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.