physical combat-heavy gauntlets where the gimmick is watching the characters fight and claw their way, floor by floor, to the top of an apartment block and while Attack on Paradise doesn't come close to the gonzo creativity and energy of The Raid, it has a lot more character development without sacrificing much momentum. I think there's enough room in cinema for more than one single location action film, even if The Raid does whip all varieties of ass. Dredd (2012) for example does the same basic thing and it rules, so don't let those comparisons dissuade you from checking out an enjoyable flick.

Fantasia International Film Festival 2026 - Preview

FANTASIA INTERNATIONAL FILM FESTIVAL 2026
The Renowned Festival Turns 30!

by "Doc" Hunter Bush
MovieJawn Staff Writer & Podcast Director, cohost of the Hate Watch/Great Watch Podcast

2026 has already been a great year in film, which I say with the caveats that A) it's barely half over, B) I haven't seen all of the films released in the first half, and C) the Fantasia International Film Festival hasn't even happened yet. Fantasia is a highly anticipated festival each year, for me (and others, don't get it twisted) because of its focus: smaller, largely independent films and shorts, with a focus on offerings from Asian countries. This appeals to me personally because, odds are, if an indie film that I might like is released in the U.S., it's more than likely I'll end up hearing about it. But international films have that extra barrier of distance to overcome.

For the past handful of years, since I've been covering Fantasia, the festival has routinely exposed me to some of my favorite films of each year. Films coming from creators with different influences, different styles of storytelling and different goals. Expanding your horizons is healthy, and I think everyone should try to do it as often as possible. The festival runs from July 16th - August 2nd, and features a number of exclusive screenings and events for anyone interested in attending in person. 

To that end, below are a handful of films screening at the 2026 Fantasia International Film Festival that I'm very excited to check out. These are the titles that jumped out at me immediately, either because I'm familiar with some other project(s) from the folks involved, or in some cases, the concept hooked me, but as with every year I look forward to discovering new filmmakers and new ideas at this year's fest!

Get tickets HERE

YOU ARE THE FILM
Directed by Makoto Ueda
Written by Makoto Ueda
North American Premiere
Acquire tickets HERE

Madoka (Marika Ito) and Kazuma (Kai Inowaki) are young people separated by about three kilometers (or a 45 minute walk), who seem to be able to communicate with each other through the movies playing in their respective local cinemas. As the title implies, they are each other’s movies! I'm guessing, given writer / director Makoto Ueda's previous work, that this is a romance with some unique twists I won't even see coming. I know Ueda from his screenplays for films like Beyond the Infinite Two Minutes (2020), and River (2023) which each involve unique, small-scale approaches to familiar time-loop concepts. If You Are the Film, which is his directorial debut, is anywhere near as sweet and creative as those films, I'll be very, very happy.

LOS VAMPIRES
Directed by Craig Mitchell
Written by Craig Mitchell
World Premiere
Acquire tickets HERE

Famously, while director Tod Browning filmed the 1931 Dracula by day, director George Melford filmed the Spanish-language version on the same sets by night. This is true, look it up. What writer / director Craig Mitchell's Los Vampires does is take a fictionalized spin on this arrangement and add in a rivalry between the two stars (Henry Ian Cusick and Thomas Kretschmann, respectively) and a series of murders happening around the set. As with the TV show Dragnet, “...the names have been changed to protect the innocent”. This story set-up really appeals to me, not just because I love vampire films, but because the whole fictionalized events on the set of a formative vampire film gimmick reminds me of the 2000 film Shadow of the Vampire (check it out if you haven't!).

THE GLORIOUS DEAD
Directed by John Adams, Toby Poser
Written by John Adams, Toby Poser
World Premiere
Acquire tickets HERE

I was already a definite fan of the Adams family (with one 'd'; the family who've brought us the films Hellbender (2021), Where the Devil Roams (2023), and Mother of Flies (2025) among others) but after they personally reached out to say they'd read a review I'd written, I'm ride-or-die. Turns out they're as gracious and down-to-Earth as you'd hope. Their latest, The Glorious Dead, finds Toby Poser and Zelda Adams playing a small town sheriff and her deputy who wake up to find out everything is wrong. According to the description "...blood drips from faucets, people and pets are missing, and fleshy creatures walk the woods". Whatever is behind the events of the plot, I trust the steady hands of the Adamses to deliver a good time.

