With Fantasia International Film Festival 2025 about to hit (July 16 – August 3), we’ve had a close look at the featured films and come up with the films we’d like to see.
The Book of Sijjin And Illiyyin (Kitab Sijjin Dan Illiyyin)
Having seen her mother possessed by terrible pain before killing her father when she was a child, Yuli (Yunita Siregar from the popular TV series RATU ADIL) was treated as an outsider, a bastard. Twenty years have passed since then. She is now a servant to a large, wealthy family, but she is still considered an outcast. Constantly scorned, insulted, and even beaten by her employers, she tries to satisfy their demands and whims by holding back the anger and grief she has accumulated over so many years, until one humiliation too many occurs. That’s when she goes into the forest to meet a hermit who practises black magic, to curse the Laras clan, from the youngest to the oldest, who mistreat her in so many ways. Yuli wants them all to die horribly. So she sends after them a most powerful djinn, an entity that is sometimes benevolent but in this case demonic, exhuming the fresh corpse of the Laras’ ancestress and offering it as a sacrifice in a most disturbing ritual. The task must be completed before the body is too decomposed. Let the party begin…
Indonesia has produced plenty of great horror films and this looks to add to that list. A bloody, gory film, with ocular trauma that would make Fulci proud. A trip into Muslim mythology that is so bloody you’ll need a shower afterwards.
Désolé, Pardon, Je m’excuse
Basically, I’m going to kidnap someone… and torture them.” Office worker Ella has a peculiar obsession: she’s addicted to watching torture videos. But just watching isn’t cutting it anymore. Tired of being a voyeur, Ella wants in on the action. DÉSOLÉ, PARDON, JE M’EXCUSE is a dark comedy that follows Ella, a self-proclaimed psychopath, as she sets out to make her fantasy a reality. Fuelled by delusion and undeterred by her lovesick boss, Ella jumps headfirst into making her torture fantasy a grim reality. But things take an unexpected turn when her first “victim” turns out to be eager for death, completely ruining the thrill she was chasing. What starts as an unconventional passion project quickly spirals into a hilarious meditation on disappointment, digital fantasy, and the unexpected drudgery of chasing your dreams.
A Horror Comedy from France. A very funny premise combined with some torture and weirdly touching moments? Sounds like a good time to us.
Good Boy
From the first moment you see him, you know that Indy (playing himself) is a very good boy, as loyal as a dog can be to his human, Todd (Shane Jensen). Todd has uprooted Indy to his late grandfather’s (Larry Fessenden!) remote house upstate, and before he even sets foot in the house, Indy can sense something’s not right. It’s not just that the house is in the middle of nowhere and seriously dilapidated, there’s something there that Indy can sense that Todd cannot. Todd has his own problems—he’s dealing with a mysterious illness and a worried sister (Arielle Friedman) who won’t let him be, and he can’t see what Indy sees. And what Indy sees is a mysterious presence that draws his suspicions while also drawing him in. Indy can only do so much to warn his human (he’s a dog, after all), but he’s going to protect him with all his heart before what’s haunting this house comes for them both. Because Indy is not just a good boy, he may be the bravest and smartest boy of all.
Dog films are always dangerous to watch because you are always worried about them. Add in a supernatural presence and a dog that will do all he can to protect his owner. Good Boy proves that dogs are the best people.
A Grand Mockery
Adopting the textures and crackles of 8mm film, with their feature debut A GRAND MOCKERY, co-directors Adam C. Briggs and Sam Dixon dive into Australia’s dark side. Sam Dixon stars as Josie, a troubled man living an ordinary life, whose mental illness deforms and pushes him into an almost ritualistic and increasingly horrific wandering. Grimy, experimental, cursed, and spectacular, the film pulls us through the mundane underbelly of Brisbane into the horrific sublime of the Sunshine Coast. Funny but nightmarish, the movie draws on the aimless psychology of the protagonist. Plagued by voices and driven by the compulsive repetition of addiction, Josie stands as a classic outcast: he’s a man living on the fringes of “respectable” life, who finds himself on a phantasmagorical journey through an Australian purgatory.
A sweaty, grim and dark trip through Brisbane. Boozed up and on a bender, sounds like the Australian experience to me.
Kazakh Scary Tales
Cynical cop Birzhan (Kuantai Abdimadi, MOUNTAIN ONION) ventures into the remote village of Karatas to investigate a grisly series of inexplicable events at a maternity hospital. His search leads him straight into the heart of Kazakh folklore through circumstances that bring the mystical into everyday life. Local police are far from helpful. He soon finds himself in the centre of an otherworldly storm of local witchcraft. Birzhan forms an unlikely alliance with Sara (Anna Starchenko, jury-award winner at last summer’s Fantasia for her astonishing performance in STEPPENWOLF and a key star in many of Yerzhanov’s films), a rogue fortune-teller gifted with intuitive occult awareness, in addition to an open police file for car theft, drug trafficking, and vagrancy. As their investigation deepens, it becomes clear that the curse of Albasty, a spirit said to hunt infants, is not merely the stuff of legend.
After loving Steppenwolf, you know we’re in for this one. Yerzhanov’s style combined with a horrific story, is something we must see.
