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Fantasia International Film Festival · 2020

Fantasia International Film Festival 2020

Features

Programme

94 films · 62 reviews

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12 Hour Shift

Review preview for 12 Hour Shift

A splatter-happy romp through one night in the organ trade.

Jennie Kermode · 3 out of 5
Nurse Mandy is just trying to make it through her double shift alive, but her nasty drug addiction, annoying coworkers, needy patients, and devious cousin are making it pretty tough, not to mention organ-stealing criminals and an injured convict.

(Country: US; Year: 2020; Director: Brea Grant; Writer: Brea Grant; Stars: Angela Bettis, David Arquette, Chloe Farnworth, Mick Foley, Kit Williamson, Nikea Gamby-Turner, Tara Perry, Brooke Seguin, Dusty Warren, Tom DeTrinis, Thomas Hobson, Julianne Dowler, Briana Lane, Taylor Alden, Scott Dean)

Full review

Air Doll (Kûki ningyô)

Review preview for Air Doll

Delicately scored by Katsuhiko Maeda, the early part of the film has a real magic about it, its sweet-natured heroine conveying an infectious sense of wonder.

Jennie Kermode · 4.5 out of 5
A blow-up sex doll develops a sense of self and begins to explore the world around her.

(Country: Japan; Year: 2009; Director: Hirokazu Kore-eda; Writer: Yoshiie Goda, Hirokazu Kore-eda; Stars: Du-na Bae, Arata, Itsuji Itao, Jô Odagiri, Sumiko Fuji, Tasuku Emoto, Mari Hoshino, Ryo Iwamatsu, Tomomi Maruyama, Miu Naraki, Masaya Takahashi, Susumu Terajima, Kimiko Yo)

Full review

Alone

Review preview for Alone

Although this is familiar territory, with a long pedigree going back through cinematic history, it's no less watchable as a result.

Jennie Kermode · 4 out of 5
A recently widowed traveller is kidnapped by a cold blooded killer, only to escape into the wilderness where she is forced to battle against the elements as her pursuer closes in on her.

(Country: US; Year: 2020; Director: John Hyams; Writer: Mattias Olsson; Stars: Jules Willcox, Marc Menchaca, Anthony Heald)

Full review

Anne At 13,000 ft

Review preview for Anne At 13,000 ft

It takes real craft to hold something like this together for 75 minutes - not to mention tremendous effort on Campbell's part.

Jennie Kermode · 4.5 out of 5
Even in her job at a children’s day care centre, Anne prefers fun to actual work and often alienates those around her with her erratic behaviour.

(Country: Canada, US; Year: 2019; Director: Kazik Radwanski; Writer: Kazik Radwanski, Deragh Campbell; Stars: Deragh Campbell, Matt Johnson, Dorothea Paas, Lawrene Denkers)

Full review See: Interview with Kazik Radwanski and Deragh Campbell about Anne At 13,000 Ft

Baby: The Secret Diary Of A Mom To Be

When a young married woman accidentally becomes pregnant, she bitterly resents it.

(Country: Hong Kong; Year: 2019; Director: Luk Yee Sum; Stars: Chan Dada, Cheung Louis, Yu Candice)

Bleed With Me

Review preview for Bleed With Me

Whilst a less skilled filmmaker might have added a sexual connotation to this, Moses opts for something simpler and yet more intangible.

Jennie Kermode · 3.5 out of 5
During a winter getaway at an isolated cabin, a self-destructive young woman becomes convinced that her best friend is stealing her blood.

(Country: Canada; Year: 2021; Director: Amelia Moses; Writer: Amelia Moses; Stars: Lauren Beatty, Aris Tyros, Lee Marshall)

Full review See: Interview with Amelia Moses about Bloodthirsty

The Block Island Sound

Review preview for The Block Island Sound

Despite its initial openness and the length of time it takes for subtle clues to build into something on which theories can be built, it's dramatically consistent throughout and very effective at mood-building.

Jennie Kermode · 3.5 out of 5
A mysterious force lurks off the coast of Block Island, curiously influencing the surrounding town and wildlife.

(Country: US; Year: 2020; Director: Kevin McManus, Matthew McManus; Writer: Kevin McManus, Matthew McManus; Stars: Michaela McManus, Jim Cummings, Neville Archambault, Ryan O'Flanaghan, Jeremy Holm)

Full review

Clapboard Jungle (Clapboard Jungle: Surviving The Independent Film Business)

Review preview for Clapboard Jungle

Some of the participants are incredibly generous with their time and advice, and overall there is a welcoming atmosphere, and excitement at the prospect of engaging with new filmmakers.

Jennie Kermode · 4 out of 5
Following five years in the life and career of an independent filmmaker, supported by dozens of interviews, posing one question: how does an indie filmmaker survive in the current film business?

(Country: Canada; Year: 2020; Director: Justin McConnell; Stars: Guillermo del Toro, George A Romero, Justin Benson, Aaron Moorhead, Lloyd Kaufman, Brian Yuzna, Larry Fessenden, Frank Henenlotter, Uwe Boll, Mitch Davis)

Full review See: Interview with Justin McConnell about Clapboard Jungle

Class Action Park

Review preview for Class Action Park

The message seems to be: you have permission to enjoy yourself - just please, please don't try this at home.

Jennie Kermode · 4.5 out of 5
A documentary that focuses on a famously dangerous water park and its slew of injuries and crimes along with child safety concerns.

(Country: US; Year: 2020; Director: Seth Porges, Chris Charles Scott III; Stars: Johnny Knoxville, Chris Gethard, Jimmy Kimmel)

Full review

Climate Of The Hunter

Review preview for Climate Of The Hunter

Climate of The Hunter is a joyous exercise in filmmaking for fun, made with no apparent concern for bank books or balance sheets.

Jennie Kermode · 4 out of 5
Two sisters vie for the affections of a man who may or may not be a vampire.

(Country: US; Year: 2019; Director: Mickey Reece; Writer: Mickey Reece, John Selvidge; Stars: Ginger Gilmartin, Mary Buss, Ben Hall)

Full review See: Interview with Mickey Reece about Climate Of The Hunter

Cocoon (Kokon)

Nora grows through observation. Always at her big sister’s side, she drifts around the housing blocks and sees people being in love, being high, spiteful and tender. When Nora meets Romy, she suddenly feels trapped in her own skin, and she starts to recognize her true self.

