The Fantasia International Film Festival always ranks as a personal highlight in my annual cinematic adventures. Having had the privilege of covering it over several years, I can easily say that many of my favourite film discoveries over the past decade have emerged from Fantasia - examples being I WeirDo, The Dark and the Wicked, Dinner in America, Hi-Five, Good Game, A Mermaid in Paris, Sometimes I Think About Dying and Red Rooms to name but a few. 

 

What truly distinguishes this festival is its unique fusion of genre films, spanning horror, drama, comedy, sci-fi, romance, and sometimes a bit of everything spliced together, as well as the genuine passion of its organisers. As the organisers themselves describe it, Fantasia “juxtaposes pop culture with alternative culture,” and this resonates deeply with me and film fans across the world, as well as capturing the heart of the city of Montreal, the festival’s HQ, for a short time each year.

 

This years marks Fantasia's 30th edition, a fantastic milestone and I am delighted to once again be covering this exceptional - and often bonkers - festival. As per Fantasia's mission statement, since its beginnings, the festival has explored the diverse realms of genre cinema, creating bridges between the cutting-edge and the mainstream, and providing a festive but professional environment where emerging artists are given exposure alongside their more established counterparts, both locally and internationally. They showcase the best in Canadian and world cinema, whilst discovering and nurturing exciting new talents and offering a platform through which artists and audiences can connect. 



 

Aside from the vast selection of features, shorts, and documentaries this year, the festival celebrates Nicholas Windig Refn (Drive, Only God Forgives, The Neon Demon) as he will receive the 2026 Cheval Noir Career Achievement Award on July 17th. On the same date, Refn will host a Masterclass. Alongside Refn, Takashi Shimizu (Ju-On: The Grudge, The Grudge, The Grudge 2, Reincarnation) will also be honoured with the Prix de Carrière Honorifique.

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The following recipients will also be celebrated:

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• Bruce McDonald (Canadian Trailblazer Award): The versatile director/producer has won 28 awards at TIFF, VIFF, and The Genies, and is known for directing Pontypool, Hard Core Logo, and TV series Heartland, Dark Matter, and From amongst many others.

• Don Hertzfeldt (Indie Maverick Award): The two-time Academy Award nominee, whose animated films include It's Such a Beautiful Day, the World of Tomorrow series, Me, The Meaning of Life, On Memory, Billy's Balloon, and the iconic Rejected, will be honoured at festival.

• Robert Lepage (Denis-Héroux Award): The Denis-Héroux Award recognizes the exceptional contribution of an artist or craftsman to the development, creation, or dissemination of Quebec genre cinema and independent cinema. Lepage’s films, including 1995's The Confessional, are genre films—or at least, they play with genre conventions, to create unique works and genuine cinematic experiences.

• Louise Portal (Denis-Héroux Award): Portal will receive the award for her lifetime achievement in Quebec and international cinema.

 

Additionally, this year’s festival boasts intriguing Special Events, including:

 

• IN CONVERSATION WITH JANE SCHOENBRUN, HANNAH EINBINDER, ALICE MAIO MACKAY, LOUISE WEARD & AVALON FAST: Fantasia celebrates a new generation of ground-breaking genre auteurs with this special group discussion between filmmakers and performers whose works intersect with their friendships and creative processes.

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• THE FANTASIA POSTERS OF DONALD CARON: Illustrator Donald Caron has since the festival’s earliest days conjured up visions that catch the eye and encapsulate the spirit of Fantasia. Caron is joined by Fantasia’s Director of Animation Programming, Rupert Bottenberg, for a nostalgic review of those posters through the years, assuring interesting insights into the illustrator’s craft, the lore of fantastic cinema, and the history of Fantasia.

 

• MATT JOHNSON – IN CONVERSATION WITH GRACE GLOWICKI: As part of Fantasia’s 30th anniversary celebrations, the festival will hold a special artist talk between two of Canada’s most brilliant and beloved film talents.

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The full lineup of special events can be found at https://fantasiafestival.com/en/festival-2026/special-events

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Refn's Her Private Hell will open the festival with the first showing at Auditorium des diplômés de la SGWU (Théâtre Hall). Zach Lipovsky & Adam Stein's Freaks Part II will close the festival at the same venue.