NO REST FOR THE WICKED
Directed by Kasper Kalle
Written by Rasmus Birch, Kasper Kalle, Karl Heinreich Ulrichs (short story)
World Premiere
Acquire tickets HERE

A fisherman and a stranded whaler begin a secret, queer love affair in this Danish vampire flick that's being described as "haunting" and compared to the work of Robert Eggers (director of The Lighthouse (2019), and Nosferatu (2024) among others). Based on the 1884 (!) story "Manor" by Karl Heinrich Ulrichs, what little I could find about this flick (which unfortunately shares a title with an SEO-dominating video game franchise) looks splendidly dark and sensual.

RUBBERHEAD: THE LIFE & MONSTERS OF STEVE JOHNSON
Directed by Nick Taylor
Written by Joseph Krings, Nick Taylor
World Premiere
Acquire tickets HERE

I love the increasingly lost art of practical effects just a hair more than I appreciate the innovations of digital, and while I didn't recognize the name Steve Johnson right off the bat, a cursory glance at his credits shows that I certainly should. With titles ranging from popular blockbusters like Spider-Man 2 (2004), to genre classics like Big Trouble in Little China (1986), to cult faves like Brainscan (1994), to series like The Tick (2001-2002), and music videos from Primus and Slipknot; the man has had some hand in such a great many entertainments that I've personally enjoyed! I'm very excited to hear his story told by many of the folks he's worked with as well as the man himself!

Honorable mention titles that nearly made it into this write-up include Colony (dir. Yeon Sang-ho), the bio-hacking zombie outbreak flick from the director of Train to Busan (2016); Kung Fu (dir. Giddens Ko), Taiwan's first martial arts fantasy film in 40 years; AnyMart (dir. Yusuke Iwasaki), a gory satire set in a convenience store in a corporate dystopia; and Dance Freak (dirs. Alan Resnick and Robby Reckleff), a dance-virus take on an outbreak film from creators known for their genre-hopping short films like Unedited Footage of a Bear (2014) or This House Has People in It (2016). 

Those are just the titles I felt like I had enough of a handle on that I could attempt to explain them. There are so many other films where I won't truly know what I'm watching until the credits roll (and sometimes not even then). If none of them sound like your thing, it's most definitely worth taking a look at what else is on offer this year. The Fantasia International Film Festival is truly a smorgasbord of cinematic treats. Look around, you're sure to find something delicious.

Fantasia International Film Festival 2025 - Week 1

Doc’s Fantasia Fest Journal
Week 1: Animation
The Fantasia International Film Festival runs until August 3rd
Get tickets HERE 

by "Doc" Hunter Bush,
MovieJawn Staff Writer & Podcast Director, cohost of the Hate Watch/Great Watch Podcast

The Fantasia International Film Festival’s 29th year is off to quite a start. I’ve seen some truly w-i-l-d stuff, some of which I’ll be talking about below, but what’s most impressive and important is the variety! I don’t know about y’all, but I’m a sucker for animation. Though it has admittedly started to shift, for a long time animation in America was viewed as “for kids”, and most of the stuff that broke free of that label did so by leaning heavily on shock tactics like sex and violence. I believe that animation is its own art form, capable of telling any kind of story, and for any type of audience, exactly the same as film.

I think there should absolutely be animated features for all tastes. To that end, I’ve selected four animated features from this year’s Fantasia, and arranged them from most- to least-accessible to all audiences.

I Am Frankelda (Soy Frankelda)
Written by Arturo Ambriz, Roy Ambriz
Directed by Arturo Ambriz, Roy Ambriz, Mireya Mendoza

A sprawling storybook epic with maybe a turn or two too many, I Am Frankelda is still a marvelous debut feature as well as an actual triumph of stop-motion animation and creativity. And I Am Frankelda is all about creativity, about the world of fiction where dreams and nightmares come from. When an aspiring young writer’s stories enable that world to cross over with ours, an epic battle between the various clans inhabiting the so-called Realm of Spooks ensues. The worldbuilding is a little unclear, but, like a half-remembered dream, the logic doesn’t matter as much as the feeling you’re left with. I think animation geared towards children should do more than just distract them. To that end, I Am Frankelda is an impetus to follow your passions, both in its messaging and its methods. There are so many creative tricks and gorgeous visuals to be found that it’s worth watching on that metric alone, but as a sweet, all-ages friendly film about chasing your inspirations, it’s impossible to beat.

