Fantastic Fest 2024 - Features

AJ Goes To The Dog Park

Review preview

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.

(Country: US; Year: 2024; Director: Toby Jones; Stars: AJ Thompson)

Full review

Animale

Review preview

Emma Benestan’s poetic take on gender, power and corporeality is a deeply animal experience.

Jennie Kermode · 5 out of 5

Surrounded by men, 22-year-old Nejma trains hard to fulfill her dream of winning the upcoming annual bull race, but news of a rogue and violent bull on the loose terrifies the community. Young men are being murdered everywhere, and the beast is nowhere to be seen.

(Country: France, Belgium; Year: 2024; Director: Emma Benestan; Writer: Emma Benestan; Stars: Oulaya Amamra)

Full review

Anora

Review preview

What isn't untrue is that Anora is brilliant.

Andrew Robertson · 4.5 out of 5

Anora, a young sex worker from Brooklyn, gets her chance at a Cinderella story when she meets and impulsively marries the son of an oligarch.

(Country: US; Year: 2024; Director: Sean Baker; Writer: Sean Baker; Stars: Mikey Madison, Yura Borisov, Ivy Wolk, Lindsey Normington, Karren Karagulian, Ross Brodar, Mark Eydelshteyn, Emily Weider, Alena Gurevich, Paul Weissman, Luna Sofía Miranda, Masha Zhak, Vache Tovmasyan, Charlton Lamar)

Full review

Apartment 7A

A struggling dancer finds herself drawn into dark forces by a peculiar couple promising her fame.

(Country: US, Australia, UK; Year: 2024; Director: Natalie Erika James; Writer: Natalie Erika James, Christian White, Skylar James; Stars: Julia Garner, Dianne Wiest, Jim Sturgess, Kevin McNally, Andrew Buchan)

The Babadook

Review preview

Jennifer Kent's film creates something original, even frightening

Angus Wolfe Murray · 4 out of 5

A character in a pop up book haunts the nightscape of a six-year-old boy

(Country: Australia; Year: 2014; Director: Jennifer Kent; Writer: Jennifer Kent; Stars: Essie Davis, Noah Wiseman, Tim Purcell, Benjamin Winspear, Hayley McElhinney, Daniel Henshall)

Full review See: Interview with Jennifer Kent about The Babadook

From this strand

Review preview

Lines around victimhood are rarely clean. Here they're jagged and brittle, fearsome and fearful.

Andrew Robertson · 3 out of 5

Review preview

Director Jon Spira does a surprisingly thorough job, and although he isn’t able to go into depth with much of the material, this is a solid start for those interested in exploring further.

Jennie Kermode · 4 out of 5

Never Let Go and The Life And Deaths Of Christopher Lee

Baby Assassins: Nice Days (Baby Walkure: Naisu Deizu)

Review preview

For fans of martial arts cinema, this is a must see.

Jennie Kermode · 4 out of 5

On a working holiday in Miyazaki, the teenage killers find themselves up against a deadly freelancer.

(Country: Japan; Year: 2024; Director: Sakamoto Yugo; Writer: Sakamoto Yugo; Stars: Takaishi Akari, Izawa Saori, Maeda Atsuko, Ikematsu Sôsuke, Otani Mondo, Kaibashira)

Full review

Baby Invasion

Baby-faced home invaders captured using six body cams, one worn by the director, raid a house from a first-person shooter perspective in this unsettling footage.

(Country: US; Year: 2024; Director: Harmony Korine; Writer: Harmony Korine; Stars: Baby-faced home invaders captured using six body cams, one worn by the director, raid a house from a first-person shooter perspective in this unsettling footage.)

Big Top Pee-Wee

Pee-wee Herman is now a small-town farmer with a fiancée, but when a traveling circus comes to town, he finds himself falling for the trapeze artist.

(Country: US; Year: 1988; Director: Randal Kleiser; Writer: Paul Reubens, George McGrath; Stars: Paul Reubens, Penelope Ann Miller, Kris Kristofferson, Valeria Golino)

Binary

Nisha is on the verge of gender-affirming surgery, but as the day of her procedure approaches, she experiences increasingly strange and violent visions. An immigrant from Pakistan working as an exotic dancer in the Netherlands, she finds that her identity is an issue for some of her clientele and a fetishising draw for others.

(Country: Netherlands; Year: 2024; Director: David-Jan Bronsgeest)

The Birthday

A soft-spoken, put-upon schmuck tries to impress his girlfriend at a lavish family function that slowly becomes more untethered from reality.

(Country: Spain; Year: 2008; Director: Eugenio Mira; Writer: Mikel Alvarigno, Eugenio Mira; Stars: Corey Feldman, Erica Prior, Jack Taylor)

From this strand

Review preview

The popular concept of genius is thoroughly subverted here.

Jennie Kermode · 4 out of 5

Review preview

This isn’t up there with the best of the V/H/S series overall, but it’s entertaining enough.

Jennie Kermode · 3 out of 5

Children Of The Wicker Man and V/H/S/Beyond

The Black Hole

Review preview

Powered by strong acting performances ... The Black Hole surfs through various genres smoothly.

Marko Stojiljkovic · 3.5 out of 5

As aliens descend to study humans, the people caught up in their investigations face turning points in their own lives. Two women take part-time jobs being dissected by the cosmic visitors; a woman fleeing an abusive relationship takes shelter in a muscle mummy’s giant-spider-ridden apartment; and a young man begins an affair with the domineering, alluring woman across the street while his mother seeks fulfillment in an expensive vacuum cleaner.

(Country: Estonia, Finland; Year: 2024; Director: Moonika Siimets; Writer: Moonika Siimets; Stars: Anne Reemann, Eva Koldits, Doris Tislar, Rea Lest, Ursel Tilk, Liina Tannosaar)

Full review

Body Odyssey

Drama about a bodybuilder with a thirst for perfection.

