We are geeked to be remotely covering Fantasia International Film Festival next week. This year’s festivities run from July 16 to August 3. Most importantly, the 2025 fest schedule has a ton of titles we already love on deck. Together, Redux Redux, and Fucktoys are a few of the movies we have been raving about this year. However, the Fantasia party doesn’t stop there, so we have compiled a list of 10 films we’re hoping to catch this year. They all seem sick, sad, twisted, and a little fantastic to us. Which is what we have come to expect from this festival, which is celebrating its 29th year as a genre staple. So, check out our hitlist below and let us put some of these movies on your radar.
Dollhouse (Japan)
Director: Shinobu Yaguchi
Director and screenwriter Shinobu Yaguchi (Swing Girls) takes an intelligent and effective approach to horror cinema in this downward spiral involving an evil doll. Official Selection: Fantasporto 2025, Hong Kong International Film Festival 2025. Canadian Premiere.
Lurker (USA)
Director: Alex Russell
When a twenty-something retail clerk (Théodore Pellerin, Nino) encounters a rising pop star (Archie Madekwe, Saltburn), he takes the opportunity to edge his way into the in-crowd. As the line between friend and fan blurs beyond recognition, access and proximity become a matter of life and death. A stunning feature debut, at once unsettling and entertaining, tense and captivating, Lurker is a brilliant deconstruction of fame and need in Instagram-driven times. Official selection: Sundance 2025, Berlin International Film Festival 2025, New Directors / New Films 2025. Canadian Premiere.
Mother of Flies (USA)
Director: The Adams Family
A young girl diagnosed with cancer turns to necromancy under guidance from a witch in the woods. Can dark magic heal her? At what cost? A brilliant occult fairytale from the directors of Hellbender. Mother of Flies is the latest film from this beloved filmmaking family. Their previous movies, The Deeper You Dig, Hellbender, and Where the Devil Roams, also had world premieres at Fantasia Film Fest. World Premiere.
Noise (South Korea)
Director: Kim Soo-jin
After the disappearance of her younger sister, a woman with a hearing impediment experiences bizarre happenings and frightening encounters when mysterious noises echo throughout the building. With brilliant sound design and perfectly-dosed jump scares, first-time director Kim Soo-jin blends real-life anxieties with stark, supernatural elements to create genuine tension that never lets go. Official selection: Sitges Film Festival 2024, Kosmorama Trondheim International Film Festival 2025. Canadian Premiere.
Omniscient Reader: The Prophecy (South Korea)
Director: Kim Byung-woo
An ordinary office worker suddenly finds his favorite apocalyptic web novel unfolding in real life before his eyes. Director Kim Byung-woo (Take Point) offers a spectacular, action-filled fantasy, as meta as could be, blending deadly games, video game-style superpowers, kaiju, and even a stay inside a giant fish. Canadian Premiere.
Queens of the Dead (USA)
Director: Tina Romero
Director Tina Romero takes the ghoul genre invented by her father in a new direction when a zombie apocalypse breaks out in Brooklyn on the night of a giant warehouse party. Now, an eclectic group of drag queens, club kids, and frenemies must use their unique skills to fight back against the undead. Starring Katy O’Brian (Love Lies Bleeding), Riki Lindhome (The Wolf of Snow Hollow), Jaquel Spivey (Mean Girls), and comic icon Margaret Cho, who all bring their over-the-top roles to life with energy and a core of humanity that has us hoping they’ll survive this new night of the living dead. Official Selection: Tribeca Film Festival 2025, Chattanooga Film Festival 2025. International Premiere.
Sweetness (Canada)
Director: Emma Higgins
They say you should never meet your idols, and Emma Higgins’ first feature offers up a pitch-black coming-of-age tale to teach this lesson. Rylee (Kate Hallet, Woman Talking), a troubled teenager, is presented with an unimaginable situation. Her pop idol, Payton (Herman Tømmeraas, Ragnarok), is a low-key drug addict, and she’s taken it upon herself to help him get sober after he accidentally hits her driving under the influence. Official Selection: SXSW 2025. Septentrion Shadows Section. Canadian Premiere.
Terrestrial (USA)
Director: Steve Pink
A reunion weekend spirals out of control for four college friends when the host (Jermaine Fowler), a science fiction writer on the verge of newfound success, fights to maintain his sense of reality in the face of sudden, uncanny dangers. World Premiere.
Touch Me (USA)
Director: Addison Heinmann
Two codependent best friends become addicted to the heroin-like touch of an alien narcissist who may or may not be trying to take over the world. With Olivia Taylor Dudley (She Dies Tomorrow), Jordan Gavaris of (Orphan Black), and Lou Taylor Pucci (Spring). Official Selection: Sundance 2025, SXSW 2025. Canadian Premiere.
The Virgin of Quarry Lake (Argentina)
Director: Laura Casabe
Young Natalia (Dolores Oliverio) turns to witchcraft to give herself an upper hand against a changing world. A supernatural, feminine coming-of-(r)age film that captivates with enormous power, The Virgin of Quarry Lake is based on the writing of acclaimed Argentinian horror author Mariana Enriquez. It stands completely alone, both as a provocative work of horror and as a remarkable exploration of the volcanic emotions of teenhood conveyed through a visceral genre lens. Official Selection: Sundance 2025, TIFF Next Wave 2025. Quebec Premiere.
You can learn more about this year’s Fantasia International Film Festival, see the full lineup, and buy tickets here. Let us know what titles you are the most excited to catch at @horrormovieblog.bsky.social. You can also follow us on Bluesky to keep up with this year’s festival coverage!