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Ahead of the festival, I wanted to highlight some of the films playing over the two-week event that have piqued my attention. Of course, not having seen them yet, my opinion might change by the time Fantasia 2026 concludes on August 2nd…

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For now, though, here's a list of the films I'm most anticipating:

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AnyMart (Japan)

Directed by Yusuke Iwasaki (Feature Debut)

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Few jobs can be harder on one’s self-esteem than customer service, especially in a kombini (convenience store) where people come and go, venting their frustrations on the person behind the till as they pass through. It’s often frustrating, alienating, and even dehumanizing. Working in a branch of the AnyMart chain owned by his extremely jaded father, spending his days watching security cam footage while putting up with visits from the anxious sales rep from the head office, Sakai (Shota Sometani, BAKUMAN), goes about his tasks with apathy and passivity. Following the tragic death of his manager, he takes over and must train a bubbly new employee, Ogawa (Erika Karata, DESERT OF NAMIBIA). She has a clear purpose in life, which sparks something in Sakai. Dealing with desperate shoplifters in an economy they cannot keep up with, and a struggling restaurant owner seeking customers at any cost, the pair gradually grow closer. However, in this unhealthy ecosystem, anyone could completely lose it at any moment.

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Captured (Japan)

Directed by Koichi (Feature Debut)

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Misaki, an exceptionally bright and energetic high-school senior with grades good enough to get into a reputable university, has been living alone with her mother since her father’s death. Fearing she might have to enter the workforce prematurely to help her mother, she decides to start a vlog to make some money, following her friend Satsuki’s advice. To her surprise, her first videos garner a few views despite their rather mundane content, but one in particular—where a silhouette stands behind the young girl—receives special attention. Satsuki suggests they take advantage of this to produce fake horror footage in an old, abandoned, and supposedly haunted building, to attract viewers. After their escapade, a silent, masked entity that only Misaki can see begins to follow her everywhere she goes. The two students decide to 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 spectre.

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Colony (South Korea)

Directed by Yeon Sang-ho (Train to Busan, Peninsula, Jung_E)

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“I am the only vaccine that can stop this outbreak.” Professor Se-jeong (Gianna Jun) attends a biotech conference to hopefully start looking for a new career in the field. What is supposed to be a simple day of finding a new job turns into blood-soaked terror as she and other survivors are trapped in the building with nowhere to run as a dangerous virus mutates people into infected beings undergoing horrifying transformations. It’s a fight for survival against these mindless, cannibalistic freaks, while struggling to figure out how to end this deadly threat…

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When You Open the Door (Japan)

Directed by Eriko Katagiri (Feature debut)

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Miki, a 27-year-old working in an architectural firm, wakes up in her small apartment, pulled out of her sleepy memory. Miki’s world is quiet and strange, but it will soon be interrupted by a transformative experience that will change her forever. Miki’s life, a kind of daze of memory, dream and reality, starts to collapse. As she pieces together what happened to her, she starts to have memories of a wolf bite, but no one believes her. Katagiri’s film tackles feminine isolation and alienation in a unique and powerful way. The film has a languid numbness; a strange rhythm that’s both uncomfortable and infectious. Viewers who allow themselves to be carried into Miki’s mind will soon find themselves pulled into one of the most unique werewolf stories ever put to the big screen.

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Cherry and Virgin (Japan)

Directed by Masanao Kawajiri (Feature debut)

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Ami and Ryo have a lot in common. They’re both around 30 years old, and they both draw. Ami is a commercial illustrator, Ryo creates erotic manga. That’s a bit ironic given their other commonality. Smart but socially uneasy, neither of them has ever had sex. Each feeling compelled to correct that, they’ve connected via a dating app. The similarities continue, as each indulges in oversharing and brutal self-criticism, from their first date forward. Awkward, uncertain, confused—in their own weird way, the pair have great chemistry. But will it lead them to the bedroom—and beyond?

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Grotesqqque (Japan)

Directed by Atsushi Nishigori (Top o Nerae 2! Gekijouban, The Idolmaster Movie: Beyond the Brilliant Future!)

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Aliens, gyarus (gals), vampires… the girls race through a GROTESQQQUE night. A pop and edgy fusion of imagery and sound creates their unique world pulsing at the seams.

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I Love Paris (Australia, France)

Directed by Nicky Murphy (Leatherdaddy)

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Not just a vampire movie, this is a music film and the beats actually hit. The movie captures a kind of improvisational style that blends comedy, music, and horror to draw in the audience. With obvious comparisons to WHAT WE DO IN THE SHADOWS, director Nicky Murphy brings in a dash of Tony Scott’s THE HUNGER, creating a vampire story that’s funny but also pulsing with youth and ambition as the film blends down-under humour with effortless French cool. Embedding the vampirism in the world of music allows the nightlife to really shine, while also underlying the changing conditions of the musical world, horrifically intertwined with industry and social media in a soul-evaporating tension. The film’s nighttime textures are loaded with beauty, colour, and anxiety. Paris (the city) really comes alive in the film’s underground energy, capturing facets and people that we rarely see through this perspective of both celebration and desperation.

