Movies & TV / Columns
Fantasia International Film Festival 2026 Preview: 20 Films to Look Forward To
Image Credit: MUBI
It’s July, which means it’s time for one of the biggest genre film festivals out there: Fantasia Fest! The Fantasia International Film Festival is back as usual, standing as one of the biggest and most important annual events in North America for fans of horror, science fiction, action and more.
If you’re not familiar (and you should be!), Fantasia has been a launching pad for some of the biggest and most beloved films across the genres of horror, thriller, science fiction, anime, and even drama and romance. From Talk To Me, The Suicide Squad, and Inglorious Basterds to Scott Pilgrim vs. the World and Final Destination 5, there are always major films to come out alongside some of the most important indie and international genre films. Perfect Blue, Red Rooms, Marianne, and many more have bowed at the festival. 2025 saw such films as Undertone, Influencers, Redux Redux, and many other great films debut.
This is a big year for Fantasia, which celebrates its momentous 30th anniversary and runs from July 16th through August 2nd. With over 125 feature films and 200 shorts across the gamut, there are tons of films — many of which are already primed to make splashes very soon. I will once again be providing remote coverage of the festival for 411. Today, we’re going to take a peek at what’s to come as I look at the top 20 films (plus honorable mentions) to look forward to out of the festival.
Honorable Mentions
• Penny Lane Is Dead
• Trauma Or, Monsters All
• Freaks Part II
• Ancestral Beasts
• God Skin
#20: Jim Queen
While many people think of Fantasia for its horror and thriller-related offerings, the festival is also a great opportunity to see unique and exciting voices in comedy and animation. Jim Queen encapsulates both of those genres and is super-queer as an added bonus. European animation studio Bobbypills presents this high-concept comedy from directors Nicolas Athane and Marco Nguyen, which promises a delightfully subversive take on the adult animated comedy.
The film stars the voice talents of Alex Ramirez as a hunk of a man living his best gay life in Paris until he falls victim to a new STI named heterosis, which turns gay men straight. Jim must then embark on a desperate quest for a cure before he loses his physique and develops an interest in sports. Described as “raunchy, campy, and unapologetically queer,” Jim Queen has the potential to delight as an animated comedy while also exploring the challenges, internal and otherwise, facing queer communities.
#19: The Last Footage
While it’s a divisive subgenre of horror, I’m always game to give found footage a try. The gems you find that take an authentic and immersive approach to horror narratives far outweigh the failures as a rule, particularly when they come out of the American studio system. I’ll take a Lake Mungo, [REC], Gonjiam: Haunted Asylum, or Noroi: The Curse any day of the week when it comes to nerve-wracking horror stories.
The Last Footage from director Arkar Soe Oo is billed as Myanmar’s first-ever found footage film and has plenty of potential to be a breakout favorite. The story plans with folk horror elements — another favorite — with a group of six young people traveling from the city to check out an abandoned rubber plantation where things are not what they hoped. The film’s preview teases an avoidance of the typical conventions that turn many off, while still delivering a high-tension experience. I’m always interested in discovering the horror that sits in previously unexplored corners of the international scene and have high hopes for this one.
#18: Tokyo Burst: Crime City
It’s always fun to discover new franchises you never knew existed, something that Fantasia is great for. I had that pleasure in 2024 when I found the Japanese action-comedy franchise Baby Assassins with its third entry and became a major fan of the trilogy.
2026 brings that same kind of franchise discovery potential with Tokyo Burst: Crime City. This spinoff of the Korean franchise The Roundup takes the series to the titular city where a rookie detective (Sota Fukushi) who grew up among the yakuza gets paired with a South Korean special agent (Uhm Ki-joon) to take down a dangerous criminal in the district of Kabukicho. The trailer hints at buddy cop fun and big action sequences, with director Eiji Uchida providing plenty of visual flair. Tokyo Burst looks like it could be the kind of film I’ll be recommending for years after.
#17: Unholy Night
Who doesn’t love a little holiday horror? Chillers set around the holiday season are always welcome, and when they come from the director behind the shorts Get Away and Room Tone, that’s even better. Michael Gabriele’s film centers on the family of Gino (Marc Bendavid), who is trying to navigate his family’s Christmas Eve dinner when his dead grandmother shows up, a harbinger for the undead who are invading the neighborhood.
There’s lots of fun to mine in the high-stress environment of family holiday gatherings, and Unholy Night looks filled with madcap violence and comedic beats based in Italian traditions and zombie fighting. A solid ensemble cast and lots of family tension makes Unholy Night one to keep a real eye on.
#16: Colony
Are you tired of horror films about biotech companies that cause a zombie-like outbreak? Because I’m not. Yes, it’s a well-known story trope at this point, but that’s because it’s a tried-and-true formula. There’s something about these films that, when they can pull off the action beats correctly, keep me consistently on the edge of my seat.