(Country: Italy, Switzerland; Year: 2023; Director: Grazia Tricarico; Writer: Marco Morana, Giulio Rizzo, Grazia Tricarico; Stars: Jacqueline Fuchs, Julian Sands, Adam Misik, Stefan Sauk, Lukas Loughran)

Bone Lake

Review preview

Director Mercedes Bryce Morgan plies her trade with a style and verve which elevate this far above the 1980s straight-to-VHS erotic thrillers that it superficially resembles.

Jennie Kermode · 4 out of 5

When two young couples are mistakenly double-booked into the same vacation rental their romantic weekend becomes a twisted maze of sex, lies, and survival.

(Country: US; Year: 2024; Director: Mercedes Bryce Morgan; Writer: Joshua Friedlander; Stars: Maddie Hasson, Alex Roe, Marco Pigossi, Andra Nechita, Eliane Reis, Clayton Spencer)

Full review See: Interview with Mercedes Bryce Morgan about Bone Lake

Bookworm

Review preview

Fisher and Wood achieve a great rapport, and there’s some entertaining supporting work even though much of our time is spent in the middle of nowhere.

Jennie Kermode · 4 out of 5

11 year old Mildred's world is turned upside-down when her estranged father, the washed-up magician Strawn Wise comes to look after her and agrees to take her camping to find a mythological beast known as the Canterbury Panther.

(Country: New Zealand/Aotearoa; Year: 2024; Director: Ant Timpson; Writer: Toby Harvard, Ant Timpson; Stars: Elijah Wood, Michael Smiley, Nell Fisher, Morgana O'Reilly, Vanessa Stacey)

Full review See: Interview with Ant Timpson about Bookworm, cinema and the future of storytelling

Bring Them Down

(Country: Ireland; Year: 2024; Director: Chris Andrews; Writer: Chris Andrews, Jonathan Hourigan; Stars: Christopher Abbott, Barry Keoghan, Colm Meaney, Nora-Jane Noone, Paul Ready, Aaron Heffernan, Susan Lynch, Conor MacNeill, Adam Behan, Diarmuid de Faoite, Gail Fitzpatrick, Youssef Quinn, Grace Daly, Tom Leavey, Martin Gilligan)

From this strand

Review preview

Elliot time and again marries darkness and light, sweetness with sour to create a satisfying emotional umami.

Amber Wilkinson · 4.5 out of 5

Review preview

Fisher and Wood achieve a great rapport, and there’s some entertaining supporting work even though much of our time is spent in the middle of nowhere.

Jennie Kermode · 4 out of 5

Memoir Of A Snail and Bookworm

Carnival Of Blood

A psychopathic killer uses the carousel ride at a carnival to pick his victims, who he then murders and dismembers.

(Country: US; Year: 1970; Director: Leonard Kirtman; Writer: Leonard Kirtman; Stars: Earle Edgerton, Judith Resnick, Martin Barolsky, Kaly Mills, Burt Young, William Grannell)

Chainsaws Were Singing

Review preview

Although most viewers will find themselves flagging before the end, there is a lot to enjoy here.

Jennie Kermode · 3.5 out of 5

Adventures await when new lovers are separated by a chainsaw killer in this absurdist musical.

(Country: Estonia; Year: 2024; Director: Sander Maran; Writer: Sander Maran, Karl Ilves; Stars: Karl Ilves, Laura Niils, Martin Ruus, Janno Puusepp, Rita Rätsepp, Ra Ragnar Novod)

Full review See: Interview with Sander Maran and Peeter Maran about Chainsaws Were Singing

Chain Reactions

Exploration of the impact of Texas Chain Saw Massacre 50 years after it was made.

(Country: US; Year: 2024; Director: Alexandre O Philippe; Writer: Alexandre O Philippe; Stars: Takashi Miike, Alexandra Heller-Nicholas, Stephen King, Karyn Kusama)

Children Of The Wicker Man

Review preview

The popular concept of genius is thoroughly subverted here.

Jennie Kermode · 4 out of 5

A documentary about The Wicker Man and its legacy.

(Country: UK; Year: 2024; Director: Justin Hardy, Dominic Hardy, Chris Nunn)

Full review

Cloud (Kuraudo)

Review preview

Even though we’re essentially talking about a basic shot-reverse shot exchange, framed in creeping wide angles, juxtaposed with close-ups, the feeling is comparable to watching a getaway heist.

Nikola Jovic · 4 out of 5

An online scammer, reselling faulty products at preposterously high rates, is on the run after some of his customers decide to hit back.

(Country: Japan; Year: 2024; Director: Kurosawa Kiyoshi; Writer: Kurosawa Kiyoshi; Stars: Masaki Suda, Kotone Furukawa, Masataka Kubota)

Full review

From this strand

Review preview

This is a shocking, visceral work. There are moments of humour, here and there, but it is the gallows laughing.

Andrew Robertson · 4.5 out of 5

Review preview

The film mines a lot of clichés but manages to do something a little different with them, blending traditional elements of children’s fiction with a distinctly 21st Century sensibility.

Jennie Kermode · 4 out of 5

Wake In Fright and The Wild Robot

Daddy's Head

Review preview

A sinister fairytale which balances elements of ancient lore with a crisp, modern sensibility.

Jennie Kermode · 4 out of 5

A boy and his stepmother fear for their safety after the boy becomes convinced that his deceased father has returned for him.

(Country: US; Year: 2024; Director: Benjamin Barfoot; Writer: Benjamin Barfoot; Stars: Mary Woodvine, Julia Brown, Charles Aitken, Kaisa Hammarlund, Nila Aalia)

Full review

Daniela Forever

Follows a man as he joins a sleep trial that allows him to rebuild his life with his girlfriend who died in an accident through the use of lucid dreams.

(Country: Spain, US, Belgium; Year: 2024; Director: Nacho Vigalondo; Writer: Nacho Vigalondo; Stars: Henry Golding, Beatrice Grannò, Aura Garrido, Rubén Ochandiano, Nathalie Poza)

Dead Talents Society (Gui Cai Zhi Dao)

Ghosts who want to become the spookiest of urban legends and most successful and famous stars in the underworld compete through their scare tactics and performances amongst the living.