(Country: Germany; Year: 2020; Director: Leonie Krippendorff; Stars: Lena Urzendowsky, Jella Haase, Lena Klenke, Elina Vildanova, Anja Schneider)

The Columnist (De Kuthoer)

Review preview for The Columnist

The magic of Ivo van Aart's film lies in its balance.

Jennie Kermode · 5 out of 5
Columnist and author Femke is flooded with anonymous nasty messages and death threats on social media. One day she has enough and decides to take revenge.

(Country: Netherlands; Year: 2019; Director: Ivo van Aart; Writer: Daan Windhorst; Stars: Genio de Groot, Katja Herbers, Rein Hofman, Bram van der Kelen)

Full review

Come True

Review preview for Come True

Has some smart observations to make.

Jennie Kermode · 3 out of 5
Plagued by disturbing dreams and unable to go home, a teenager is relieved to find help at a university sleep study, but unwittingly becomes the channel to a horrifying new discovery.

(Country: Canada; Year: 2020; Director: Anthony Scott Burns; Writer: Anthony Scott Burns, Daniel Weissenberger; Stars: Landon Liboiron, Skylar Radzion, Julia Sarah Stone)

Full review

Cosmic Candy

When a young girl's father suddenly disappears, her weirdo neighbour - an eccentric supermarket cashier - is forced to take care of her.

(Country: France, Greece; Year: 2019; Director: Rinio Dragasaki; Writer: Rinio Dragasaki, Katerina Kaklamani; Stars: Evi Dovelou, Dimitris Drosos, Maria Kitsou)

A Costume For Nicholas (Un Disfraz Para Nicolas)

Review preview for A Costume For Nicholas

There's a good deal here about the importance of family and friendship, imagination and courage, but the central take-away is an interesting one: that nightmares are simply part of life, not things we should try to avoid.

Jennie Kermode · 3.5 out of 5
Nicholas, a ten-year-old with Down Syndrome, has a grand collection of costumes his mother made him, but as he and his resentful and troubled cousin David find out, just because it’s make-believe doesn’t mean it’s not real.

(Country: Mexico; Year: 2020; Director: Eduardo Rivera; Writer: Miguel Ángel Uriegas)

Full review

Crazy Samurai Musashi

Review preview for Crazy Samurai Musashi

A dazzling piece of work.

Jennie Kermode · 5 out of 5
A 77-minute, one-scene, no-cut action sequence in which samurai Miyamoto defeats 588 enemies, one after the other.

(Country: Japan; Year: 2020; Director: Yûji Shimomura; Writer: Sion Sono; Stars: Tak Sakaguchi, Akihiko Sai)

Full review

The Curse Of Audrey Earnshaw (The Ballad Of Audrey Earnshaw)

Review preview for The Curse Of Audrey Earnshaw

Witchcraft is a difficult subject for today's filmmakers, not least because of the public's shifting sympathies, but Lee has found a story in which it is a perfect fit.

Jennie Kermode · 3.5 out of 5
A mother and daughter are suspected of witchcraft by their devout rural community.

(Country: Canada; Year: 2020; Director: Thomas Robert Lee; Writer: Thomas Robert Lee; Stars: Jared Abrahamson, Hannah Emily Anderson, Catherine Walker, Don McKellar)

Full review

The Day Of The Beast

Review preview for The Day Of The Beast

The film contains grotesque violence and slapstick humour in a nonetheless affectionate take on the horror genre.

Rebecca Naughten · 4 out of 5
A Basque priest discovers that the Antichrist is due to be born in Madrid on Christmas Day and sets out to avert the apocalypse with the help of a heavy metal fan and a television psychic.

(Country: Spain; Year: 1995; Director: Álex de la Iglesia; Writer: Jorge Guerricaechevarría, Álex de la Iglesia; Stars: Álex Angulo, Santiago Segura, Armando de Razza, Terele Pávez, Nathalie Seseña, Maria Grazia Cucinotta )

Full review

The Dark And The Wicked

Review preview for The Dark And The Wicked

What would it mean to live in a world where damnation was a very real and tangible prospect and yet, because of one's immutable nature, nothing one did could make a difference to one's fate?

Jennie Kermode · 3.5 out of 5
On a secluded farm in a nondescript rural town, a man is slowly dying. His family gathers to mourn, and soon a darkness grows, marked by waking nightmares and a growing sense that something evil is taking over the family.

(Country: US; Year: 2020; Director: Bryan Bertino; Writer: Bryan Bertino; Stars: Marin Ireland, Michael Abbott Jr., Xander Berkeley, Lynn Andrews, Julie Oliver-Touchstone, Tom Nowicki, Ella Ballentine, Mel Cowan, Mindy Raymond, Chris Doubek, Michael Zagst, Marin Ireland, Michael Abbott Jr., Xander Berkeley, Lynn Andrews)

Full review

Death Of Nintendo

Review preview for Death Of Nintendo

The adventure of teenage life is represented in all its glory.

Amber Wilkinson · 3 out of 5
Hunting ghosts to impress girls. Undergoing circumcision in order to finally become a man. A pop homage to puberty and adolescence.

(Country: Philippines, US; Year: 2020; Director: Raya Martin; Writer: Valerie Castillo Martinez; Stars: Noel Comia Jr., Kim Chloie Oquendo, John Vincent Servilla, Jiggerfelip Sementilla, Elijah Alejo)

Full review

Detention (Fanxiao)

Review preview for Detention

Cinematographer Li Hsien-chou deserves praise for the immersive way that he has recreated the atmosphere of the game.

Jennie Kermode · 3.5 out of 5
A high school student falls in love with the teacher who organises a secret book club in contravention of the White Terror martial law.

(Country: Taiwan; Year: 2019; Director: John Hsu; Writer: Shih-Keng Chien, Lyra Fu; Stars: Gingle Wang, Meng-Po Fu, Jing-Hua Tseng, Cecilia Choi, Hung Chang Chu)

Full review

Dinner In America

Review preview for Dinner In America

Adam Rehmeier's latest film arrives with the anarchic energy of a cherry bomb tossed into the bathroom toilet of Middle America.

Amber Wilkinson · 4 out of 5
An on-the-lam punk rocker and a young woman he meets by chance embark on an offbeat romance.