Mother of Flies
“One day to die, three days to rise.” Shaken to her core after being diagnosed with cancer, young Mickey (Zelda Adams) turns to necromancy to heal herself after conventional medicine fails to help. Her father, Jake (John Adams), is not a religious man, but any skepticism he might hold takes a backseat to supporting his daughter’s decision. And so, they embark on a journey, driving deep into the woods to meet with a witch who resides there. Her name is Solveig (Toby Poser), and they will be her guests for the transformative days to come. She will guide Mickey through a journey of discovery, ritual, and blood. Solveig is offering her dark magic guidance free of charge. That’s not to say that it will come without costs.
The Adams family is back with another twisted tale. Dark magic, necromancy and witchcraft – we can’t resist that.
Noise
Joo-young (Lee Sun-bin) moves into a new apartment with her young sister Ju-hee (Han Soo-a), in a seemingly quiet neighbourhood. Joo-young has a hearing impediment and wears hearing aids, but her ears start to sense intense and eerie noises in her own home. After her sister suddenly disappears, she eventually begins to realize it has something to do with those creepy sounds she has been hearing, while also noticing a sinister entity that is coming after her. As she’s being haunted by these disturbing noises, she will now discover the dark truth behind Ju-hee’s mysterious vanishing and the ominous presence surrounding her apartment,
Listen closely. Anxiety, tension and nerve shredding await, in this Korean horror film, that plays deliciously with sound.
Redux Redux
Desperate to avenge her daughter’s murder by any means necessary, Irene Kelly (Michaela McManus) journeys through parallel dimensions to repeatedly track down and annihilate her killer (Jeremy Holm, HOUSE OF CARDS). Deliverance by any kind of weapon. Every kind of weapon. All she can do is stab, shoot, and maim with a rage that’s devouring her, yet gives her singular purpose and meaning. Even as it threatens to corrode her humanity beyond any possible point of return.
Revenge takes its toll when you exact it. What if you could get your revenge day after day in different dimensions? What would happen to your humanity? Redux Redux will look to answer that question but ask several more.
The School Duel
Pledge allegiance to the independent state of Florida, where the right to bear arms, love God, and uphold the values of the forefathers holds dominion. THE SCHOOL DUEL is a provocative, militarized fairytale told through the eyes of bullied 13-year-old Sam Miller (Kue Lawrence, MARSHMELLOW). Sam is like many kids his age, he goes to school, hates his classmates, and follows influencers to feel connection, but in this portrait of dystopian America, violence pumps through every vein of society. Despite the protests of his caring mother (Christina Brucato, THE MENU), Sam enlists in a violent statewide competition called School Duel, a controversial game sponsored by the government to counter the rise of school shootings, that will throw him into a crucible of “Martyrs” and “Kings”. Pushed by his handler (Micheal Sean Tighe) and encouraged by the Govener (darkly played by Oscar Nuñez of THE OFFICE), allegiances will be made, enemies will emerge, and the outmatched young Sam will have to face harsh truths about his life, society, and growing up.
America and guns unfortunately go together. There has been plenty of films on similar themes but The School Duel takes it to another level and asks some hard questions
Sugar Rot
SUGAR ROT may be candy-coloured, but its embrace of pink avoids anything cute or twee. This isn’t a bubblegum pink film; it’s Pepto-Bismol pink, genital pink, earthworm pink. Set in an ice-cream shop, Becca Kozak’s film is a relentless sensory onslaught—depraved, delicious, and unafraid to plunge into the darkest, dankest corners of the imagination. When punk girl Candy is brutally assaulted by an ice-cream man, she becomes the host of a mutant fetus, and her body begins to transform into ice cream. Featuring music from Pet Blessings, Dayglo Abortions, and Daddy Issues, SUGAR ROT channels the anarchic spirit of punk to tell a fiercely feminist story about autonomy, capitalism, and pleasure. With its cathartic cartoon gore and biting satire of anti-feminist rhetoric, it’s a bold and sticky scream of rebellion.
Let’s get gross, disgusting, appalled and punk. Films are made to shake up the order of things, and Sugar Rot is here to do just that.
The Virgin of the Quarry Lake (virgen de la tosquera)
It’s the summer of 2001 and Argentina is on the verge of exploding. A recent outbreak of violence has left the country in a powder-keg state. Economic disaster is hitting hard, with rolling blackouts amplifying a hellish sense of instability and tempers are on a hair trigger. In the midst of this, best friends Natalia, Mariela, and Josefina have just finished high school. They share everything together, including an all-consuming crush on Diego, a cherished friend since their childhoods, whom they’ve each begun to see in a markedly different light. And now, an older, more worldly friend appears, also with designs on their beau. With witchcraft in her family roots, Natalia turns towards sinister incantations to give herself an upper hand in a suddenly competitive playing field for whom she believes to be the love of her life, betraying friendships, family, and her own self. It’s going to be a long, hot, dangerous summer. Only some will see the fall.
Teen Angst – Check. Lust – Check. Witchcraft – Check. All the ingredients for a terrifyingly good time.
Sweetness
Rylee (Kate Hallet, WOMAN TALKING), a bullied teenager, grieves her mom and has a dad, Ron (Justin Chatwin, ANOTHER LIFE), who’s a cop. It’s not a great combination for popularity, but all is forgotten when she hears Swedish pop star Payton (Herman Tømmeraas, RAGNAROK), the lead singer of the band Floorplan, sing. She’s obsessed and plans to see him live in concert with her bestie Sid (Aya Furukawa, THE FALL OF THE HOUSE OF USHER). Dead mom, Dad’s new girlfriend, and his disapproving glares—all forgotten for one night with Payton.
They say never meet your heroes and, in this case, never met your superfans. The road to hell is paved with best intentions and Sweetness sends you down that road…
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