The summer festival season is in full swing, and before we arrive in Toronto and elsewhere for the fall cycle, we’re taking our annual pit stop in Montreal for the Fantasia International Film Festival, North America’s leading genre film festival. In its 29th edition this year, the lineup has a vast selection of genre films ranging from science fiction to fantasy to horror–the specialties of a festival driven by the mission to promote independent filmmakers experimenting with niche or noncommercial storytelling approaches.
A diverse array of films from Sundance, Berlin, and Cannes continue their festival runs, as well as Fantasia premieres. With over 125 features and 200+ shorts available to be explored in this year’s lineup, we highlight a few that our team is looking forward to.
Maya, donne-moi un titre (Maya, Give Me the Title) (Michel Gondry)
Michel Gondry soared in the 2000s with his dreamlike, emotionally charged style in films like Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind and The Science of Sleep, two works that blurred the lines between memory, dreams, and reality in a way only Gondry could. While his mainstream presence has waned in recent years, his latest film, Maya, Give Me a Title, marks a deeply personal return.
This new project is a mosaic of animated vignettes, each inspired by a title provided by Gondry’s daughter, Maya, who stars in the vignettes as he turns her imaginative nightly prompts from their phone calls together into whimsical short films. The result is likely to be a heartfelt exploration of creativity, connection, and the shared love between father and daughter. In true Gondry fashion, it’s bound to be a playful yet poignant celebration of imagination and whimsy. Via Danny Jarabek
La Mort N’Existe Pas (Death Does Not Exist) (Félix Dufour-Laperrière)
The new animated feature from Félix Dufour-Laperrière (Archipelago) premiered at Cannes and Annecy, and continues its festival path at Fantasia. Over a decade in the making, the film centers on a group of young revolutionaries who launch a violent uprising against a wealthy, entrenched family, hoping to ignite systemic change. But as their idealism crashes against the reality of violence, the fallout becomes personal, especially for one woman haunted by loss, doubt, and the choices they made.
The animation, entirely hand-drawn, looks breathtaking from the stills available, but what excites me most is the film’s unflinching engagement with political urgency, addressing themes of generational disillusionment and class inequality. It looks like a timely and emotionally raw reflection on the costs of rebellion in a world teetering under the weight of social and economic injustice. Via Danny Jarabek
The Wailing (Pedro Martín-Calero)
Described as similar to the Pulse (2001) era of Kiyoshi Kurosawa, The Wailing provides a return to a basic haunting premise with a temporal twist. Having already made the rounds at a handful of festivals, including the BFI London Film Festival, which called it “breathtakingly disturbing,” Pedro Martín-Calero’s debut feature caught my attention because of the unique way in which the story is told.
Three generations of women (Ester Expósito, Mathilde Ollivier, Malena Villa) are haunted by the same entity despite being separated by decades. The same entity haunting multiple generations of women piques my interest in terms of the themes that can be extracted from such a concept. Echoing films like The Blackcoat’s Daughter (2015), which also plays with time, allows for the spotlight to remain on innovative storytelling that pushes the audience’s expectations and creates an unsettling cinematic experience where anything is possible. Via Nadia Arain
Dollhouse (Shinobu Yaguchi)
Horror has always been a vehicle for exploring and dealing with the terror and unease that comes from trauma. These films allow both filmmakers and moviegoers to look inward at their own emotions and how each person deals with them differently. Shinobu Yaguchi’s Dollhouse plays with this idea through the iconic structure of a creepy doll. After a horrific event resulting in the death of their young daughter, Yoshie (Masami Nagasawa) turns to doll therapy to grieve. Years later, the doll returns seeking vengeance for being forgotten.
Director Yaguchi is mainly known for directing Japanese comedies, but as seen from directors like Zach Cregger and Jordan Peele, the transition from comedy to horror can be a piece of cake. Another director shifting between these genres so seamlessly is just another instance of the inextricable bond between the two and has the potential to join the ranks of modern horror royalty. Via Nadia Arain
Fucktoys (Annapurna Sriram)
“Steeped in camp, grime, and ‘bad taste,’ Fucktoys pays homage to the rebel spirit of John Waters and Russ Meyer.” This description alone has me uncomfortably seated. As someone in the middle of her John Waters journey, I am eager to discover a new ‘trash camp’ film written, directed, and starring Annapurna Sriram, known for Feral and Billions.