ChaO
Directed by Yasuhiro Aoki

A riff on The Little Mermaid (the 19th century fairy tale more than the 1989 animated film, to be clear) with touches of environmentalism, futurism, and a specific flavor of character design and animation common to STUDIO 4°c productions, ChaO is at its core a very sweet love story. When an aspiring engineer and designer, Stephen (Oji Suzuka) falls overboard during a punishment by his boss, he awakens in the hospital having somehow won the heart of the Princess of the Ocean. The movie follows their, pardon the pun, fish-out-of-water romance, which teaches a lesson about how buried traumas of the past run the risk of ruining good things in your future. I love the animation aesthetic of this studio; aside from shape-shifting merpeople, there are humans of all shapes and sizes (Stephen’s boss is mostly an orb for instance), but even the “standard” humans are exaggerated and instantly identifiable. The only thing keeping this from being all-ages friendly is some very inoffensive but juvenile moments, like a character perpetually picking their nose, or someone with the nickname “boobie rocket missiles”. Nothing to clutch pearls about.

Death Does Not Exist (La mort n'existe pas)
Written and directed by Félix Dufour-Laperrière

When firebrand Helene (voiced by Zeneb Blanchet) freezes at the moment her group of ragtag revolutionaries storms the compound of a local wealthy family, she is forced to watch as everything falls apart. Fleeing into the wilderness to avoid security, she unknowingly sets off on a spiritual journey where she will confront her past, her future, and the horrible moment she is running away from. There are some shocking moments of violence, and graphic depictions of skinning and eating animals, which is balanced and almost heightened by comparison to the delicate, painterly-textured animation style that utilizes color in very unique ways. Emotionally moving, and with a tantalizing sense of the supernatural, Death Does Not Exist is a tremendous example of what the term “adult animation” can be.

Dog of God
Written by Lauris Abele, Raitis Abele, Ivo Briedis, Harijs Grundmanis
Directed by Lauris Abele, Raitis Abele 

To say that Dog of God has a lot going on would be an understatement, no matter how frequently or decisively you say it. First things first: the rotoscoped animation--a process which I’m particularly fond of, wherein filmed elements are animated directly over top of--constantly flirts with the uncanny valley by presenting characters and environments that feel realistic and tangible, but somehow off, and drenched in the color palette of a blacklight poster. Then there’s the subject matter: sex plays a major part in the narrative, with frequent appearances from butts, bare breasts, penises of many shapes and sizes, and The Devil’s Testicles (I don’t know why I capitalized that, it just felt polite). However, if you can look past what seems like shock tactics, there’s also a very mystically fascinating film constructed here. Though playing with a power struggle between the local pastor and a local baron, wherein barmaid Neze (voiced by Agate Krista) is either dangerous witch or a helpful naturalist healer, the depiction of the supernatural crosses into numerous houses of belief. Imagine Ken Russell’s The Devils set at the foot of Alejandro Jodorowsky’s Holy Mountain, with the palette of Panos Cosmatos, and the whole thing is a segment in 1981’s Heavy Metal, and you’re getting close to the aura of Dog of God. Not for everyone, but extremely for some of us.

 

Fantasia International Film Festival 2025 - Preview

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CUCKOO (2024)

Cuckoo
Written and directed by Tilman Singer
Stars Hunter Schafer, Dan Stevens, Jan Bluthardt
Running Time 1 hour, 42 minutes
MPAA rated R for violence, bloody images, language and brief teen drug use

by "Doc" Hunter Bush, contributor and podcast czar

In my day-to-day life, I am somewhat unplugged from knowing which films people may or may not be excited for, aside from the folks crowing loudest about the next big franchise thing. I know a few people personally who are looking forward to checking out Cuckoo, the sophomore feature film from German director Tilman Singer, but are you, in the wider world, psyched for this one?

Well, you better get psyched!