(Country: US; Year: 2020; Director: Adam Rehmeier; Writer: Adam Rehmeier; Stars: Kyle Gallner, Emily Skeggs, Lea Thompson, Hannah Marks, Mary Lynn Rajskub, Griffin Gluck, Nick Chinlund, Ryan Malgarini, Pat Healy, Nico Greetham, David Yow, Brittany Sheets, Brian Andrus, Robert Laenen, Ricky Wayne)

Full review See: Adam Rehmeier on control, the pandemic and dinner in America

La Dosis (The Dose)

Review preview for La Dosis

Portaluppi makes a great lead, fully invested in his character and easy to relate to no matter one's opinion of his choices.

Jennie Kermode · 2.5 out of 5
Marcos is an experienced nurse. He works in the night shift of a provincial private clinic. He is applied and professional but has a secret: in some extreme cases he applies euthanasia. Then he meets a handsome young nurse who kills patients on a whim.

(Country: Argentina; Year: 2020; Director: Martin Kraut; Writer: Martin Kraut; Stars: Carlos Portaluppi, Ignacio Rogers, Lorena Vega)

Full review

Feels Good Man

Review preview for Feels Good Man

They say a story can grow legs and, here, it does that and then hops off in surprising directions - taking us on a journey not just into the world of memes and their manipulation but also into considerations of 'ownership' and misappropriation.

Amber Wilkinson · 4 out of 5
When indie comic character Pepe the Frog becomes an unwitting icon of hate, his creator, artist Matt Furie, fights to bring Pepe back from the darkness and navigate America's cultural divide.

(Country: US; Year: 2020; Director: Arthur Jones; Writer: Giorgio Angelini, Matt Furie, Arthur Jones, Aaron Wickenden)

Full review

The Five Rules Of Success

An enterprising ex-convict overcomes tragedy by designing his own path to success within a society that failed him.

(Country: US; Year: 2020; Director: Orson Oblowitz; Writer: Orson Oblowitz; Stars: Santiago Segura, Isidora Goreshter, Roger Guenveur Smith, Jonathan Howard)

Fly Me To The Saitama (Tonde Saitama)

In a world where people are discriminated against based on their birthplace, a resident of the much-reviled Saitama Prefecture embarks on a revolutionary campaign to improve things for his home.

(Country: Japan; Year: 2019; Director: Hideki Takeuchi; Writer: Tomokazu Tokunaga, based on the manga by Mineo Maya; Stars: Kumiko Asô, Gackt, Yûsuke Iseya)

For The Sake Of Vicious

Review preview for For The Sake Of Vicious

For The Sake Of Vicious demonstrates that you don't need exotic settings to make a pulsing action film.

Jennie Kermode · 4 out of 5
An innocent nurse, a tortured maniac and a suspicious hostage face off against a wave of violent intruders as they descend upon their place of refuge on Halloween night.

(Country: Canada; Year: 2020; Director: Gabriel Carrer, Reese Eveneshen; Writer: Gabriel Carrer, Reese Eveneshen; Stars: Lora Burke, Nick Smyth, Colin Paradine, TJ Kennedy, James Fler, Erin Stuart)

Full review See: Roundtable with Gabriel Carrer and Reese Eveneshen about For The Sake Of Vicious

Free Country (Freies Land)

Review preview for Free Country

In keeping with his previous work, Alvart invites us to find little islands of hope and warmth in an otherwise grim scenario, only to undermine them.

Jennie Kermode · 4.5 out of 5
Two detectives investigate the disappearance of two teenage sisters in a remote town, where it seems like everyone has something to hide - including the bodies.

(Country: Germany; Year: 2020; Director: Christian Alvart; Stars: Trystan Pütter, Nurit Hirschfeld, Felix Kramer, Oleksandr Pecherytsia, Uwe Dag Berlin, Leonard Kunz)

Full review

Fried Barry

Review preview for Fried Barry

Achieves remarkable poignancy for something so irreverent.

Jennie Kermode · 4.5 out of 5
Barry is a drug-addled, abusive bastard who - after yet another bender - is abducted by aliens. Barry takes a backseat as an alien visitor assumes control of his body and takes it for a joyride through Cape Town.

(Country: South Africa; Year: 2020; Director: Ryan Kruger; Writer: Ryan Kruger; Stars: Gary Green, Brett Williams, Joey Cramer, Sean Cameron Michael, Steve Wall)

Full review See: Interview with Ryan Kruger about Fried Barry

Fugitive Dreams

Review preview for Fugitive Dreams

If Waiting For Godot's Vladimir and Estragon had a couple of American cousins, they might look a little like Mary and John.

Amber Wilkinson · 3.5 out of 5
In this allegorical road movie touching on issues of homelessness, mental health, and addiction, two lost souls embark across a dreamscape America. Their darkly strange journey confronts them with their traumatic pasts, and bonds them in compassion and love.

(Country: US; Year: 2020; Director: Jason Neulander; Writer: Jason Neulander, based on the play by Caridad Svich; Stars: April Matthis, Robbie Tann, Scott Shepherd, O-Lan Jones)

Full review See: Fugitive Dreams interview with director Jason Neulander

Fukuchan Of Fukufuku Flats (Fukufukusou No Fukuchan)

A painter is unexpectedly reunited with his lost love.

(Country: Japan; Year: 2014; Director: Yosuke Fujita; Writer: Yosuke Fujita; Stars: Yoshiyoshi Arakawa, Kanji Furutachi, Kami Hiraiwa)

The Funeral Home (La Funeraria, The Undertaker's Home)

Review preview for The Funeral Home

The film is literally very dark, which can be frustrating in the dramatic scenes but works well with the approach taken to special effects, adding to the sense of threat and general unpleasantness.

Jennie Kermode · 3 out of 5
An undertaker's dysfunctional family lives amongst coffins, wreaths and mischievous but nonviolent ghosts - but then a malevolent entity arrives.

(Country: Argentina; Year: 2019; Director: Mauro Iván Ojeda; Writer: Mauro Iván Ojeda; Stars: Luís Machín, Celeste Gerez, Camila Vaccarini)

Full review

Goddess Of The Fireflies (La Déesse Des Mouches à Feu)

Sex, drugs, love and death – for Cat it’s a year of first times and radical experimentation. With her parents in the midst of a nasty divorce, the 16-year-old seeks solace and liberation in ecstatic states.

