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Festival coverage

Fantaspoa

9 April – 27 April 2025

The 21st edition of South America's biggest genre film festival returns to Porto Alegre with a packed line-up of fantasy, science-fiction, horror and more. With films from 61 countries screening, it includes 11 world premières. As always, there's also a great collection of retrospectives, including a centenary screening of Lon Chaney Jr silent classic The Phantom of the Opera.

The festival runs from 9 to 27 April.

View complete schedule

Other years (4)

Box office and information

Latest reviews

  • Rich Flu
    Review preview for Rich Flu

    There is certainly some pleasing schadenfreude, but it doesn’t have the nerve to go all out, and ultimately it’s not as clever as it thinks it is.

    Jennie Kermode · 3 out of 5
    A strange disease threatens to kill anyone with any sort of fortune.
  • Jimmy And Stiggs
    Review preview for Jimmy And Stiggs

    The pace is so manic, the action so intense, that it’s easy to be fully immersed in Jimmy’s experience.

    Jennie Kermode · 3.5 out of 5
    A filmmaker spirals into an out of control bender, during which he comes to believe that he has been abducted by aliens. Fearing they’ll come back, he contacts an old friend to help him gear up for war.
  • Burning
    Review preview for Burning

    Burning is not just a film about getting to the truth – it’s a film about the construction of truth.

    Jennie Kermode · 4.5 out of 5
    In a suburban village, a house belonging to a young family who recently lost their firstborn is burning. Neighbours say that the house bears the mark of a curse, as no one understands how the fire started, and eyewitnesses to the incident each have entirely different versions of what happened.
  • Fucktoys
    Review preview for Fucktoys

    Any number of films try to sell themselves on inviting us to ogle outsiders like these. The difference with Fucktoys is that it’s made by people who actually get it.

    Jennie Kermode · 4.5 out of 5
    A bubblegum grindhouse adventure through sunny and romantic Trashtown, USA.
  • AJ Goes To The Dog Park
    Review preview for AJ Goes To The Dog Park

    It’s a decidedly quirky tale of the sort that will infuriate some viewers, who will feel they’ve been egregiously ripped off – but if you like that sort of thing, you’ll be in your element.

    Jennie Kermode · 4 out of 5
    A man who finds contentment in the simple pleasures - buttered toast, bicycle rides and walking his dog - discovers that his beloved dog park has been transformed into a 'blog park', a digital sanctuary where youths gather to open their laptops. He feels compelled to take action, to set things right.
  • Lotus
    Review preview for Lotus

    Flitting from scene to scene with an increasing disregard for the constraints of logic, the film beguiles hesitant viewers with its gorgeous sets and costumes.

    Jennie Kermode · 4 out of 5
    A silent film director forms a bond with a woman who has a hidden agenda.
  • Girl America
    Review preview for Girl America

    Exploitation, abuse and neglect are only a part of the story. There is also a fearless pursuit of joy.

    Jennie Kermode · 4.5 out of 5
    A girl in an orphanage employs fantasy as a means of escape.
  • The Severed Sun
    Review preview for The Severed Sun

    Right and wrong are blurry concepts here. What might mean justice for an individual could be devastating to the community.

    Jennie Kermode · 3 out of 5
    Magpie lives in an isolated church community ruled over by her father, The Pastor. When a man is murdered, paranoia sets in and people start to whisper about a strange 'Beast' that lives in the forest.
  • The Instinct
    Review preview for The Instinct

    Pereira and Cayo could probably carry a “two-hander” – which The Instinct is – with no trouble, but only if they had something real in their characters to work with

    Marko Stojiljkovic · 2 out of 5
    A home invasion thriller featuring a dog trainer trying to modify a human's brain.
  • Discordia
    Review preview for Discordia

    It’s a film with big ambitions and limited means.

    Jennie Kermode · 2.5 out of 5
    An aging lumberjack lives all alone in desperate, cursed woods. Fifteen years ago, a mysterious tribe killed his wife and kidnapped his daughter. For years, he traveled the continent to find and rescue her, in vain. Years later, she is the one who finds him. But she was followed.

A–Z of Fantaspoa 2025 reviews

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