Fantastic Fest

Latest reviews

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  The People's Joker

  Review preview for The People's Joker

  It’s an anarchic mess – the sort of film the Joker himself might have made, and that’s part of its triumph.

  An aspiring clown grappling with her gender identity combats a fascistic caped crusader.
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  Everyone Will Burn

  Review preview for Everyone Will Burn

  A treat for the eyes, if not the ears.

  In a small village in Leon, Spain, María José prepares to end her life after failing to get over the suicide of her bullied son years before. Everything changes when she receives a visit from Lucía, a strange little girl who could be connected to a local legend about stopping an impending apocalypse.
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  The Elderly

  Review preview for The Elderly

  Cerezo and Gómez remind us that we are living through some of the strangest days our world has known right now.

  An octogenarian, who enters into a state of dementia after the sudden suicide of his wife, sparks a series of paranormal events that will put his family's lives at risk.
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  Nightmare

  Review preview for Nightmare

  Beautifully acted, the film by turns charms and repulses its audience, all the way to its abrupt and shocking ending.

  After moving into a new apartment with her boyfriend, a woman is plagued by bad dreams which seem to spill over into waking life. Is she losing her mind, or finding it?
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  Medusa Deluxe

  Review preview for Medusa Deluxe

  While the choreography of all this is audacious, Hardiman is equally interested in dialogue. He loves an intricately worked sentence as much as a finely coiffed barnet.

  A murder mystery set in a competitive hairdressing competition.
• 
  A Life On The Farm

  Review preview for A Life On The Farm

  The film is often more interesting as a study of privileged people’s beliefs than as a portrait of Charles himself.

  A strange story from Somerset, England about a filmmaking farmer and the inspiring legacy of his long-lost home movies.
• 
  The Strange Case Of Jacky Caillou

  Review preview for The Strange Case Of Jacky Caillou

  A thoughtful, offbeat film with the character of folklore.

  When his grandmother suddenly passes away and a young woman with a mysterious rash arrives on his doorstep, a young man tries to help her. As her condition worsens, it becomes clear that she’s afflicted with no ordinary illness. She’s transforming into something dangerous before his eyes, but he’s already in too deep to abandon her.
• 
  Bad City

  Review preview for Bad City

  Plotting is kept fairly simple to leave room for the sprawling fights and some spectacular action set pieces.

  A recently disgraced detective leads a special unit in an effort to stop a crime boss from becoming mayor.
• 
  The Five Devils

  Review preview for The Five Devils

  While it's a road well-travelled, here it's a road travelled well.

  Eight-year-old Vicky possesses a special power: a hyperacute sense of smell. She spends her days exploring this gift, and lives happily with her mother Joanne, a swimming teacher whom she adores exclusively - to the despair of her firefighter father. When her mysterious aunt Julia suddenly reappears in their lives, secrets from their past resurface both violently and magically.
• 
  Mister Organ

  Review preview for Mister Organ

  If you haven’t knowingly observed a narcissist before, this may well make for fascinating and, indeed, cautionary viewing.

  A documentary about car clamping, an antique shop, an extortion scandal and a mystery man who might be a prince.

A–Z of Fantastic Fest 2022 reviews →

Features

• Director blown away by 'amazing' Adèle
  Léa Mysius and Exarchopoulos talk about The Five Devils
• From super-heroes to Dali
  It’s a mad world according to Smoking Makes You Cough director Quentin Dupieux
• Out of this world
  Edouard Salier on stretching the bounds of genre in Tropic
• The woman who wouldn't let go
  Gabriel Bier Gislason on occult horror, Jewish mothers and Attachment
• Out of nightmare
  Oliver Park on Jewish horror, taking it slowly, and The Offering
• Divine fury
  Travis Stevens on artistic collaboration in A Wounded Fawn
• A gran plan for action
  Martika Ramirez Escobar on the evolving worlds of Leonor Will Never Die
• A sense of the cinematic
  Luis Javier Henaine on Mexican witchcraft and Disappear Completely
• A friend till the end
  Kyra Elise Gardner on growing up with a killer doll and making Living With Chucky
• Kingmakers
  Daphné Baiwir on the work of Stephen King and making King On Screen
• A flame of hope
  Kristina Buozyte and Bruno Samper on looking beyond collapse, and Vesper
• Putting on a show
  Amanda Kramer on live shows, colour, taking risks and Give Me Pity!
• The violence we don't see
  Carlota Pereda on bullying, normalised violence and Piggy
• Down the rabbit hole
  Justin Benson and Aaron Moorhead on Something In The Dirt
• Getting the bug
  Carter Smith on queering horror in Swallowed
• Diet of worms
  Alex Phillips and Ben Gojer on psychosis, special effects and All Jacked Up And Full Of Worms
• Nashville story
  Mickey Reece on imagining conversations and shooting Country Gold
• That timeless fairy-tale quality
  Peter Hengl on Hansel and Gretel, the need to control, and Family Dinner
• The outside story
  Juan Felipe Zuleta, Matthew Jeffers and Sarah Hay on Unidentified Objects
• Beauty is scary.. looks are a currency
  Director Ruben Östlund on the starting point for Triangle Of Sadness
• Bejo’s caring skills lead to zombie role
  Actress turned up the pressure on director during Covid