The film was recently awarded a Special Jury Award – Narrative Feature at SXSW 2025. And with the beautiful stills full of grain and color, I for one am excited (and slightly scared) to follow her to Trashtown, USA. Via Sara Ciplickas
Hank est en ville (Feber E. Coyote)
As many know (including readers), I am particularly drawn to Westerns. You can imagine my excitement for Eddington, also showing at Fantasia, but my eye was caught by Feber E. Coyote’s western, Hank est en ville, a film described as entirely “born of an exceptional local mobilization” without institutional funding. I am eager to support such a local Québécois film.
Following two opposing country singers, the film travels between countries in a story that is blended with music, murder, and passion. The director is said to combine aesthetics from poetic realism, film noir, and silent cinema, so I am hoping this film, premiering at Fantasia, will be equally as visually stunning as it is intelligent. Via Sara Ciplickas
$POSITIONS (Brandon Daley)
Cryptocurrency is an oft-discussed, seldom explored concept in film and TV, with a notable deep dive in the Crackle original show StartUp being the primary source text up until now. $POSITIONS, written and directed by Brandon Daley and starring Michael Kunicki and Kaylyn Carter, follows a young man who turns to crypto in a time of financial crisis, leading to more bad choices. I have personally seen crypto schemes ruin the lives of people around me, so I’m interested to see how this plays on the big screen. I’m looking forward to seeing the balance of dark comedy and crypto’s harsh reality on display. Via Cameron Ritter
Hellcat (Brock Brodell)
Hellcat appears to fall under one of my favorite niche horror genres: someone wakes up somewhere mysterious and is being kept there for unknown reasons. It’s a simple story beginning, but it can lead to all kinds of interesting results. These often turn out to be part mystery, part horror, which is a great middle ground for me. Hellcat stars Dakota Gorman as a woman who wakes up in a moving trailer as a stranger (Todd Terry) tells her she is infected with something and he’s taking her to see a doctor. I’m already so seated for this, and I can’t wait to see how this film bends the tropes and genre it’s leaning into. Via Cameron Ritter
It Ends (Alexander Ullom)
It Ends really caught my eye with the intriguing premise shared, and I love a good horror movie where the main characters can never seem to leave a certain situation. Usually in these films, it makes the characters look inwards and realize new things about themselves, which is always very juicy to me.
It Ends follows four friends on their last trip before they go their separate ways for college. When they find themselves having to take an unexpected back road, they start to realize this road is never-ending and that their car has unlimited gas. Stopping the car or being out in the wilderness for too long makes danger come their way, so they have to figure out how to drive away from this unending road. With a rock-solid idea and a strong cast of characters, I am very excited to see how this one shakes out. Via Jacob Diedenhofer
Touch Me (Addison Heimann)
Touch Me falls into my favorite sub-genre of horror–body horror. I love the many different themes and ideas you can express within the genre, including self-image, love, toxicity, dependence, and preservation.
Touch Me follows best friends Joey and Craig as they dive deep into a love triangle with an alien named Brian, who is also Joey’s ex-boyfriend. Anytime Brian touches someone, he releases a euphoric toxin that makes them beg for him. As the best friends get closer to Brian, they realize the horrific fate that he plans for Earth. The description immediately reminds me of 1981’s Possession, a body horror that explores dependence and toxicity down to their core. Considering Possession is one of my favorite horror films, I cannot wait to see how this film explores the same ideas. Via Jacob Diedenhofer
Festival Preview Courtesy of Nadia Arain, Sara Ciplickas, Jacob Diedenhofer, Danny Jarabek, and Cameron Ritter
Feature Image from ‘La Mort N’Existe Pas (Death Does Not Exist)’ Directed by Félix Dufour-Laperrière; UFO Productions
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