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RUBBERHEAD: The Life & Monsters of Steve Johnson (USA)

Directed by Nick Taylor (Feature debut)

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Over seven years in the making, RUBBERHEAD: THE LIFE AND MONSTERS OF STEVE JOHNSON thankfully is not another fan-service nostalgia trip (though the film is positively stacked with incredible, never-before-seen archival footage), but is instead a portrait of an immense talent who could also be his own worst enemy. Johnson is an enormously engaging raconteur who holds absolutely nothing back, especially when it comes to his years of addiction and the recklessness that helped to feed it.

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Big Break (USA)

Directed by Ian Faria (Feature Debut)

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Years after their sketch comedy collective, Simple Town, disbanded, old friends Will (Will Niedmann, OFF THE AIR), Caroline (Caro Yost, THE GENE POOL), and Felipe (Felipe Di Poi Tamargo, BLOOD BARN), reunite with their estranged ex-collaborator Sam (Samuel Lanier, GOOD ONE), the only one of them to have become successful in hollywood for heralding box office smash hit The Gummy Bears Movie, for a nostalgic weekend reunion at his secluded mansion in the woods. While the three try to devise a plan to get cast in Sam’s upcoming sequel, dark secrets are revealed, and these washed-up comedians learn what it really means to kill! Four friends, three failures, two Gummy Bear movies, one role, and no survivors in Ian Faria’s BIG BREAK!

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Drag (USA)

Directed by Raviv Ullman & Greg Yagolnitzer (Feature Debuts)

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Sisterly love sometimes knows no bounds, but maybe it should? When Little Sister (Lucy DeVito) agrees to play lookout for Big Sister (Lizzy Caplan) while she breaks into some douchebag’s remote house in the woods and steals something for revenge over a major offense, she does so very reluctantly. What if this guy comes back? What if the cops show up? Well, there are worse things that could happen, like Big Sister throwing out her back in the middle of her ill-conceived heist, for one. Which she does. And now poor Little Sister has to not only deal with getting her immobilized sister out of there, but everything gets even more complicated when the douchebag in question (John Stamos!) returns home, and it turns out that this house is remote for a reason. Little Sister sure wishes she was an only child about now. If the two of them make it out of there alive, maybe she will be, because Little Sister will probably kill Big Sister herself after all this.

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Freaks Part II (Canada)

Directed by Zach Lipovsky & Adam Stein (Final Destination Bloodlines, Freaks)

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Celebrated Canadian filmmakers Zach Lipovsky and Adam Stein return to their mutant roots with the hotly anticipated FREAKS PART II. A few years after a traumatic escape, we meet Mary (Amanda Crew, SILICON VALLEY, FREAKS) and her daughter Chloe (Lorelei Olivia Mote, DAYS OF OUR LIVES, RIDDLE OF FIRE) as they live on the road, hiding their powers and identities. They are hunted by the Abnormal Defence Force, paramilitary police that specialize in ruthlessly exterminating “freaks” like them. Mary is fuelled by revenge: to find the ADF officer who killed her first child. That officer is Erica Lang (Lili Taylor, THE CONJURING, OUTER RANGE), who is now a top ADF agent on Mary’s trail. Meanwhile, Mary is trying to control Chloe, now a precocious and powerful tween who is worlds away from the typical comic book hero. Chloe’s impulsive longing for a friend throws her mom’s plans into chaos, as supernatural visions of a mysterious girl lead them into danger and unlock secrets in Mary’s past that have been long buried.

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Her Private Hell (USA, Denmark)

Directed by Nicholas Windig Refn (Drive, Only God Forgives, The Neon Demon, Bronson)

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Set in a fog-basked futuristic city that curves, arches, juts, and glows like pathways into the subconscious, HER PRIVATE HELL opens in a towering, empty hotel. We meet Elle (Sophie Thatcher, YELLOWJACKETS, COMPANION), the daughter of decadently successful filmmaker Johnny Thunders (Dougray Scott, MY OXFORD YEAR, MISSION IMPOSSIBLE 2), who sees in her the elements of himself that he most loathes. Elle’s relationship with her once-lover-now-stepmother Dominique (Havana Rose Liu, LURKER, BOTTOMS) is… difficult. Into this circle enters ingenue actor Hunter (Kristine Froseth, SHARP STICK, THE BUCCANEERS), who’s elated to be working with everyone and welcomes any pain that may come. And pain is indeed coming. The mist that permeates this city is known to bring out a ghostly serial killer with flesh-cutting, diamond-studded gloves. Also coming out of the fog is an American GI, Private K. (Charles Melton, MAY DECEMBER, RIVERDALE), who appears to exist in a realm decades past, on a violent mission to find his disappeared daughter… whom he suspects may be in hell.