(Country: Canada; Year: 2020; Director: Anaïs Barbeau-Lavalette; Stars: Kelly Depeault, Éléonore Loiselle, Caroline Néron, Normand D'Amour, Robin L'Houmeau)

Gunda

Review preview for Gunda

The language captured here speaks volumes. The animals’ faces, their reactions and movements, remind doubters of their sentient nature in every shot.

Anne-Katrin Titze · 5 out of 5
Pigs, cows and chickens. Intimate portraits of living beings who wind up dead on a plate every day.

(Country: Norway, US; Year: 2020; Director: Victor Kossakovsky)

Full review

Hail To The Deadites

Review preview for Hail To The Deadites

It's effective in capturing the passion of the fans and is likely to become a treasured collectible itself.

Jennie Kermode · 3.5 out of 5
A documentary about fans of the Evil Dead films.

(Country: Canada; Year: 2020; Director: Steve Villeneuve; Writer: Steve Villeneuve; Stars: Patricia Tallman, Ellen Sandweiss, Kassie Wesley DePaiva, Dan Hicks, Betsy Baker)

Full review

Hunted

Review preview for Hunted

Raw, immediate and unrelenting, Hunted is a film designed to speak directly to the wild part within each one of us.

Jennie Kermode · 4.5 out of 5
A woman who trusted the wrong man must use all her resources to survive - but the forest is on her side.

(Country: Belgium, France; Year: 2020; Director: Vincent Paronnaud; Writer: Vincent Paronnaud, Léa Pernollet; Stars: Lucie Debay, Arieh Worthalter, Ciaran O'Brien)

Full review

H Is For Happiness

Candice Phee has no end of enthusiasm when it comes to making other people happy.

(Country: Australia; Year: 2019; Director: John Sheedy; Stars: Daisy Axon, Wesley Patten, Richard Roxburgh, Emma Booth, Joel Jackson)

I WeirDo

Two OCD lovebirds, both obsessed with perpetual cleanliness, experience the trials of first love and the harsh reality of leaving their safety bubbles.

(Country: Taiwan; Year: 2020; Director: Ming-Yi Liao; Writer: Ming-Yi Liao; Stars: Nikki Hsieh, Austin Lin)

Jesters: The Game Changers

Deok Ho and his gang make ends meet by racketeering around the country. Han Myeong Hoe, King Sejo's right-hand man, thinks highly of their talents and encourages them to work for the country.

(Country: South Korea; Year: 2019; Director: Kim Joo-ho; Writer: Kim Joo-ho; Stars: Cho Jin-woong, Kim Seul-gi, Park Hee-soon)

Jumbo

Review preview for Jumbo

It's a far from perfect film, but it's a lot better than the critical consensus suggests, and at the heart of it is a fascinating character study.

Jennie Kermode · 3 out of 5
Jeanne, a shy young woman, works in an amusement park. Fascinated by carousels, she still lives at home with her mother. That’s when Jeanne meets Jumbo, the park’s new flagship attraction...

(Country: France, Luxembourg, Belgium; Year: 2020; Director: Zoé Wittock; Writer: Zoé Wittock; Stars: Noémie Merlant, Emmanuelle Bercot, Sam Louwyck)

Full review

Kakegurui (Elga: Kakegurui, Kakegurui The Movie)

Review preview for Kakegurui

Production designer Eri Sakushima and costume designer Atsuko Shiraishi have done a magnificent job of bringing the manga's striking imagery to life.

Jennie Kermode · 4 out of 5
At an elite school where everything is based around gambling, a dispute between factions creates an opportunity for an ambitious student to try and outsmart all the others.

(Country: Japan; Year: 2019; Director: Tsutomu Hanabusa; Writer: Tsutomu Hanabusa, based on the manga by Homura Kawamoto; Stars: Minami Hamabe, Mahiro Takasugi, Aoi Morikawa)

Full review

Kriya

Review preview for Kriya

Like most occult horror, Kriya will have its most profound effects on those raised within the minority traditions it addresses, or at least something close to them.

Jennie Kermode · 2.5 out of 5
A DJ encounters a beautiful woman at a club, goes back to her home, and finds himself thrust into a nightmare odyssey of ritual magic, patriarchal death customs and unusual family conflict.

(Country: India; Year: 2020; Director: Sidharth Srinivasan; Writer: Sidharth Srinivasan; Stars: Navjot Randhawa, Noble Luke, Avantika Akerkar)

Full review

Labyrinth Of Cinema

A group of young people travel back in time when they are in a cinema just before closing time. They witness deaths during the closing days of Japan's feudal times and on the battlefront in China before they are sent to Hiroshima just before the atomic bombing of the city.

(Country: Japan; Year: 2019; Director: Nobuhiko Ôbayashi; Writer: Nobuhiko Ôbayashi; Stars: Tadanobu Asano, Takuro Atsuki, Yoshihiko Hosoda, Takahito Hosoyomada)

Lapsis

Review preview for Lapsis

Part slowly unfolding mystery, part attack on exploitation in the gig economy, Lapsis is a character-driven drama with some smart comic moments.

Jennie Kermode · 4 out of 5
After a series of two-bit hustles and unsuccessful swindles, Ray takes a job in a strange new realm of the gig economy: trekking deep into the forest, pulling cable over miles of terrain to connect large, metal cubes that link together the new quantum trading market.

(Country: US; Year: 2020; Director: Noah Hutton; Writer: Noah Hutton; Stars: Dean Imperial, Madeline Wise, Babe Howard, Dora Madison, Ivory Aquino, James McDaniel, Frank Wood, Arliss Howard, Pooya Mohseni, Portia)

Full review

Legally Declared Dead

Review preview for Legally Declared Dead

Yuen had a career in advertising and making music videos prior to stepping up to film and perhaps that's why he's still better at creating memorable moments than structuring an entire movie.

Amber Wilkinson · 2.5 out of 5
When an insurance agent discovers the corpse of a young boy, he becomes convinced that the child's stepdad must have murdered him for the insurance money.

(Country: Hong Kong; Year: 2019; Director: Yuen Kim-wai; Writer: Yuen Kim-wai, based on the novel by Yusuke Kishi; Stars: Anthony Chau-Sang Wong, Kar Yan Lam, Carlos Chan)

Full review

The Legend Of Baron To'a

A young Tongan man grapples with his wrestling superstar father Baron To'a's legacy, both metaphorically and literally following in his deceased father's footsteps by fighting for the return of his dad's stolen championship belt.