With Cuckoo, Singer's follow up to 2018's Luz, he has crafted a monster movie in the tradition of the Universal Monsters classics and in doing so, has firmly established himself as a unique and compelling creative voice within the horror genre. This ain't hyperbole, turkey! Cuckoo has all the Universal Monsters earmarks right out of the gate: a family moving to an insular area because step-mom and dad have taken a new career in a new town, there's some fringe science, and a monstrous presence that makes itself known with eerie calls and tones coming from the woods.

Disclaimer: in an effort to avoid spoilers, I will only be referring to the monstrous presence at the center of Cuckoo as "the woman-thing", a term I coined in my Fantasia Fest preview based entirely on its appearance in the trailer.

Hunter Schafer gives a great performance as Gretchen, who would much rather be with her mother in the U.S. than with her dad, her step-mom, and her mute step-sister in the Alps. She's not subtle about it either, always hovering somewhere around a 6 (out of 10) on the Simmering Hormonal Teenage Rage scale, on the verge of behaving like a total loon. All she really needs is some money to get a ticket to fly away home. Luckily, Herr König (Dan Stevens) offers her a job running the welcome desk at the local spa and resort, which he owns. Sure, her supervisor Beth (Jessica Henwick) will duck out early for a date, or the occasional guest will suddenly vomit in the lobby, but it's mostly your average, boring customer service job.

The feather in Tilman Singer's cap is how well he captures the teenage angst of Gretchen. We feel her frustrations constantly humming beneath the surface, her soul-crushing boredom, her general aimlessness. But before long, she has her first encounter with the woman-thing, at which point you can add feelings of persecution to Gretchen's potent emotional cocktail, because of course almost no one believes her.

Enter Henry (Jan Bluthardt), a sketchy, disheveled cop who seems to be the only person who lends her story any credence, but also definitely seems to have ulterior motives as well. Henry is sniffing around the resort, and around Herr König, but we don't know why exactly. He keeps things pretty mercenary, even while trying to recruit Gretchen into his flock of one.

For his part, Dan Stevens is masterfully cast here. I'll cop to being biased and in the pocket for Stevens anyway (I just enjoy the man's work), but his performance as the serene, flute playing philanthropist is such an understated gem. He's obviously up to no good, but he goes about it more like a Willy Wonka - who doesn't see why anything he's doing might be unusual - than a scenery chewing cock of the walk, Lex Luthor type.

Lastly, but definitely not leastly, is the woman-thing her/itself. Truly an unsettling creation to add to the latest pantheon of movie monsters - I would offer she/it be placed alongside the wooden man from Damian Mc Carthy's Oddity (another film I strongly recommend) - and one that I can imagine hatching many nightmares. The look, a hybrid of familiar and uncanny, the jumpy movements, the weaponized sound design; it all works excellently.

Famously, cuckoos are known for leaving their eggs in the nests of other birds to be raised by them, and to exhaust the greater portion of its nestlings' provisions. Not as an act of malice, but just as a function of their biology. Cuckoo, above all, is a film about men who think that they know best. The kind of men who say - and importantly, believe - that they're doing what's best for others. Dangerous allies. The true cuckoos of the film.

Fantasia International Film Festival 2024 - Closer

It's Fantasia International Film Festival's final week!

by: "Doc" Hunter Bush, contributor & podcast czar

This is it, folks! My time at this year's Fantasia International Film Festival is winding to a close. I saw some films I genuinely loved, a lot that I liked, and above all I saw films I might never have been exposed to at all! In a landscape where films are so often judged on profitability over content, and profitability relies more on audience familiarity than any promise of quality, the movies we love so dearly are becoming reduced to something like fast food commodities in the popular view. While there's nothing wrong with the occasional Big Buford burger or Frosty milkshake, you should make sure to keep your palate diverse, and I view my time at Fantasia like wandering through an international buffet: flavors and textures that might otherwise go overlooked.

To give my Fantasia coverage a proper send-off, I'm adding an additional feature and short below.

Features:

A Samurai in Time

Written & directed by Jun'ichi Yasuda
Running time 2 hours, 11 minutes

A very simple premise, given a few clever tweaks, and performances that are honestly much better than they needed to be has made A Samurai in Time one of my hands-down favorite films from Fantasia 2024. When he is struck by lightning during a sword fight in Edo period Japan, samurai Shinzaemon Kosaka (Makiya Yamaguchi) awakens in the modern day, but on the set of a jidaigeki ("period drama") TV series set in the exact time he came from! Yamaguchi's performance is powerfully funny sometimes in very subtle ways, and at others truly charming. Watching a samurai 400 years out of his time slowly become a well-loved TV star is the surprisingly enchanting, heartwarming story I didn't know I needed. Plus: sword fights!

