Montreal’s Fantasia International Film Festival is here once again, and they’ve announced a jam-packed program of over 125 genre films (plus over 200 shorts) from all around the world. With big titles like Ari Aster’s 4th feature Eddington, and Neon Rated’s hotly anticipated body horror, Together, on the schedule, here are some additional films you’ll want to keep on your radar.
Top Films to Watch at Fantasia Film Festival 2025
South Korea’s Noise, from first time director Kim Soo-jin, and the France-Argentina-Spain joint production The Wailing from writer-director Na Hong-jin (not the 2016 South Korean film) both promise non-stop anxiety filled horrors. Mickey Reece returns to the festival with his latest film Every Heavy Thing, a “pitch-black comedy set against the unsettling backdrop of a string of disappearances” featuring horror icons Vera Drew and Barbara Crampton. Coming out of Australia is the gritty Super 8 film A Grand Mockery from co-writers/directors Adam C. Briggs and Sam Dixon that apparently “pulses with various fluids”! I’m also looking forward to Redux Redux, the multiverse revenge thriller from the McManus brothers that promises to “pulverize” my heart. Joy!
Image Courtesy of Fantasia International Film Festival
Fantasia Festival has always been a celebration of DIY cinema, and this year is no different. The festival will be screening the documentary Occupy Cannes about legendary Troma producer Lloyd Kaufman’s battle with the Cannes film festival in 2013. Directed by his daughter Lily-Hayes, both will be in attendance at the world premiere of their film here in Montreal. Festival favorites The Adams Family are back with their latest feature, the darkly poetic Mother of Flies. Also in attendance will be Alice Maio Mackay with her latest feature, The Serpent’s Skin. Though Fantasia has been screening the young filmmaker’s films for a few years, this will be her first visit to the fest.
International Thrillers and Anthologies at Fantasia 2025
Adilkhan Yerzhanov, the filmmaker behind Steppenwolf (a standout from last year’s festival), will accompany his horror anthology show Kazakh Scary Tales, a series that was “deemed too frightening by focus groups” by the platform that commissioned it. Another intriguing film is Burning (not the 2018 Lee Chang-dong thriller), a “Roshomon style mystery” out of Kyrgyzstan by director Radik Eshimov. Finally, two different thrillers, Sweetness out of Canada (presented by writer-director Emma Higgins) and Lurker from the USA (presented by writer-director Alex Russell), promise darkness and tension as they both explore obsessed fans who take matters into their own hands.
More Festival Offerings and How to Get Tickets
These picks barely scratch the surface of the festival’s offerings. There’s an entire animation program, a whole slate of asian action films, and multiple restored cult films screening for the first time. Check out the full program here and visit the site for tickets.