Skip to main content

Festival coverage

Fantasia International Film Festival

5 August – 25 August 2021

Glasshouse
Glasshouse

Held online with a smattering of live events happening where pandemic precautions permitted, 2021's Fantasia celebrated a very special occasion: its 25th birthday. It did so with a fantastic line-up of films, and was preceded by a special screening of James Gunn's The Suicide Squad live in Montreal. It closed with the latest work by Takashii Miike.

As well as films, there were talks on transgression, final girls, the rise of indigenous horror, and more, with special guests and the opportunity for audience members to ask questions.

The festival ran from 5 to 25 August.

Other years (9)

Box office and information

Latest reviews

  • On The 3rd Day
    Review preview for On The 3rd Day

    Weirdly, this spectacular mess of a film delivers, for those patient enough to get to them, a few moments of brilliance.

    Jennie Kermode · 2 out of 5
    After a car crash which damages her memory, a woman desperate to find her son goes looking for answers.
  • Fortune Favours Lady Nikuko
    Review preview for Fortune Favours Lady Nikuko

    Fortune Favors Lady Nikuko has a unique charm.

    Jennie Kermode · 3.5 out of 5
    The most ordinary people and places can be quite extraordinary.
  • Stanleyville
    Review preview for Stanleyville

    Its various elements gradually fit together to create something which is unsettling in all the right ways, yet somehow sweet at the same time.

    Jennie Kermode · 4 out of 5
    One day, an ordinary office worker throws her purse and life away and joins an enigmatic contest to win a car.
  • We're All Going to The World's Fair
    Review preview for We're All Going to The World's Fair

    This film is long overdue.

    Jennie Kermode · 4.5 out of 5
    A teenage girl becomes immersed in an online role-playing game.
  • The Spine Of Night
    Review preview for The Spine Of Night

    The central problem here is a common one in fantasy epics: it does go on a bit.

    Jennie Kermode · 3 out of 5
    In this ultra-violent fantasy epic, ancient dark magic falls into sinister hands and unleashes ages of suffering onto mankind. A group of heroes from different eras and cultures must band together in order to defeat it at all costs
  • Wild Men
    Review preview for Wild Men

    Underscoring this film are potent themes about masculinity, identity and self-expression. There is also a fair bit of action, and not just of the mountain adventure variety.

    Jennie Kermode · 4.5 out of 5
    A man in the throes of a mid-life crisis who has decided to try to live like his Viking ancestors unwittingly befriends a robber on the run.
  • Love, Life And Goldfish
    Review preview for Love, Life And Goldfish

    Not only are there goldfish emblems absolutely everywhere, but the lives of fish and humans sometimes blur.

    Jennie Kermode · 3.5 out of 5
    Makoto Kashiba is an elite bank clerk and works for a big bank at its Tokyo HQ. Due to a minor mistake, he is demoted to a small branch office in a country town. He is devastated by his situation. There, he meets beautiful Yoshino Ikoma, who runs a goldfish scooping store. Makoto falls in love with her at first sight.
  • Strawberry Mansion
    Review preview for Strawberry Mansion

    Simple tricks like painting sets pink and amassing large piles of low cost everyday objects enable the filmmakers to create a distinctive fantasy landscape on a very low budget.

    Jennie Kermode · 4 out of 5
    In a world where the government records and taxes dreams, an unassuming dream auditor gets swept up in a cosmic journey through the life and dreams of an ageing eccentric named Bella. Together, they must find a way back home.
  • Catch The Fair One
    Review preview for Catch The Fair One

    It’s astonishing to realise that this is Reis’ first screen role.

    Jennie Kermode · 4 out of 5
    A Native American boxer embarks on the fight of her life when she goes in search of her missing sister.
  • Poupelle Of Chimney Town
    Review preview for Poupelle Of Chimney Town

    The landscape within which all this takes place is spectacular: a richly imagined, fully fledged fantasy world.

    Jennie Kermode · 4 out of 5
    One Halloween night, a deliveryman accidentally drops the heart he is supposed to deliver. He cannot find the heart in the smoke and gives up. The heart continues to beat where it fell in the town of chimneys.

A–Z of Fantasia International Film Festival 2021 reviews

Features

News