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Hot Spot (Sweden, Greece, Norway, Poland)

Directed by Agnieszka Smoczynska (The Lure, Fugue, The Silent Twins)

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Several years from today, in a society surveilled and controlled by global sentient AI, a private detective, Djonny (Andrzej Konopka, THE THAW, THE LURE), investigates a grisly murder in a refugee camp. There he meets Rana (Noomi Rapace, PROMETHEUS, THE GIRL WITH THE DRAGON TATTOO), a feared member of a religious sect said by many to be a witch of sorts—a cyber witch, perhaps. Within her rebel group, she may have the power to hack into the system and create severe, existential disruption. As Djonny’s trail of understanding expands, the lives of everyone he’s ever loved will be in danger.

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The Last Footage (Myanmar)

Directed by Arkar Soe Oo (Feature Debut)

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Good times with loved ones, rocking out on stage, motorcycle accidents and worse... Across Yangon and beyond, Burmese people are capturing the moments of their lives—and on occasion, deaths—with the 4K cameras in their smart glasses. A group of six young friends from the big city are planning to visit the abandoned rubber plantation that business-minded Thu Ya has inherited. Outgoing oddball Aung Khant intends to document the adventure with his smart glasses. On the trip to Wingabar Forest, these two and Thu Ya’s vain girlfriend Daisy, cocky Wa Na, superstitious Mya, and uptight Linn are joined by Linn’s precocious little brother Min Thant, easygoing bus driver Ko Htet, and Thu Ya’s uncle Ko Nyo, the black sheep of the family—whose troubled misgivings about the place, and the spooky lore attached to it, are casually dismissed.

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The Leader (Canada, USA)

Directed by Michael Gallagher (Smiley, Internet Famous, The Thinning, The Thinning: New World Order, Funny Story)

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“How does a housewife from Houston become the leader of a cult?” That question, posed by an interviewer to Bonnie Lu Nettles (Vera Farmiga, THE CONJURING, THE DEPARTED), is answered as we watch Bonnie, dissatisfied with her home life and cheating husband, find a soulmate in the devoutly religious Marshall Herff Applewhite (Tim Blake Nelson, WATCHMEN, MINORITY REPORT). Together they begin offering “awareness lessons” to people in need of purpose and direction in their lives, forming a group that will come to be known as Heaven’s Gate. Calling themselves “Do” and “Ti,” the duo bestow their followers with new names and indoctrinate them into strictly regimented new lives, in which the freedom of choice is removed and “desires of the flesh” are verboten. According to “Do” and “Ti,” their human bodies are merely “vehicles” for extraterrestrial beings—and the day is approaching when they will all abandon those vessels and rise to a higher consciousness.

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The Mouths (Japan)

Directed by Takashi Shimizu (Ju-On: The Grudge, The Grudge, The Grudge 2, Marebito)

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There’s a rumour going round about a cursed tree standing in the middle of a supposedly haunted cemetery, deep in the forest. For Shota and his university friends, it’s a chance to tempt fate and give themselves a proper scare by visiting this legendary spot in the dead of night. Once there, their courage immediately falters at the gloomy sight of the place. There is also the abnormally deafening sound of cicadas, which adds to the eerie aspect of the site. Things quickly spiral out of control for the four of them, as one of them, Ann, starts babbling strange words and behaving completely irrationally. They even have to drag her back to the car by force to get back to campus as quickly as possible. The next day, she disappears, and the others are plagued by terrifying visions of a ghostly female figure. Thus begins a waking nightmare in which they will come to regret their reckless expedition. Carelessness can come at a very high price, and the cost will exceed all their expectations.

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Nightborn (United Kingdom, France, Finland, Lithuania)

Directed by Hanna Bergholm (Hatching)

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After much planning and anticipation. Saga (Seidi Haarla, COMPARTMENT NO. 6, ICEBREAKER) and her British husband Jon (Rupert Grint, the HARRY POTTER series, SERVANT) are starting a family. They move from the U.K. to Finland and take residence in the semi-dilapidated house where Saga largely grew up, deep in the forest. Soon, overtaken by energies in the woods, they make passionate love surrounded by an ocean of trees and foliage, and perhaps other things as well. Saga becomes pregnant. When the baby is born, it arrives with an unsettling wail and uncommonly hairy back. It behaves… badly. Never sleeping, refusing to eat, biting, breaking things, and generally tormenting all who engage. Everyone’s response is to blame Saga, accusing her of somehow being a terrible parent with an uncontrollable monster of a baby. A baby who’s becoming increasingly troll-like in appearance. Whose hunger only seems to be satisfied by raw meat or animal blood. Her marriage to Jon begins to crumble as Saga descends ever deeper into a tornado hole of maternal anguish, earthy mud, and milky blood. Have they created an actual monster together?