Sunburnt Unicorn

Written & directed by Nick Johnson
Running time 1 hour, 21 minutes

Between the narrative of a young man wandering into the desert on a journey of self-discovery, the unique visual aesthetic, and the silly yet evocative title, Sunburnt Unicorn may sound like something cooked up in a tent at Burning Man (and Hell, what do I know, maybe it was) but it's much more satisfying than you might expect. I frequently kickflip up onto my soapbox to preach that I think children's entertainment should be ever so slightly challenging, because kids deserve it, and with its ominous tonal undercurrent, I think this scratches that itch. I can only imagine how long it took to create something of this scale and this level of creativity, but I hope it isn't too long until we see more from Nick Johnson.

Mash Ville

Written by Lim Dong-min, Wook Hwang
Directed by Wook Hwang
Running time 2 hour, 6 minutes

Described as "an eastern comedy with western action", Mash Ville follows a handful of interconnected chararters' storylines, all revolving around a tainted batch of moonshine and a small village under assault from a religious cult. The characters are at times cartoonish, but the performances do a great job of grounding them as well as could be expected. The tonal whiplash can be a bit difficult to parse from moment to moment, but the direction and the pure look of this film put it high on my recommendation list.

The Umbrella Fairy

Written by Youcong Li, Min Liu
Directed by Jie Shen
Running time 1 hour, 30 minutes

From the opening moments of The Umbrella Fairy, I knew this would end up being a somewhat melancholy tale, centered around the fairies that inhabit two royal items now consigned to the Hall of Relics, never to be used again. Qingdai, the titular fairy spirit of the imperial umbrella, is sad but willing to accept this new fate, while her partner Wanggui, the spirit of the Black Jade sword, is defiantly not. When Wanggui somehow escapes, Qingdai and the human apprentice keeper of the Hall set off to investigate how and why. This beautifully animated literal fairy tale is sweet, emotionally gripping, and full of creative magical worldbuilding, inventive sequences, and delightfully designed characters. Melancholy but ultimately hopeful, and truly beautiful; add this one to your watchlists.

Salute your Shorts:

Escape Attempt

Written by Christina Lazaridi, Daniel Shapiro, Alex Topaller (based on the novel by Arkady & Boris Strugatsky)
Directed by Daniel Shapiro, Alex Topaller
Running time 29 minutes

So often, a film will remind me of the old adage "Less is more". Usually they do this by overstaying their welcome, or explaining something that makes less sense when they're finished, but this adaptation of the Strugatsky Bros. novel, Escape Attempt left me genuinely wanting more. More time in its worlds, more discussion about what's happening. Not because it lacks logic, but because all of it was so fascinating to me. With shockingly high production values, this half hour short stacks up against the best short-form sci-fi we've gotten in recent years.

Dirty Bad Wrong

Written and directed by Erica Orofino
Running time 14 minutes

A single mother sex worker finds herself in a situation where the only way to deliver a promised birthday party to her your son is for her to agree to do something unsavory with a repeat customer. This set-up is sure to set some people on edge right from the get-go, and while it all plays out in just under 15 minutes, the emotional weight and the expansive feel from subtle worldbuilding make this horror-adjacent character piece feel much deeper. Lead actress Michaela Kurimsky conveys a lot through very small actions, and really sells the core concept of how far we'll go for those we love.

HI! YOU ARE CURRENTLY BEING RECORDED

Written and directed by Kyle Garrett Greenberg, Anna Maguire
Running Time 8 minutes

Light on narrative and dialogue, this one-woman show (co-writer/co-director Anna Maguire stars) isn't telling a story so much as asking a question: What is the line where being constantly monitored goes from unnerving to comforting? While checking out her new neighborhood Anna quickly realizes the neighborhood is checking her out too. The mix of footage styles, changing between digital, videotape, and film with increasing frenzy, really conveys an indifference and an alienness that makes Anna's mounting paranoia feel justified. Also shout out to her very cool jacket.

The 28th Fantasia International Film Festival runs from July 18th to August 4th in Montreal. Get tickets HERE.