(Country: Taiwan; Year: 2024; Director: John Hsu; Writer: John Hsu, Kun-Lin Tsai; Stars: Chen Bo-lin, Sandrine Pinna, Wang Gingle, Pai Ching-i, Tseng Soso)

A Different Man

Review preview

Slippery in terms of genre and form, the writer/director’s satire puts all his characters and, by extension, us under close scrutiny.

Amber Wilkinson · 4 out of 5

Aspiring actor Edward undergoes a radical medical trial to drastically transform his appearance. But his new dream face quickly turns into a nightmare.

(Country: US; Year: 2024; Director: Aaron Schimberg; Writer: Aaron Schimberg; Stars: Sebastian Stan, Renate Reinsve, Owen Kline, Adam Pearson, Marc Geller, Lawrence Arancio, Billy Griffith, Eleanore Pienta, John Keating, Juney Smith, Sergio Delavicci, Miles G. Jackson, Martin Ewens, Neal Davidson, Trenton Hudson)

Full review

Disembodied

A young woman struggles to control the hungry parasite on her face.

(Country: US; Year: 1998; Director: William Kersten; Writer: William Kersten; Stars: Anastasia Woolverton, Hannah Nease, James Diederichsen, Patricia Mathews)

From this strand

Review preview

Director Mercedes Bryce Morgan plies her trade with a style and verve which elevate this far above the 1980s straight-to-VHS erotic thrillers that it superficially resembles.

Jennie Kermode · 4 out of 5

Review preview

Even though we’re essentially talking about a basic shot-reverse shot exchange, framed in creeping wide angles, juxtaposed with close-ups, the feeling is comparable to watching a getaway heist.

Nikola Jovic · 4 out of 5

Bone Lake and Cloud

Don't Mess With Grandma (Sunset Superman)

JT must fix his grandmother's leaky sink while simultaneously keeping her oblivious to a deadly home invasion.

(Country: US; Year: 2024; Director: Jason Krawczyk; Writer: Jason Krawczyk; Stars: Michael Jai White, Jackie Richardson, Billy Zane, Miles Faber)

The Draft

Five college students—the jock, the nerd, the pretty one, the rich one, and the popular one—embark on a weekend trip to an isolated cabin. When they arrive, a mysterious older man gives them a cryptic warning about staying there, and later, strange and mysterious events begin happening around them.

(Country: Indonesia; Year: 2023; Director: Yusron Fuadi)

Dragon Dilatation

The combination of two film essays, Petrouchka and La Déviante Comédie. The first part is a rereading of Stravinsky's ballet, while the second consists of traces of an unpublished performance.

(Country: France; Year: 2024; Director: Bertrand Mandico; Writer: Bertrand Mandico; Stars: Clara Benador, Christophe Bier, Yuming Hey, Elina Löwensohn)

Ebony And Ivory

Two musical legends gather at a Scottish cottage on the Mull Of Kintyre for a tense summit to discuss a potential collaboration that will ultimately result in a global number one smash hit single.

(Country: UK; Year: 2024; Director: Jim Hosking; Writer: Jim Hosking; Stars: Sky Elobar, Gil Gex, Carl Solomon)

Else

A romance blossoms between an introvert and a confident woman, but their relationship faces a threat when a strange epidemic causes the infected to merge with their surroundings, trapping the couple in a shapeshifting nightmare.

(Country: Belgium, France; Year: 2024; Director: Thibault Emin; Writer: Alice Butaud, Thibault Emin, Emma Sandona; Stars: Lika Minamoto, Edith Proust, Matthieu Sampeur)

From this strand

Review preview

Frost said that when he wrote the film it took him a while to recognise that he was in horror territory, and indeed the film works equally well as a culture clash comedy.

Jennie Kermode · 3.5 out of 5

Review preview

Although this is set in the Nineties, the gritty feel makes it redolent of Seventies-set thrillers, a mood reinforced by the way that du Welz embeds us in Paul’s life from the start.

Amber Wilkinson · 3.5 out of 5

Get Away and Maldoror

Escape From The 21st Century (Cong 21 Shi Ji An Quan Che Li)

The story follows three friends who discover they have the power to travel back and forth 20 years with a sneeze. However, the future is not as good as they hoped, and they need to take on the responsibility of saving the world.

(Country: China; Year: 2024; Director: Li Yang; Writer: Li Yang; Stars: Zhang Ruoyun, Zhong Elane, Song Yang, Wu Xiaoliang, Zhu Yanmanzi, Chen Yichen)

The Fall

Review preview

To see it on any screen other than the biggest you can is to do yourself a disservice, and to miss it is to miss a masterpiece.

Andrew Robertson · 5 out of 5

Tarsem Singh's visually opulent fantasy epic borrowing the narrative device of The Princess Bride to widen and scorch the eyes.

(Country: India, UK; Year: 2006; Director: Tarsem Singh; Writer: Dan Gilroy, Nico Soultanakis, Tarsem Singh, Valeri Petrov; Stars: Catinca Untaru, Justine Waddell, Lee Pace, Kim Uylenbroek, Aiden Lithgow, Sean Gilder, Ronald France, Andrew Roussouw, Michael Huff, Grant Swanby, Emil Hostina)

Full review

Frankie Freako!

Review preview

Packs in plenty of mischief and mayhem.

Jennie Kermode · 3 out of 5

In an attempt to impress his wife and boss, a nerdy man is lured by a 1-900 TV ad to party with a strange little creature called Frankie Freako. All hell breaks loose when Frankie and his two friends wreak interdimensional havoc in his life.

(Country: Canada; Year: 2024; Director: Steven Kostanski; Writer: Steven Kostanski; Stars: Adam Brooks, Conor Sweeney, Kristy Wordsworth)

Full review See: Interview with Steven Kostanski about Frankie Freako

Gazer

A young mum with a rare degenerative condition that affects the way she perceives time takes a job from a mysterious woman.