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Penny Lane is Dead (Australia)

Directed by Mia'kate Russell (Feature Debut)

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It’s the scorching South Australian summer of 1986. Penny Lane (Bailey Spalding, NORTH SHORE) has just landed her university acceptance and is primed for some extreme celebration. She and her best friends Toni (Tahlee Fereday, BLUE CANARIES) and Amy (Alexandra Jensen, TALK TO ME) head out to a distant beach house for a wild “no dick event”. Things take a dark turn when Penny’s toxic cousin Kat (Sophia Wright-Mendelsohn, YEAR OF) crashes the party uninvited, bearing questionable cupcakes and awful intentions. Soon, her boyfriend (Ben O’Toole, BLOODY HELL) arrives, with friends. Circumstances go from bad to sheer fucking hell and the girls suddenly find themselves in a savage fight for survival.

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Sleep No More (Japan, Germany, Singapore, Indonesia)

Directed by Edwin (Borderless Fog, Aruna & Her Palate)

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Following the horrific death of their mother while on the job at an old wig factory in Jakarta, sisters Putri (Rachel Amanda) and Ida (Lutesha) decide to visit the premises to investigate. Upon arriving at the gloomy, prison-like building, they meet the mysterious and intimidating Mrs. Maryati (Didik Nini Thowok), the owner of the Evergreen factory, who tells them they will have to work there to pay off the colossal debt their late mother had incurred to fund Ida’s education. There they are reunited with their younger brother (Iqbaal Ramadhan), who is already there and possesses the strange ability to recover from any injury. From their very first shift, they can’t believe their eyes. The staff, although welcoming, appear to be in a state of extreme exhaustion due to the insane working hours and the strong “suggestion” to work overtime. Accidents multiply and become increasingly gruesome. The staff sometimes even seem possessed before mutilating themselves. Is it overwork, or a demonic entity haunting the building that feeds on these poor people?

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Unholy Night (Canada)

Directed by Michael Gabriele (Feature Debut)

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Christmas is a time for celebrating with food, family and, unfortunately, those difficult family dynamics, especially with traditions that die hard. Gino’s (Marc Bendavid, GOOD WITCH, REACHER) family preps their annual Christmas Eve dinner, and there’s a lot of hustle and bustle in this Italian household. His mother cooks like a demon, and it’s clear that from how you cut the cantaloupe to the shirt Gino wears, change isn’t welcome. He handles an impromptu visit from his ex-girlfriend, Rene (Shailene Garnett, DIGGSTOWN, MURDOCH MYSTERIES), poorly, and his overachieving siblings win their parents' favour easily. You see, Gino works in a paint store and lives in his parents' basement. His family is judgmental, and his confidence isn’t great either. It’s hard enough to navigate the landmines of disapproval and family ribbing, but when a surprise visit from their dead nonna breaks up the festivities, things go straight to hell! They soon learn that the “ritornati” are plaguing the neighbourhood, and Gino’s family is stuck right in the middle.

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Village of Eight Gravestones (Japan)

Directed by Takashi Shimizu (Ju-On: The Grudge, The Grudge, The Grudge 2, Marebito)

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Following the sudden death of his mother, whom he had not seen for several years, Tatsuya decides to visit the rural village where she lived. On his way there, he meets private detective Kosuke Kindaichi, who had been searching for him at the request of the Tajimi clan. Upon arrival, the pair are put up by this mysterious family with a troubled past, who seem to take their lineage and heritage very seriously. In fact, Tatsuya is the last of his line—a fact he was unaware of—and must now come to terms with the massacre once perpetrated by his grandfather, which left a deep scar on the villagers. The villagers now view the Tajimis as a threat responsible for a curse and greet Tatsuya with a certain hostility. Were they wrong? Soon, murders modelled on the masked characters of an ancient traditional dance begin to pile up at an alarming rate. Tension is rising dramatically. With the situation on the verge of exploding, Detective Kindaichi must draw on all his powers of observation and insight to uncover the source and motive behind this bloodbath. Despite his experience, he is ill-prepared for the demonic ramifications of these twisted events.