Fantasia International Film Festival — A–Z of films

Ireland is consistently knocking it out of the park with this sort of work, and other countries must be looking on in clownish envy.

The performances are impressive all round.

Young Lister is a marvel, showing a remarkably sophisticated understanding of what her role requires as Lila, having suffered significant brain damage, gradually begins to require verbal and motor skills.

What emerges is thoughtful and deeply humane, whilst retaining that sense of otherness essential to folkloric tales.

A poignant study of the grieving process, Booger uses horror elements to explore disorientation and the acute insecurities that emerge from being suddenly alone.

Though aimed at children, it’s so beautiful that viewers of all ages will find themselves enraptured.

There is a good deal...to the plot, but it is never allowed to slow down this pacey and frequently gory thriller.

The special itself may exert a certain fascination but this documentary reveals that there was much more going on behind the scenes.

For all its faults, the film is pretty, and that will probably be enough for some viewers.

Austin Jennings builds up his story from little details whilst viewers are gripped by the tension between the three leads.

The satire isn’t subtle but has to balance the fact that much of what we see is essentially propaganda created by the vampire elite.

Cinematographer Thomas McNamara uses high ceilings and long shadows to give the subtle impression that the house is getting bigger and Suzanne smaller by comparison.

The tension is masterfully handled in a revenge thriller narrative which also poses difficult ethical questions.

The basketball sequences grab the eye as firmly as the players grasp the ball.

For all their awfulness, its characters are endearing and even relatable.

It strives to create an atmosphere of discomfort and paranoia. It achieves the former.

What’s remarkable is that director Mike Cheslik manages to sustain this for so long.

It’s a film deeply informed by love of cinema, beautifully photographed even when all it’s depicting is feet running on a wooden surface or inexplicable shots of cabbages.

A superior quality horror film which amply justifies the hype it has attracted on the festival circuit, It Lives Inside is not to be missed.

Tsukahara creates an immersive and vivid world both in the present and the past.

It’s Dastmalchian’s light touch which really makes it work.

Campbell is perfectly cast. She has sufficient physicality to make one believe that she could cope with this demanding job, yet there’s a nerviness about her whole body reminiscent of prey animals.

As engaging as it is ridiculous.

Using very simple props, Obasi constructs a whole world in this small coastal location.

In the end, the film succeeds not so much because of its thriller elements as because it’s an interesting character piece.

Despite the speed of the action and the variety of locations across which the film takes place, not a single shot feels rushed or incidental.

It’s a slight thing but nicely delivered.

The primary impression which you’re likely to take away from the film is admiration for its moments of startling beauty and the romantic quality which it achieves amidst all of that violence.

The complex relationship between power, status, duty and personal desire lends gravity to what might otherwise be interpreted as a fairly simple fairy tale.

The use of sparse but spacious landscapes enhances both story and themes, with small farms and towns clinging to the earth in defiance of the elements, humble before distant mountains.

Crucially, there is enough here that doesn’t depend on in-jokes to give it some broader entertainment value.

Perpetrator heralds the joyous rising up of a regiment of monstrous women.

Full of beautifully observed details, it’s as sensual as it is provocative, and makes room for its characters to unfurl naturally.

It harks back to the matinee series which used to run in cinemas in pre-television days, and to the excitement of living in a world which still held undiscovered lands.

Raging Grace is a Gothic thriller with the potential to appeal to a wide audience. It’s also a fierce critique of the racism embedded in a culture which still treats it as normal for some perfectly capable people to be waited on by others, and to treat them as less than human in the process.

It is an assured and relentless exposé.

It’s nice to see a film which problematises familiar, overly comfortable assumptions about the sociological response to new technologies, and which doesn’t insist that babies need to be thrown out with bathwater.

Red Hare's ... repertoire of tricks is rather limited but he’s wonderful at conveying emotion, and Yang uses this to great effect

Yamaguchi and his regular writer, Makoto Ueda, have such a deep understanding of their characters that it’s the emotional timeline, rather than the physical one, that becomes the subject of real concern.

Wexler makes a number of interesting directorial choices.

A film which is forensic in its approach yet also finds room for fascinating explorations of character.

With brightly coloured costumes, high speed motorbikes and a fondness for mid-air combat, the film has a very distinctive style and never lets self-consciousness get in its way.

There’s a vast amount going on in Alex Schaad’s ambitious film.

The film wonderfully captures the dynamics of workplace small talk.

It feels like a natural successor to Gordon’s work, and a film of which he would have been proud.

Brilliantly paced and uncomfortable in all the right ways, Sympathy For The Devil is a triumph.

An enjoyable way to spend two hours.

The reason the film works so well is in its well-established teenage relationships - with the Philippous showing the attraction of being in with the cool kids and that the dangers this presents are particularly acute for those, like Mia, who are already emotionally vulnerable or, like Riley, desperate to be included in an older peer group.

Varvat’s performance is intense and sincere.

A deceptively smart, layered piece of work.

The writer-director team of Mathieu Neart and Stéphan Castang shows a repeated willingness to take risks which really elevate the film.

Elegantly styled and smoothly delivered, the film takes a hard look at corporate culture.

A beautifully crafted piece of period Gothic.

Wilson is superb. Brilliant sound design and editing layers the noise we hear so that most viewers will be able to understand its effects without having to suffer to that degree themselves. Her performance does the rest.

Though the film naturally relies heavily on symbolism, and viewers won’t be surprised to learn that it began life as a play, the performances are fully committed and it has an appropriate degree of emotional heft.

The film provides a beacon of hope to those who are struggling elsewhere.