(Country: US; Year: 2024; Director: Ryan J Sloan; Writer: Ariella Mastroianni, Ryan J Sloan; Stars: Marcia DeBonis, Ariella Mastroianni, Emma Pearson, LeJon Woods, Grant Schumacher, Jack Alberts, Frank Huerta, Laris Macario, Sheilagh Weymouth, Annie Pisapia, Renee Gagner, Jarrett Austin Brown, Luis Arroyo Jr., Tommy Kang, Jeremy Cohen)

Get Away

Review preview

Frost said that when he wrote the film it took him a while to recognise that he was in horror territory, and indeed the film works equally well as a culture clash comedy.

Jennie Kermode · 3.5 out of 5

Looking forward to spending a vacation on the small Swedish island of Svälta, the Smith family is unsettled by the unfriendly mainlanders who advise them to avoid it at all costs, especially during the Karantan festival. But the family is in deep need of some time away and stubbornly decides to take the ferry anyway.

(Country: UK; Year: 2024; Director: Steffen Haars; Writer: Nick Frost; Stars: Nick Frost, Aisling Bea, Maisie Ayres, Sebastian Croft)

Full review See: Interview with Nick Frost and Aisling Bea about Get Away , Interview with Steffen Haars, Maisie Ayres and Sebastian Croft about Get Away

From this strand

Review preview

There’s a lot here that’s familiar, but the endearing characters and great comic timing turn it into something distinctive, with a natural charm that few films in this subgenre can match.

Jennie Kermode · 4 out of 5

Review preview

A sinister fairytale which balances elements of ancient lore with a crisp, modern sensibility.

Jennie Kermode · 4 out of 5

Heavier Trip and Daddy's Head

Ghost Killer

After being possessed by the ghost of vengeful hit man Kudo, college student Fumika Matsuoka agrees to help him finish his quest for vengeance from beyond the grave.

(Country: US, Japan; Year: 2024; Director: Kensuke Sonomura; Writer: Yugo Sakamoto; Stars: Akari Takaishi, Mario Kuroba, Masanori Mimoto)

Girl Internet Show

Assembled footage from a one woman subversive variety show covering everything from existential crisis, sexuality, fame and depression to gender identity in an absurdist style of comedy - assembled after its creator's death.

(Year: 2024; Director: Kati Kelli; Stars: Kati Kelli)

The Guest

Review preview

Slick, tense, darkly funny and very genre-aware.

Owen Van Spall · 4 out of 5

A man inveigles his way into a family home by saying he is a friend of a dead soldier.

(Country: US; Year: 2014; Director: Adam Wingard; Writer: Simon Barrett; Stars: Dan Stevens, Joel David Moore, Lance Reddick, Leland Orser, Brendan Meyer, Maika Monroe, Sheila Kelley, Chase Williamson, Tait Fletcher, Jesse Luken, Alex Knight, Mike Miller, Tina Borek, Frank Bond, Michael Stone)

Full review

Heads Or Fails (Aimer Perdre)

A heavily indebted woman with a gambling habit is fearful of falling in love.

(Country: Belgium; Year: 2024; Director: Lenny Guit, Harpo Guit; Stars: Maria Cavalier-Bazan, Melvil Poupaud, Catherine Ringer, Michael Zidel, Maxi Delmelle)

Heavier Trip (Hevimpi reissu)

Review preview

There’s a lot here that’s familiar, but the endearing characters and great comic timing turn it into something distinctive, with a natural charm that few films in this subgenre can match.

Jennie Kermode · 4 out of 5

Finnish black metal band Impaled Rektum is in jail but must escape and make it to a music festival in order to save the day after the guitarist's father falls ill and their family home/business faces demolition.

(Country: Finland, Germany, Norway, Lithuania; Year: 2024; Director: Juuso Laatio, Jukka Vidgren; Writer: Juuso Laatio, Jukka Vidgren; Stars: Anatole Taubman, Johannes Holopainen, David Bredin, Max Ovaska)

Full review See: Interview with Juuso Laatio and Jukka Vidgren about Heavier Trip

From this strand

Review preview

What isn't untrue is that Anora is brilliant.

Andrew Robertson · 4.5 out of 5

Review preview

The spectacular visual effects are less a product of slick new technology than of pure imagination, and they really are unforgettable.

Jennie Kermode · 3.5 out of 5

Anora and She Loved Blossoms More

Heresy (Witte Wieven)

In a medieval Dutch village, a young woman is caught between her faith, fanatic townsfolk and the dark forces lurking in the woods.

(Year: 2024; Director: Didier Konings; Stars: Anneke Sluiters, Len Leo Vincent, Reinout Bussemaker, Nola Elvis Kemper)

House Of Spoils

It tells the story of a chef who opens her first restaurant where she battles kitchen chaos, a dubious investor and self doubt, but the pressure heats up thanks to the spirit of the estate's previous owner who threatens to sabotage her.

(Country: US; Year: 2024; Director: Bridget Savage Cole, Danielle Krudy; Writer: Bridget Savage Cole, Danielle Krudy; Stars: Marton Csokas, Ariana DeBose, Barbie Ferreira, Amara Karan, Arian Moayad)

Ick

Science teacher Hank's life changes when he reconnects with his first love and suspects a new student is his daughter, all while facing an alien threat in their town.

(Country: US; Year: 2024; Director: Joseph Kahn; Writer: Joseph Kahn, Dan Koontz, Samuel Laskey; Stars: Mena Suvari, Brandon Routh, Malina Pauli Weissman, Mariann Gvelo, Taia Sophia, April Clark, Harrison Cone, Cory Hart)

The Incredibly Strange Creatures Who Stopped Living And Became Mixed-Up Zombies

Jerry falls in love with a stripper he meets at a carnival. Little does he know that she is the sister of a fortune teller whose predictions he had scoffed at earlier. The fortune teller turns him into a zombie and he goes on a killing spree.

(Country: US; Year: 1964; Director: Ray Dennis Steckler; Writer: Gene Pollock, Robert Silliphant, EM Kevke; Stars: Ray Dennis Steckler, Brett O'Hara, Atlas King, Sharon Walsh, Pat Kirkwood, Erina Enyo, Toni Camel)

I, the Executioner

Crime action sequel sees a detection department facing a crisis.