(Country: New Zealand; Year: 2020; Director: Kiel McNaughton; Writer: John Argall; Stars: Uli Latukefu, Nathaniel Lees, Jay Laga'aia)

Life: Untitled

Review preview for Life: Untitled

Yamada uses popular comedy tropes to draw in viewers, then invites them to question what they just saw.

Jennie Kermode · 3.5 out of 5
A closed-room drama about the hardships and resilience of a group of young women working in the escort industry.

(Country: Japan; Year: 2020; Director: Kana Yamada; Writer: Kana Yamada; Stars: Sairi Ito, Reiko Kataoka, Aimi Satsukawa, Yuri Tsunematsu)

Full review

Los Conductos

Pinky is on the run. Ghosts are chasing him through an empty, apocalyptic city.

(Country: France, Colombia, Brazil; Year: 2020; Director: Camilo Restrepo; Writer: Camilo Restrepo; Stars: Fernando Úsaga Higuíta, Luis Felipe Lozano, Fernando Úsaga Higuíta, Luis Felipe Lozano)

Los Lobos

Young brothers Max and Leo dream of going to Disneyland, but having just emigrated from Mexico to the USA they first have to settle in their new homeland. And they have to stick to the seven rules their mother has set down for them.

(Country: Mexico; Year: 2019; Director: Samuel Kishi Leopo; Stars: Maximiliano Nájar Márquez, Leonardo Nájar Márquez, Martha Reyes Arias, Cici Lau, Johnson T Lau)

Lucky

Review preview for Lucky

Grant, who wrote the script as well as starring, submits completely to the logic of the role even as her character grows increasingly outraged by the absurdity of it all.

Jennie Kermode · 3.5 out of 5
A suburban woman fights to be believed as she finds herself stalked by a threatening figure who returns to her house night after night.

(Country: US; Year: 2020; Director: Natasha Kermani; Writer: Brea Grant; Stars: Brea Grant, Hunter C Smith, Kristina Klebe, Kausar Mohammed, Dhruv Uday Singh)

Full review See: Interview with Natasha Kermani about Lucky

Marygoround (Maryjki)

Review preview for Marygoround

Marygoround is the perfect showcase for Misiorowska.

Jennie Kermode · 4.5 out of 5
When a small town grocery workers gets hormone replacement therapy, she undergoes a sexual awakening - but with something darker lurking just under the surface.

(Country: Poland; Year: 2020; Director: Daria Woszek; Writer: Sylwester Piechura, Aleksandra Swierk; Stars: Grazyna Misiorowska, Janusz Chabior, Barbara Kurzaj, Magdalena Kolesnik)

Full review See: Interview with Daria Woszek about Marygoround

A Mermaid In Paris (Une Sirene A Paris)

Review preview for A Mermaid In Paris

You can get a way with a lot when you deliver it with this much panache.

Amber Wilkinson · 3 out of 5
A man rescues a mermaid and gradually falls in love with her.

(Country: France; Year: 2020; Director: Mathias Malzieu; Writer: Stéphane Landowski, Mathias Malzieu; Stars: Nicolas Duvauchelle, Marilyn Lima, Rossy de Palma, Romane Bohringer, Alexis Michalik)

Full review

Me And Me

Review preview for Me And Me

Jung's feature début is packed full of twists but succeeds because of its focus on character - something that seems to remain consistent even when the characters' circumstances have changed.

Jennie Kermode · 3.5 out of 5
A police detective investigating a tragedy in a small town wakes up one morning to find he’s no longer who he thought he was – or so the locals lead him to believe.

(Country: South Korea; Year: 2020; Director: Jung Jin-young; Writer: Jung Jin-young; Stars: Bae Soo-bin, Cha Su-yeon, Cho Jin-woong, Jung Hae-Kyun)

Full review

Milocrorze: A Love Story (Mirokurôze)

A mish-mash of past and present; A childlike man, a counsellor, and a one-eyed ronin are all connected.

(Country: Japan; Year: 2011; Director: Yoshimasa Ishibashi; Writer: Yoshimasa Ishibashi; Stars: Takayuki Yamada, Anna Ishibashi, Sayaka Fukita)

Minor Premise

Review preview for Minor Premise

What marks it out is Sridharan's mastery of an incredibly difficult acting task.

Jennie Kermode · 3.5 out of 5
Attempting to surpass his father's legacy, a reclusive neuroscientist becomes entangled in his own experiment, pitting ten fragments of his consciousness against each other.

(Country: US; Year: 2020; Director: Eric Schultz; Writer: Justin Moretto, Eric Schultz; Stars: Sathya Sridharan, Paton Ashbrook, Purva Bedi, Nikolas Kontomanolis)

Full review

Monster Seafood Wars

Review preview for Monster Seafood Wars

It is strongly advisable that you have sushi to hand.

Jennie Kermode · 2 out of 5
A young master at the Tsukiji Fish Market, accidentally drops his meal of mixed seafood into the Sumida River. Some time afterwards a gigantic mutated squid monster arises from the water.

(Country: Japan; Year: 2020; Director: Minoru Kawasaki; Writer: Minoru Kawasaki, Masakazu Migita; Stars: Yûya Asato, Ayano Yoshida Christie, Hide Fukumoto, Kei Grant, Hikomaro)

Full review

Morgana

Review preview for Morgana

This leads to a degree of unevenness in the film, and at times it meanders in odd directions, but overall Hess and Peppard do a good job of pulling it back together.

Jennie Kermode · 4 out of 5
A lonely housewife's plan to end it all takes an unexpected turn when her last hurrah begins a radical journey of sexual exploration and personal re-invention.

(Country: Australia; Year: 2019; Director: Josie Hess, Isabel Peppard; Writer: Josie Hess, Isabel Peppard; Stars: Morgana Muses, Scarlet Blissand, Anna Brownfield, Kim Cums)

Full review See: Interview with Josie Hess and Isabel Peppard about Morgana

The Mortuary Collection

Review preview for The Mortuary Collection

Brown gives the film the kind of iconic weight of past masters like Christopher Lee and Vincent Price.

Jennie Kermode · 4.5 out of 5
Sam inquires about a Help Wanted sign outside a funeral home and in her interview with owner Montgomery Dark, four gruesomely disturbing stories are told.