Fantasia International Film Festival 2024 - Week 2

The Fantasia International Film Festival, week 2!

by: "Doc" Hunter Bush, contributor & podcast czar

My second week of Fantasia International Film Festival offerings has been incredible. I've been lucky enough to watch some films I've been eagerly anticipating, and been caught off-guard by films I'd underestimated - remember, kids: You Can't Trust the Trailers. below are just a few feature and short film recommendations. Check back with MovieJawn next week for a wrap-up round-up with a few more, and I'll also be doing a full write-up of Tilman Singer's Cuckoo, so if you're interested in that one, stay tuned.

Features:

Párvulos

Written by Ricardo Aguado-Fentanes, Isaac Ezban
Directed by Isaac Ezban
Running time 1 hour, 58 minutes

Párvulos ("Little ones") is the film I've been most excited to tell everyone about. Director Issac Ezban (co-writing with Ricardo Aguado-Fentanes) takes the zombie movie - a genre which at this point seems as past-its-prime as the zombies themselves - and actually manages to inject new life (no pun intended) into it. With characters that are easy to care about, interesting world building with a tone akin to Amblin at times, and a unique twist on the desaturated visuals (where you can just see the color underneath, like remembering the world that was) Párvulos is absolutely dynamite. Don't let the surprisingly lighthearted first half fool you though, this film has sharp teeth just waiting for you to let your guard down.

The Silent Planet
Written and directed by Jeffrey St. Jules
Running time 1 hour, 35 minutes

If I can be honest, I wasn't sure what to expect with The Silent Planet. I knew the underappreciated Elias Koteas was playing a man imprisoned on a penal planet alone until a ship carrying a new prisoner (Briana Middleton) lands. I was not prepared for what is essentially a classic episode of Dr. Who! Between the lived-in worldbuilding, moral and socio-political analogies, character-defining monologues, and occasionally cheesy special effects (complimentary), I was in old school sci-fi heaven. The above-listed qualities, and measured pace may not work for everyone but them most assuredly worked for me.

The Soul Eater
Written by Annelyse Batrel, Ludovic Lefebvre, based on the work of Alexis Laipsker
Directed by Alexandre Bustillo, Julien Maury
Running time 1 hour, 48 minutes

The Soul Eater stood out to me from this year's Fantasia features because it managed to be something unique and apart from anything I've watched so far, and to manage a tone that feels, similarly, just a mite different from anything else this year. A French crime procedural with potentially supernatural undercurrents and the general feeling of overturning a rock in the forest and seeing what scurries out from underneath, The Soul Eater is an unsettling watch to say the least. With some shocking violence, and other even more disturbing crimes (mercifully implied indirectly) at its fringes, the film feels like an adaptation that will appeal to fans of the Jack Reacher series, or maybe Laird Barron's Isaiah Coleridge novels.

Salute your Shorts:

Berta
Written by Lucía Forner Segarra
Directed by Lucía Forner Segarra
Running time 17 minutes

Berta is the third in a thematic trilogy of feminist horror shorts from Spanish writer/director Lucía Forner Segarra. The subject matter is relatively dark, but the tone has a populist sensibility that almost feels akin to the type of revenge thrillers that see broad theatrical release. The world build around Berta (Nerea Barros) and her victim Alex (Elías González) feels real, reasoned, and fully conceived. In just under 20 minutes Segarra delivers something that could, and does, function as a complete story, but that you wouldn't mind spending more time with. I'll be looking for somewhere to watch the two previous thematic installments - Marta and Dana - ASAP.

FACES
Written by Blake Simon
Directed by Blake Simon
Running Time 14 minutes

Like Párvulos above, I've been dying to spread the word about this short from Blake Simon. "I wanted to explore something that I had been witnessing around me that nobody was openly talking about" Simon says in the press materials "...that search for identity that lies under the surface of all of us." But before you get the wrong idea, this insight into the human experience didn't lead Simon to creating an austere drama, but a genuinely unsettling supernaturally-tinged urban legend of a horror short. Supported by solid performances (notably Ethan Daniel Corbett) and the excellent, creative cinematography of Andrew Fronczak, FACES is a really intriguing short-form chiller.

The 28th Fantasia International Film Festival runs from July 18th to August 4th in Montreal. Get tickets HERE.