(Year: 2024; Director: Seung Wan Ryoo)

From this strand

Review preview

Although most viewers will find themselves flagging before the end, there is a lot to enjoy here.

Jennie Kermode · 3.5 out of 5

Review preview

Packs in plenty of mischief and mayhem.

Jennie Kermode · 3 out of 5

Chainsaws Were Singing and Frankie Freako!

The Life And Deaths Of Christopher Lee

Review preview

Director Jon Spira does a surprisingly thorough job, and although he isn’t able to go into depth with much of the material, this is a solid start for those interested in exploring further.

Jennie Kermode · 4 out of 5

Genre icon Christopher Lee is brought back to life in a documentary using fresh interviews, archive material and multiple forms of traditional and cutting-edge animation.

(Country: UK; Year: 2024; Director: Jon Spira; Stars: Peter Serafinowicz, Harriet Walter, Peter Jackson, Joe Dante)

Full review

Little Bites

In a desperate attempt to protect her ten-year-old daughter, a young widow allows a nightmarish monster to slowly eat her alive.

(Country: US; Year: 2024; Director: Spider One; Writer: Spider One; Stars: Krsy Fox, Jon Sklaroff, Elizabeth Caro, Barbara Crampton, Heather Langenkamp, Bonnie Aarons, Chaz Bono)

Mac And Me

An alien on the run from NASA is befriended by a young disabled boy.

(Country: US; Year: 1988; Director: Stewart Raffill; Writer: Stewart Raffill, Steve Feke; Stars: Christine Ebersole, Jonathan Ward, Tina Caspary, Lauren Stanley, Jade Calegory, Vinnie Torrente)

MadS

Review preview

It feels different – firstly because of its immersiveness and secondly because of the quality of the performances, which are superb throughout.

Jennie Kermode · 4.5 out of 5

A teenager who stops off to see his dealer to test a new drug before heading off for a night of partying. On the way home, he picks up an injured woman and the night takes a surreal turn

(Country: France; Year: 2024; Director: David Moreau; Writer: David Moreau; Stars: Lucille Guillaume, Lewkowski Yovel, Xiomara Melissa Ahumada Quito, Laurie Pavy, Milton Riche)

Full review

Maldoror

Review preview

Although this is set in the Nineties, the gritty feel makes it redolent of Seventies-set thrillers, a mood reinforced by the way that du Welz embeds us in Paul’s life from the start.

Amber Wilkinson · 3.5 out of 5

Two girls vanish. Police recruit Paul Chartier joins a covert unit tracking a sex offender. After the operation falters, Chartier pursues the perpetrators independently, disillusioned with legal constraints.

(Country: Belgium, France; Year: 2024; Director: Fabrice du Welz; Writer: Domenico La Porta, Fabrice du Welz; Stars: Anthony Bajon, Alba Gaïa Bellugi, Alexis Manenti, Sergi López, Laurent Lucas, David Murgia, Béatrice Dalle, Lubna Azabal, Jackie Berroyer, Mélanie Doutey, Félix Maritaud)

Full review See: Maldoror director Fabrice du Welz on the lingering trauma of the real case behind his film and the questions he hopes to provoke

From this strand

Review preview

Jennifer Kent's film creates something original, even frightening

Angus Wolfe Murray · 4 out of 5

Review preview

Slick, tense, darkly funny and very genre-aware.

Owen Van Spall · 4 out of 5

The Babadook and The Guest

Memoir Of A Snail

Review preview

Elliot time and again marries darkness and light, sweetness with sour to create a satisfying emotional umami.

Amber Wilkinson · 4.5 out of 5

A woman recalls the series of unfortunate events that have made up her life so far.

(Country: Australia; Year: 2024; Director: Adam Elliot; Writer: Adam Eliot; Stars: Voiced by, Sarah Snook, Jacki Weaver, Kodi Smit-McPhee, Tony Armstrong, Dominique Pinon, Eric Bana, Nick Cave)

Full review See: Memoir Of A Snail director Adam Elliot on creating textured underdogs and emotional conflict

The Mission (Cheung Foh)

Triad boss Lung, who has just escaped being killed in an assassination, hires five killers for his protection. Their grown solidarity is under compulsion when Lung gives a special order.

(Country: Hong Kong; Year: 1999; Director: Johnnie To; Writer: Yao Nai-hoi; Stars: Anthony Chau-sang Wong, Francis Ng, Jackie Chung-yin Lui, Roy Cheung, Lam Suet)

Mr. Crocket

A mother embarks on a perilous quest to rescue her son from a demonic children's TV show host who is kidnapping kids.

(Year: 2024; Director: Brandon Espy; Writer: Brandon Espy, Carl Reid; Stars: Jerrika Hinton, Alex Akpobome, Elvis Nolasco, Lyla Randall, Ayden Gavin, Akim Black)

Never Let Go

Review preview

Lines around victimhood are rarely clean. Here they're jagged and brittle, fearsome and fearful.

Andrew Robertson · 3 out of 5

A family that has been haunted by an evil spirit for years. Their safety and their surroundings come into question when one of the children questions if the evil is real.

(Country: US; Year: 2024; Director: Alexandre Aja; Writer: KC Coughlin, Ryan Grassby; Stars: Halle Berry, Anthony B Jenkins, Stephanie Lavigne, William Catlett, Matthew Kevin Anderson, Christin Park)

Full review

Night Call (La Nuit Se Traîne)

This night is like all the others for Mady, student by day, locksmith by night. But Claire, the enigmatic young girl he helps out that night, is not who she claims to be. Mady has only one night to prove his innocence in a city in turmoil.

(Country: Belgium, France; Year: 2024; Director: Michiel Blanchart; Writer: Michiel Blanchart, Gilles Marchand; Stars: Jonathan Feltre, Natacha Krief, Jonas Bloquet, Thomas Mustin, Romain Duris, Sam Louwyck)

From this strand

Review preview

Every frame feels like the product of conscious decision-making, with nothing merely carrying us from one point to another.

Jennie Kermode · 4.5 out of 5

Review preview

Nothing short of an instant cult.