(Country: US; Year: 2019; Director: Ryan Spindell; Writer: Ryan Spindell; Stars: Clancy Brown, Caitlin Custer, Christine Kilmer)

Full review See: Interview with Ryan Spindell about The Mortuary Collection , Interview with Ryan Spindell about The Mortuary Collection

Mum, Mum, Mum (Mamá, Mamá, Mamá)

Erin has drowned and her sister Cleo has to come to terms with a changed reality. Memories and pain cut into the present – but so, too, do new experiences.

(Country: Argentina; Year: 2020; Director: Sol Berruezo Pichon-Rivière; Stars: Agustina Milstein, Chloé Cherchyk, Camila Zolezzi, Matilde Creimer Chiabrando, Siumara Castillo)

My Name Is Baghdad

With her hair short, trousers pulled up high and sweater tucked into the waistband, 17-year-old Baghdad from São Paulo spends her days skateboarding with her mates. But her world of swag and freedom is also tainted by sexism and violence.

(Country: Brazil; Year: 2020; Director: Caru Alves de Souza; Stars: Grace Orsato, Karina Buhr, Marie Maymone, Helena Luz, Nick Batista)

My Punch-Drunk Boxer

A former professional boxer who has received a devastating diagnosis returns to the ring to pick up what made him famous in the first place: a unique style known as ‘Pansori boxing’ – utilising the flow and rhythms of traditional Korean drumming.

(Country: South Korea; Director: Jung Hyuk-ki; Stars: Jun-yong Choi, Tae-goo Eom, Hee-won Kim)

No Longer Human (Ningen Shikkaku: Dazai Osamu To 3-nin No Onnatachi)

A biopic about the novelist Osamu Dazai.

(Country: Japan; Year: 2019; Director: Mika Ninagawa; Writer: Kaeko Hayafune; Stars: Yûdai Chiba, Tatsuya Fujiwara, Kengo Kôra, Rie Miyazawa)

The Oak Room

Review preview for The Oak Room

Few films have ever depicted the art of storytelling as brilliantly as this.

Jennie Kermode · 4.5 out of 5
During a raging snowstorm, a drifter returns home to the blue-collar bar located in the remote Canadian town where he was born. When he offers to settle an old debt with a grizzled bartender by telling him a story, the night's events quickly spin into a dark tale of mistaken identities, double-crosses and shocking violence.

(Country: Canada; Year: 2020; Director: Cody Calahan; Writer: Peter Genoway; Stars: RJ Mitte, Peter Outerbridge, Ari Millen, Nicholas Campbell, Martin Roach)

Full review See: Interview with Cody Calahan about The Oak Room

The Old Man Movie (The Old Man: The Movie, Vanamehe Film)

A couple of city kids are dropped off for the summer at the grandfather’s farm for a taste of country living, but when his precious cow escapes, a hair-raising hellride of back-country horrors, gross-out gags, and rural surrealism breaks loose.

(Country: Estonia; Year: 2019; Director: Oskar Lehemaa, Mikk Mägi; Writer: Oskar Lehemaa, Mikk Mägi; Stars: Märt Avandi, Jaagup Kreem, Mart Kukk, Jan Uuspõld)

Paper Tigers

Review preview for Paper Tigers

Bao Tran is as creative with his characters' weaknesses as with their strengths.

Jennie Kermode · 3.5 out of 5
Three kung fu prodigies have grown into washed-up, middle-aged men, now one kick away from pulling their hamstrings. But when their master is murdered, they must juggle their dead-end jobs, dad duties, and old grudges to avenge his death.

(Country: US; Year: 2020; Director: Quoc Bao Tran; Writer: Quoc Bao Tran; Stars: Alain Uy, Ron Yuan, Raymond Ma, Mykel Shannon Jenkins, Matthew Page, Yuji Okumoto, Yoshi Sudarso)

Full review See: Interview with Bao Tran about Paper Tigers

Patrick (De Patrick)

Review preview for Patrick

Tim Mielants's quirky comedy is shot through with melancholy and holds a deep affection for its earnest hero even when he seems to be the butt of everybody's jokes.

Jennie Kermode · 3.5 out of 5
Patrick lives with his parents on a naturist campsite. When his dad dies and he finds himself in charge he has other things on his mind... namely a quest for his lost hammer.

(Country: Belgium; Year: 2019; Director: Tim Mielants; Writer: Tim Mielants, Benjamin Sprengers; Stars: Jemaine Clement, Kevin Janssens, Hannah Hoekstra, Jan Bijvoet, Bouli Lanners, Pierre Bokma, Jean-Benoît Ugeux, Frank Vercruyssen, Katelijne Damen, Peter Gorissen, Tine Van den Wyngaert, Josse De Pauw, Janne Desmet, Ariane Van Vliet, Louis van der Waal)

Full review

Perdida

A policewoman, whose childhood friend disappeared in Patagonia years ago, starts a new search to find answers and soon finds her own life in danger.

(Country: Argentina, Spain; Year: 2018; Director: Jorge Michel Grau; Writer: Jorge Maestro, based on the book by Florencia Etcheves; Stars: Mara Alberto, Carlos Alcantára, Juan Ignacio Cane)

Project Dreams - How To Build Mazinger Z's Hangar

Review preview for Project Dreams - How To Build Mazinger Z's Hangar

There's a lot of talk here about actual engineering, presented in such a way that viewers are able to solve problems alongside the characters even if they are armed only with imagination and not much expertise.

Jennie Kermode · 3.5 out of 5
An engineering team from the Maeda Corporation is ordered to draft blueprints for the fictional storage facility for giant robot Mazinger Z.

(Country: Japan; Year: 2020; Director: Tsutomu Hanabusa; Stars: Riki Hona, Yukino Kishii, Keita Machida, Mahiro Takasugi, Yusuke Uechi)

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The Prophet And The Space Aliens

The story of Rael, who established a religion after allegedly being kidnapped by aliens.

(Country: Israel, Austria, South Africa; Year: 2020; Director: Yoav Shamir; Writer: Yoav Shamir; Stars: Claude Vorilhon)

PVT Chat

Jack is an internet gambler living in NYC who becomes fixated on Scarlet - a cam girl from San Francisco. His obsession reaches a boiling point when fantasy materialises in reality and Jack sees Scarlet on a rainy Chinatown street.

(Country: US; Year: 2020; Director: Ben Hozie; Writer: Ben Hozie; Stars: Julia Fox, Peter Vack, Buddy Duress)

The Reckoning

Review preview for The Reckoning

The various torture devices used here are all real but lose much of their horrific impact because the film is so over the top.

Jennie Kermode · 2 out of 5
A period thriller set in 1665 during the Great Plague and subsequent witch hunts.

(Country: UK; Year: 2020; Director: Neil Marshall; Writer: Edward Evers-Swindell, Charlotte Kirk; Stars: Sean Pertwee, Charlotte Kirk, Steven Waddington, Joe Anderson, Ian Whyte)

Full review See: Interview with Neil Marshall and Charlotte Kirk about The Reckoning

Ròm (Rom)

Review preview for Ròm

A film you should see as soon as you can, on the biggest screen you can.

Jennie Kermode · 4.5 out of 5
Street kids in Ho Chi Minh City make a living selling lottery tickets and divining lucky numbers.

(Country: Vietnam; Year: 2019; Director: Tran Thanh Huy; Writer: Tran Thanh Huy; Stars: Jayvee Mai The Hiep, Tran Anh Khoa, Cat Phuong)

Full review

Sanzaru

As dementia engulfs her employer, a fragile home health aide begins to question her own sanity.

(Country: US; Year: 2020; Director: Xia Magnus; Writer: Xia Magnus; Stars: Aina Dumlao, Justin Arnold, Matthew Albrecht)

Savage State

When the American Civil War breaks out, a family of french settlers must abandon their Missouri home to flee and go back to Paris. They're escorted by a former mercenary whose troubled past soon catches up with him.

(Country: France, Canada, Belgium; Year: 2019; Director: David Perrault; Writer: David Perrault; Stars: Alice Isaaz, Kevin Janssens, Déborah François, Bruno Todeschini, Constance Dollé)

Shakespeare's Sh*tstorm (Shakespeare's Shitstorm)

Review preview for Shakespeare's Sh*tstorm

Kaufman remains one of the sharpest interpreters of Shakespeare out there..

Jennie Kermode · 4 out of 5
Troma takes on The Tempest, against the backdrop of the US opioid crisis.

(Country: US; Year: 2020; Director: Lloyd Kaufman; Writer: Brandon Bassham, Lloyd Kaufman, Gabriel Friedman and Frazer Brown, based on the play by William Shakespeare; Stars: Lloyd Kaufman, Erin Patrick Miller, Abraham Sparrow, Kate McGarrigle, Amanda Flowers)

Full review

Sisters In The End Of The World (Irmã)

Two sisters travel to southern Brazil in search of their father. On the way, they see mysterious beings, fossils and rare natural events.

(Country: Brazil; Year: 2020; Director: Luciana Mazeto, Vinícius Lopes; Stars: Maria Galant, Anaís Grala Wegner, Felipe Kannenberg, Marina Mendo, Nicholas Perlin)

Slaxx

Review preview for Slaxx

A consistently smart, well-structured film with well-drawn characters, superb performances and a serious point to make.

Jennie Kermode · 4 out of 5
When a possessed pair of jeans begins to kill the staff of a trendy clothing store, it is up to Libby, an idealistic young salesclerk, to stop its bloody rampage.

(Country: Canada; Year: 2020; Director: Elza Kephart; Writer: Patricia Gomez, Elza Kephart; Stars: Romane Denis, Brett Donahue, Sehar Bhojani, Kenny Wong)

Full review See: Interview with Elza Kephart about Slaxx

Sleep (Schlaf)

Review preview for Sleep

One doesn't need to look far beyond the surface to understand that something is amiss.

Jennie Kermode · 3.5 out of 5
Marlene, a woman plagued by horrific dreams, suffers a breakdown in a remote village. As her daughter Mona follows, she comes upon a well-kept family secret and an old curse that ultimately threatens her life - a never-ending nightmare.

(Country: Germany; Year: 2020; Director: Michael Venus; Writer: Thomas Friedrich, Michael Venus; Stars: Gro Swantje Kohlhof, Sandra Hüller, August Schmölzer)

Full review

Special Actors

Review preview for Special Actors

Special Actors is full of twists and turns but resolves everything nicely in the end.

Jennie Kermode · 3.5 out of 5
An amateur actor with a nervous condition that makes him faint at the slightest sign of stress joins an agency which employs actors to stage real-life situations. Being a stand-in at a wedding or a funeral is one thing, but soon he must infiltrate a cult.

(Country: Japan; Year: 2019; Director: Shin'ichirô Ueda; Writer: Shin'ichirô Ueda; Stars: Nozomi de Lencquesaing, Aver Hamilton II, Hayate Masao)

Full review

Survival Skills

Survival Skills is a lost training video from the 1980s. In it, Jim, the perfect policeman, gets in over his head when he tries to resolve a domestic violence case outside the law.

(Country: US; Year: 2020; Director: Quinn Armstrong; Writer: Quinn Armstrong; Stars: Stacy Keach, Vayu O'Donnell, Spencer Garrett)

Tezuka's Barbara

An author develops a near-insane obsession with a mysterious woman.

(Country: Japan, UK, Germany; Year: 2019; Director: Makoto Tezuka; Writer: Hisako Kurosawa, based on the manga by Osamu Tezuka; Stars: Gorô Inagaki, Fumi Nikaidô, Kiyohiko Shibukawa)

Time Of Moulting (Fellwechselzeit)

Review preview for Time Of Moulting

Each of the girls who plays Stephanie is remarkable in a different way.

Jennie Kermode · 5 out of 5
Ignored by her mentally ill mother and largely absent father, a young girl retreats into an inner world of barbaric fantasies, with brutal consequences.

(Country: Germany; Year: 2020; Director: Sabrina Mertens; Writer: Sabrina Mertens; Stars: Zelda Espenschied, Miriam Schiweck, Freya Kreutzkam, Bernd Wolf)

Full review See: Interview with Sabrina Mertens and Jan Fabi about Time Of Moulting (Fellwechselzeit)

Tiny Tim - King For A Day

A documentary portrait of one of the oddest careers in showbiz.