Marko Stojiljkovic · 4 out of 5

Sister Midnight and Spermageddon

Nine Queens (Neuve Reinas)

Review preview

The film is like a Chinese box. There are secrets within secrets within secrets.

Angus Wolfe Murray · 3.5 out of 5

Two small-time con artists in Buenos Aires attempt a high level rare stamps fraud.

(Country: Argentina; Year: 2000; Director: Fabian Bielinsky; Writer: Fabian Bielinsky; Stars: Gaston Pauls, Ricardo Darin, Leticia Bredice, Tomas Fonzi)

Full review

Parvulos

Review preview

Ezban does not let us look away.

Jennie Kermode · 4 out of 5

Three young brothers living in a cabin in the middle of the woods hide a dark, disturbing secret in their basement.

(Country: Mexico; Year: 2024; Director: Isaac Ezban; Writer: Ricardo Aguado-Fentanes, Isaac Ezban; Stars: Noé Hernández, Carla Adell, Juan Carlos Remolina, Mateo Ortega Casillas, Horacio F Lazo)

Full review See: Interview with Isaac Ezban about Parvulos

Planet B (Planète B)

France, 2039. One night, a group of activists pursued by the state vanish without a trace. Julia Bombarth is one of them. When she awakens, she finds herself trapped in an entirely unfamiliar world: Planet B.

(Country: France, Belgium; Year: 2024; Director: Aude Léa Rapin; Writer: Aude Léa Rapin; Stars: Adèle Exarchopoulos, Souheila Yacoub, Eliane Umuhire, India Hair, Marc Barbé, Paul Beaurepaire)

Plastic Guns (Les pistolets en plastique)

Review preview

Like fellow Frenchman Quentin Dupieux, Meurisse has an enjoyably devil-may-care attitude for the most part although he feels almost like Dupieux’s evil twin as he begins to stray, first, into Farrelly Brothers’ territory, and then something altogether more violent.

Amber Wilkinson · 3 out of 5

A case of mistaken identity fuels a twisted satire.

(Country: France; Year: 2024; Director: Jean-Christophe Meurisse; Writer: Jean-Christophe Meurisse; Stars: Jonathan Cohen, Laurent Stocker, Charlotte Laemmel, Delphine Baril)

Full review

Queens Of Drama (Les Reines du drame)

2055. Steevyshady, an overly botoxed Youtuber tells their idol’s mad destiny: we follow pop diva singer Mimi Madamour from the very peak of her career in 2005, all the way down to the pits of hell, a downfall brought about by her love story with punk icon Billie Kohler. For half a century these drama queens have sung their passion and their rage high upon a stage.

(Country: Belgium, France; Year: 2024; Director: Alexis Langlois; Writer: Carlotta Coco, Thomas Colineau, Alexis Langlois; Stars: Asia Argento, Alma Jodorowsky, Thomas Poitevin, Bilal Hassani, Louiza Aura, Raya Martigny, Jean-Biche, Drag Couenne, Nana Benamer, Dustin Muchuvitz, Julia Fiquet, Gio Ventura, Elodie Barthels)

From this strand

Review preview

Greenbaum pinpoints the tension between the hate eating away at parts of US society and the tremendous potential that the country still has.

Jennie Kermode · 5 out of 5

Review preview

Leone demonstrated that he is a talented director with a perfect instinct for set pieces, but that he is less capable as a screenwriter.

Marko Stojiljkovic · 3.5 out of 5

Will & Harper and Terrifier 3

Raze

Women-in-prison tale. After Sabrina is abducted, she finds herself in an underground lair, forced to do battle with other innocent women for the amusement of unseen spectators. Each of these reluctant warriors has something to lose, but only one will remain when the game is done.

(Country: US; Year: 2013; Director: Josh C Waller; Writer: Robert Beaucage, Kenny Gage, Josh C Waller; Stars: Zoe Bell, Rachel Nichols, Tracie Thoms, Sherilyn Fenn, Doug Jones, Bruce Thomas, Bailey Anne Borders, Rebecca Marshall, Adrienne Wilkinson, Allene Quincy, Kelly Thiebaud, Nicole Steinwedell, Tara Macken, Tonya Kay, Amy Johnston)

The Remarkable Life Of Ibelin

Mats Steen, a Norwegian gamer, died of a degenerative muscular disease at the age of 25. His parents mourned what they thought had been a lonely and isolated life, when they started receiving messages from online friends around the world.

(Country: Norway; Year: 2024; Director: Benjamin Ree; Stars: Kelsey Ellison, Zoe Croft, Paul Wild, Ed Larkin, Elena Pitsiaeli, Sebastian Tjørstad, John Andrew Mclay)

Respati (Malam Pencabut Nyawa)

A teenager with the ability to enter other people's dreams. When he witnesses a dark spirit taking people's lives in their dreams, he quickly realises that it's related to the mysterious deaths that are happening in the real world.

(Country: Indonesia, South Korea; Year: 2024; Director: Sidharta Tata; Writer: Ragiel JP, Ambaridzki Ramadhantyo, Sidharta Tata; Stars: Devano Danendra, Keisya Levronka, Mikha Hernan, Budi Ros, Fajar Nugra, Ratu Felisha, Kiki Narendra)

The Rule Of Jenny Pen

Review preview

Ashcroft’s interpretation steers the story away from simple tragedy as we see Mortensen making gains as well as losses.

Jennie Kermode · 3.5 out of 5

Confined to a secluded rest home and trapped within his stroke-ridden body, a former Judge must stop an elderly psychopath who employs a child's puppet to abuse the home's residents with deadly consequences.

(Country: New Zealand/Aotearoa; Year: 2024; Director: James Ashcroft; Writer: James Ashcroft, Eli Kent, Owen Marshall; Stars: John Lithgow, Geoffrey Rush, Nathaniel Lees, Thomas Sainsbury, Maaka Pohatu, Ian Mune, Irene Wood)

Full review

Satan War

Unseen satanic forces terrorise a young married couple in their new home.