(Country: Croatia, Norway, Sweden, US; Year: 2020; Director: Johan von Sydow; Writer: Martin Daniel; Stars: Richard Barone, Weird A Yankovic, Wavy Gravy, Tommy James, Konas Mekas, DA Pennabaker)

The Travelling Cat Chronicles

A young man searches for a new home for his beloved cat.

(Country: Japan; Year: 2018; Director: Koichiro Miki; Writer: Emiko Hiramatsu; Stars: Sota Fukushi, Yuko Takeuchi, Mitsuki Takahata)

Undergods

Review preview for Undergods

The dystopian stories in Spanish director Chino Moya's feature debut nest within one another like a series of Russian dolls - dolls that have been carved by someone with a soft-spot for JG Ballard.

Amber Wilkinson · 3 out of 5
An otherworldly journey through a Europe in decline - a collection of darkly humorous, fantasy tales about ill-fated characters and doomed fortune.

(Country: UK, Belgium, Estonia, Serbia, Sweden; Year: 2020; Director: Chino Moya; Writer: Chino Moya; Stars: Johann Myers, Géza Röhrig, Michael Gould, Hayley Carmichael, Ned Dennehy, Khalid Abdalla, Eric Godon, Tanya Reynolds, Tadhg Murphy, Jan Bijvoet, Kate Dickie, Sam Louwyck, Adrian Rawlins, Slavko Labovic, Jonathan Case)

Full review See: Chino Moya on neoliberal dystopias and fear of the other in Undergods

Unearth

Review preview for Unearth

Overall, the story is slight, but Lee Eun-ah's atmospheric cinematography enables Unearth to punch above its weight.

Jennie Kermode · 3.5 out of 5
The relationship between two neighbouring farm families is strained when one of them chooses to lease land to an oil and gas company - and something long dormant and terrifying, deep beneath the earth's surface, is released.

(Country: US; Year: 2020; Director: John C Lyons, Dorota Swies; Writer: Kelsey Goldberg, John C Lyons; Stars: Adrienne Barbeau, Marc Blucas, Brooke Sorenson, Allison McAtee, PJ Marshall, Rachel McKeon)

Full review

Vertigo

A young woman has climbed high up the company ladder, but her life is more precarious than it seems and her anxieties begin manifesting as intense vertigo. Then she meets a window cleaner.

(Country: South Korea; Year: 2020; Director: Jeon Gye-soo; Writer: Jeon Gye-soo; Stars: Chun Woo-hee)

Voices In The Wind (Kaze No Denwa)

Eight years after the devastating tsunami, the wounds it left in Japan have still not healed. In her touching search for answers, Haru sets out on a long, eventful journey to her home town, where she lost her family in the flood.

(Country: Japan; Year: 2020; Director: Nobuhiro Suwa; Stars: Serena Motola, Hidetoshi Nishijima, Toshiyuki Nishida, Tomokazu Miura, Makiko Watanabe)

Wildland (Kød & Blod)

Review preview for Wildland

Well realised and engaging, with impressive production design.

Jennie Kermode · 3 out of 5
After her mother’s death, Ida moves in with her aunt and cousins... whose ethics are dubious.

(Country: Denmark; Year: 2020; Director: Jeanette Nordahl; Writer: Ingeborg Topsøe; Stars: Sidse Babett Knudsen, Elliott Crosset Hove, Carla Philip Røder, Sofie Torp, Henrik Vestergaard, Besir Zeciri, Sandra Guldberg Kampp, Joachim Fjelstrup, Rikke Bilde, Omar Shargawi, Benjamin Kitter, Maria Esther Lemvigh, Marie Knudsen Fogh, Frida Sejersen)

Full review

A Witness Out Of The Blue (Fan Zui Xian Chang)

Review preview for A Witness Out Of The Blue

Not everything works all the time but Fung's attention to character detail pays off, so that they carry you through the weaker moments of the story.

Amber Wilkinson · 3.5 out of 5
A bungling detective investigates a jewel heist.

(Country: Hong Kong; Year: 2019; Director: Chi Keung Fung; Writer: Chi Keung Fung; Stars: Louis Koo, Jessica Hester Hsuan, Louis Cheung)

Full review

Woman Of The Photographs

Review preview for Woman Of The Photographs

For all its elegance, there's a neediness and an inherent dishonesty about it which continually distract from the development of its central ideas.

Jennie Kermode · 3.5 out of 5
A misogynistic photographer discovers for the first time in his life the joys of loving a woman, by helping her in her perceptions of herself with his retouching skills.

(Country: Japan; Year: 2020; Director: Takeshi Kushida; Stars: Hideki Nagai, Itsuki Otaki, Toshiaki Inomata, Toki Koinuma)

Full review

Wotakoi: Love Is Hard For Otaku (Wotaku ni koi wa muzukashii)

Review preview for Wotakoi: Love Is Hard For Otaku

By far the most brazen piece of fan service at Fantasia 2020.

Jennie Kermode · 2 out of 5
When two childhood friends find themselves working in the same office, romance is on the cards, but it's complicated by their various forms of geekery.

(Country: Japan; Year: 2020; Director: Yûichi Fukuda; Writer: Yûichi Fukuda; Stars: Mitsuki Takahata, Kento Yamazaki, Nanao, Takumi Saitoh, Kento Kaku, Maaya Uchida)

Full review

You Cannot Kill David Arquette

Review preview for You Cannot Kill David Arquette

Arquette’s personal journey reaffirms that wrestling may be one of the most consistently misunderstood sports in the history of Hollywood and beyond.

Stephanie Brown · 4 out of 5
Actor David Arquette attempts a rocky return to the sport that stalled his promising Hollywood career.

(Country: US; Year: 2020; Director: David Darg, Price James; Writer: David Darg, Price James; Stars: David Arquette, Patricia Arquette, Courteney Cox, Ric Flair)

Full review

Yummy

Review preview for Yummy

There's some gory comedy here that will appeal to a certain sort of genre fan, including one of the best uses for intestines since Machete.

Jennie Kermode · 2.5 out of 5
When a young man releases a woman he finds strapped to a gurney in a shade plastic surgery clinic, he doesn't realise that he's unleashing a zombie plague.

(Country: Belgium; Year: 2019; Director: Lars Damoiseaux; Writer: Lars Damoiseaux, Eveline Hagenbeek; Stars: Maaike Neuville, Bart Hollanders, Benjamin Ramon, Clara Cleymans, Annick Christiaens, Eric Godon)

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