(Country: US; Year: 1979; Director: Bart La Rue; Writer: Bart La Rue; Stars: Sally Schermerhorn, Jimmy Drankovitch, Jane August, Reggie De Morton, Michelene Alexander)

From this strand

Review preview

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

Review preview

Starchenko is extraordinary in her ability to develop an emotionally complex character despite the state of shock that covers everything.

Jennie Kermode · 4 out of 5

AJ Goes To The Dog Park and Steppenwolf

She Loved Blossoms More (Agapouse Ta Louloudia Perissotero)

Review preview

The spectacular visual effects are less a product of slick new technology than of pure imagination, and they really are unforgettable.

Jennie Kermode · 3.5 out of 5

Hoping to bring their dead mother back to life, three brothers build a time machine.

(Country: Greece, France, New Zealand; Year: 2024; Director: Yannis Veslemes; Writer: Dimitris Emmanouilidis, Yannis Veslemes; Stars: Dominique Pinon, Julio Katsis, Sandra Abuelghanam, Panos Papadopoulos, Aris Balis)

Full review

Sister Midnight

Review preview

Every frame feels like the product of conscious decision-making, with nothing merely carrying us from one point to another.

Jennie Kermode · 4.5 out of 5

Black comedy about a woman trying to navigate a newly arranged marriage.

(Country: UK; Year: 2024; Director: Karan Kandhari; Writer: Karan Kandhari; Stars: Radhika Apte, Ashok Pathak, Dev Raaz)

Full review See: Interview with Karan Kandhari about Sister Midnight

Spermageddon

Review preview

Nothing short of an instant cult.

Marko Stojiljkovic · 4 out of 5

Two awkward teens are having sex for the first time, while Simon the Semen and his friends are on a quest to reach the golden goal, the Egg.

(Country: Norway; Year: 2024; Director: Rasmus A Sivertsen, Tommy Wirkola; Writer: Geir Vegar Hoel, Jesper Sundnes, Tommy Wirkola; Stars: Voices of Aksel Hennie, Christian Rubeck, Bjørn Sundquist, Mathilde Thomine Storm, Nasrin Khusrawi, Christian Fredrik Mikkelsen)

Full review

The Spirit Of Halloweentown

A documentary about the residents of the small town whose residents decided to capitalise on spooky tourism after Disney used it as the setting for Halloweentown.

(Country: US; Year: 2024; Director: Bradford Thomason, Brett Whitcomb)

Steppenwolf

Review preview

Starchenko is extraordinary in her ability to develop an emotionally complex character despite the state of shock that covers everything.

Jennie Kermode · 4 out of 5

Tamara searches for her missing son in a violent town. She hires a morally questionable ex-detective to find him. His methods are cruel but she is determined to find her son whatever the cost.

(Country: Kazakhstan; Year: 2024; Director: Adilkhan Yerzhanov; Writer: Adilkhan Yerzhanov; Stars: Anna Starchenko, Azamat Nigmanov, Yerkin Gubashev, Nurbek Mukushev)

Full review

From this strand

Review preview

Given that U Are The Universe is practically a one-man-play, Volodymyr Kravchuk masterfully commands the screen combining his knack for humour with a strong sense for drama.

Marko Stojiljkovic · 3.5 out of 5

Review preview

Slippery in terms of genre and form, the writer/director’s satire puts all his characters and, by extension, us under close scrutiny.

Amber Wilkinson · 4 out of 5

U Are The Universe and A Different Man

Strange Harvest: Occult Murder In The Inland Empire

Review preview

Ortiz, like many a filmmaker before him, acknowledges a debt to HP Lovecraft, but his work here is more in tune with that author’s style than most, in that it resists the temptation to reveal too much or to offer reasoned explanations.

Jennie Kermode · 4.5 out of 5

A faux true-crime documentary about two detectives pursuit of an infamous serial killer named Mr. Shiny, who terrorised Southern California for almost two decades.

(Year: 2024; Director: Stuart Ortiz; Writer: Stuart Ortiz; Stars: Peter Zizzo, Terri Apple)

Full review See: Interview with Stuart Ortiz, Peter Zizzo and Terri Apple about Strange Harvest: Occult Murder In The Inland Empire

Terrifier 3

Review preview

Leone demonstrated that he is a talented director with a perfect instinct for set pieces, but that he is less capable as a screenwriter.

Marko Stojiljkovic · 3.5 out of 5

Art the Clown is set to unleash chaos on the unsuspecting residents of Miles County as they peacefully drift off to sleep on Christmas Eve.

(Country: US; Year: 2024; Director: Damien Leone; Writer: Damien Leone; Stars: David Howard Thornton, Lauren LaVera, Jason Patric, Daniel Roebuck, Charlotte McKee, Bryce Johnson)

Full review

Touched By Eternity

Self-proclaimed cryptocurrency expert Fatso is a middle-aged curmudgeon frittering away his days with video games and conspiracy theory videos. Obsessed with the concept of eternal life since childhood, he experiments with various quack theories in the hopes of becoming immortal,. Then he meets two strangers who invite him to become a vampire.

(Country: Latvia; Year: 2024; Director: Mārcis Lācis)

Universal Language

Multilayered film that interweaves a story about a group of people trying to get frozen money out of the ice, a tale of a tour guide and a man who quits his job to visit his mother.

(Country: Canada; Year: 2024; Director: Matthew Rankin; Writer: Ila Firouzabadi, Pirouz Nemati, Matthew Rankin; Stars: Matthew Rankin, Mani Soleymanlou, Danielle Fichaud, Pirouz Nemati, Sobhan Javadi, Saba Vahedyousefi, Rojina Esmaeili)

U Are The Universe

Review preview

Given that U Are The Universe is practically a one-man-play, Volodymyr Kravchuk masterfully commands the screen combining his knack for humour with a strong sense for drama.

Marko Stojiljkovic · 3.5 out of 5

In the distant future, a space trucker from Khmelnytskyi is trying to get rid of over three billion tons of waste. When he hears from a woman on a distant space station, he becomes determined to reach her.

(Country: Ukraine, Belgium; Year: 2024; Director: Pavlo Ostrikov; Writer: Pavlo Ostrikov; Stars: Volodymyr Kravchuk, Daria Plahtiy, Alexia Depicker, Leonid Popadko)

Full review

From this strand

Review preview

Ortiz, like many a filmmaker before him, acknowledges a debt to HP Lovecraft, but his work here is more in tune with that author’s style than most, in that it resists the temptation to reveal too much or to offer reasoned explanations.

Jennie Kermode · 4.5 out of 5

Review preview

It feels different – firstly because of its immersiveness and secondly because of the quality of the performances, which are superb throughout.

Jennie Kermode · 4.5 out of 5

Strange Harvest: Occult Murder In The Inland Empire and MadS

V/H/S/Beyond

Review preview

This isn’t up there with the best of the V/H/S series overall, but it’s entertaining enough.

Jennie Kermode · 3 out of 5

Six bloodcurdling tapes unleash horror in a science-fiction inspired hellscape, pushing the boundaries of fear and suspense.

(Country: US; Year: 2024; Director: Jay Cheel, Jordan Downey, Christian Long, Justin Long, Justin Martinez, Virat Pal, Kate Siegel; Writer: Evan Dickson, Jordan Downey, Mike Flanagan, Christian Long, Justin Long, Justin Martinez, Virat Pal, Kevin Stewart, Benjamin A Turner; Stars: Phillip Andre Botello)

Full review

Wake In Fright (Outback)

Review preview

This is a shocking, visceral work. There are moments of humour, here and there, but it is the gallows laughing.

Andrew Robertson · 4.5 out of 5

A young teacher gets more than he bargained for in a violent outback town, in a film that reportedly even gives Nick Cave nightmares...

(Country: Australia, US; Year: 1971; Director: Ted Kotcheff; Writer: Evan Jones, based on the book by Kenneth Cook.; Stars: Donald Pleasance, Gary Bond, Chips Rafferty) , Official site

Full review

What Happened To Dorothy Bell?

Ozzie Gray video documents her investigation into the traumatic events from her early childhood, which involved her late grandmother, Dorothy Bell.

(Country: US; Year: 2024; Director: Danny Villanueva Jr; Writer: Danny Villanueva Jr; Stars: Michael Hargrove, Lisa Wilcox, Asya Meadows, Steven Alonte, Arlene Arnone Bibbs, J Anthony Ramos, Sargon Odicho)

The Wild Robot

Review preview

The film mines a lot of clichés but manages to do something a little different with them, blending traditional elements of children’s fiction with a distinctly 21st Century sensibility.

Jennie Kermode · 4 out of 5

A robot designed to assist humans finds herself stranded on an island populated only by animals.

(Country: US; Year: 2024; Director: Chris Sanders; Writer: Chris Sanders; Stars: Lupita Nyong'o, Pedro Pasca, Catherine O'Hara, Kit Connor, Bill Nighy, Stephanie Hsu, Matt Berry, Ving Rhames, Mark Hamill)

Full review

Will & Harper (Will And Harper)

Review preview

Greenbaum pinpoints the tension between the hate eating away at parts of US society and the tremendous potential that the country still has.

Jennie Kermode · 5 out of 5

When Will Ferrell finds out his close friend of 30 years is coming out as a trans woman, the two decide to embark on a cross-country road trip to process this new stage of their relationship in an intimate portrait of friendship, transition, and America.

(Country: US; Year: 2024; Director: Josh Greenbaum; Stars: Will Ferrell, Harper Steele)

Full review

From this strand

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For fans of martial arts cinema, this is a must see.

Jennie Kermode · 4 out of 5

Review preview

The film is like a Chinese box. There are secrets within secrets within secrets.

Angus Wolfe Murray · 3.5 out of 5

Baby Assassins: Nice Days and Nine Queens

The Workout

After a tragic mob hit, an army ranger loses his wife. Consumed by vengeance, he abandons his workout video plans to relentlessly hunt down the mobsters responsible.

(Country: US; Year: 2024; Director: James Cullen Bressack; Writer: James Cullen Bressack, David Josh Lawrence; Stars: Galadriel Stineman, Josh Kelly, Maurice LaMarche, Jesse Kove, Augie Duke, Anna Harr)

Zénithal

Together for ten years, Francis and Sonia no longer understand each other. While they try to save their relationship, Francis finds himself accused of the murder of his former rival Ti-Kong.

(Country: France; Year: 2024; Director: Jean-Baptiste Saurel; Writer: Jean-Baptiste Saurel, Elodie Wallace; Stars: Vanessa Guide, Franc Bruneau, Cyril Gueï, Xavier Lacaille)

From this strand

Review preview

Powered by strong acting performances ... The Black Hole surfs through various genres smoothly.

Marko Stojiljkovic · 3.5 out of 5

Review preview

To see it on any screen other than the biggest you can is to do yourself a disservice, and to miss it is to miss a masterpiece.

Andrew Robertson · 5 out of 5

The Black Hole and The Fall

Programme

Apartment 7A

Baby Invasion

Big Top Pee-Wee

Binary

The Birthday

Body Odyssey

Bring Them Down

Carnival Of Blood

Chain Reactions

Daniela Forever

Dead Talents Society (Gui Cai Zhi Dao)

Disembodied

Don't Mess With Grandma (Sunset Superman)

The Draft

Dragon Dilatation

Ebony And Ivory

Else

Escape From The 21st Century (Cong 21 Shi Ji An Quan Che Li)

Gazer

Ghost Killer

Girl Internet Show

Heads Or Fails (Aimer Perdre)

Heresy (Witte Wieven)

House Of Spoils

Ick

The Incredibly Strange Creatures Who Stopped Living And Became Mixed-Up Zombies

I, the Executioner

Little Bites

Mac And Me

The Mission (Cheung Foh)

Mr. Crocket

Night Call (La Nuit Se Traîne)

Planet B (Planète B)

Queens Of Drama (Les Reines du drame)

Raze

The Remarkable Life Of Ibelin

Respati (Malam Pencabut Nyawa)

Satan War

The Spirit Of Halloweentown

Touched By Eternity

Universal Language

What Happened To Dorothy Bell?

The Workout

Zénithal

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