And when they’re coming from Yeon Sang-ho, the director of Train From Busan, that’s even better. Yeon’s Colony looks to put a very bloody escalation to the propulsive action that elevated Train to Busan above your run-of-the-mill zombie film. It helps that these zombies aren’t just hungry, hungry humans — the trailer and synopsis tease some nasty transformation and mutation elements to its monsters. Busan was an instant favorite for a reason, and if Yeon can deliver even most of what made that film great, this should be a big hit with horror fans.
#15: Los Vampires
I’ve been rather delighted to see vampire films make a comeback after the classic horror monster was kind of driven into the ground in the 2010s. (We’re not going to put the blame on anyone in particular, but you know who you are, Edward.) The 2020s have seen the blood-feeding creatures of the night return not just on a mainstream scale with Sinners, Nosferatu, and Interview with the Vampire but on the indie scene with such gems as Humanist Vampire Seeking Consenting Suicidal Person, The Vourdelak, Empire V, and Slay.
Los Vampires takes its story back to one of the true classics of the genre as it puts a spin on the making of 1931’s Dracula — the Spanish-language one from George Melford, not the Tod Browning one most know and love. The two films were shot on the same sets, and Craig Mitchell’s new film reimagines the tale as a rivalry between the two Dracula actors as murders begin to happen on the sets. Henry Ian Cusick and Thomas Kretschmann look to shine as the two lead actors pitted against each other, with a top-notch cast and a story that brings to mind the kind of meta approach that made Shadow of the Vampire such a delight. Films about Hollywood can sometimes be a drag, but this looks like an absolute blast.
#14: Buddy
The most basic premise of Buddy makes it an instant sell to me: young kids fight a murderous dinosaur mascot in his own fantastical world. Yes, please — inject that straight into my veins. But when you in in that the cast includes Keegan-Michael Key as the titular dino alongside the likes of Cristin Milioti, Michael Shannon, and Patton Oswalt? That makes this even more exciting.
We all know what Buddy is riffing off here, and it’s not the first film to give that big purple dino a subversive take, but it may be the most inventive. Buddy lords over his children co-stars in a world where he’s the master of reality, only to have one of the kids disappear. He sends the others off to find him, all while a mother in the real world starts to get drawn into his universe. The ridiculousness of kids’ programming is always ripe ground for wild horror comedy ideas, and every indication is that this will scratch the nostalgia itch while taking audiences on a wildly entertaining ride.
#13: Insectasy
Sometimes, all you need is a great title. A good synopsis and strong visuals are important, sure. But if you can pull my eyes toward a film by virtue of a name that gives me pause, you have my attention. Case in point: Insectasy. Without knowing anything about this film, that was a title that made me stop and go “Okay, there’s one for the list” as it sounds a little sexy, a lot gross, and just the right level of Cronenbergian “WTF” energy.
Fortunately, that is exactly what Insectasy is promising. Described as a sort of homage to 1970s erotic thrillers — a personal favorite subgenre — Angus Silver’s film centers on Sadie, a woman who is trying to juggle the responsibilities in her life with an erotic fascination for bugs. The trailer leans hard into that 1970s aesthetic and doesn’t hold back on the insect shots. Fantasia calls the film one that’s made for fans of Dario Argento’s buggy Phenomena and Lucky McKee’s psychological thriller May, and I’m guilty as charged. I may not be into bugs the way Tirion Healy’s Sadie is, but I have a strong inclination that I’ll be very into this
#12: Junction Row
Katherine Isabelle is a horror favorite, having made her name in such films as Ginger Snaps, American Mary, Freddy vs. Jason, not to mention the TV adaptation of Hannibal. When Isabelle is headlining a genre film, you know at the very least it’s going to be worth giving a chance to. And when that film is co-written and directed by Ashlea Wessel of the impressive shorts Tick and Weirdo, all the better.
Junction Row centers on Isabelle’s Juno, an army veteran who has entered addiction recovery. When her former dealer tells her that old friend Ruby (Natalie Brown) is in trouble, she returns to find a new drug in her old housing compound and some nasty little (and big) creatures crawling around. With a script from Wessel, Adam Cesare and Matt Serafini, and a frigid setting, Junction Row looks to be conjuring The Thing vibes with plenty of action and some social commentary to boot.
#11: Village Of Eight Gravestones
Takashi Shimizu is inarguably one of the masters of J-horror, his imprint on the genre made through the Ju-On films and its American remake The Grudge. Shimizu has two films arriving at Fantasia this year in The Mouths and Village of Eight Gravestones. Both look like they’re worth a watch, but Eight Gravestones gets the edge for me by the way it promises to tackle a mix of genres including slashers, folk horror, and detective fiction.
Village of Eight Gravestones is based on the 1950 book by Seishi Yokomizo and centers on the famed Japanese literary detective Kosuke Kindaichi, who investigates a series of murders in a rural village that pop up after a young man named Tatsuya arrives. Tatsuya is the last of his lineage and the villagers believe his line responsible for a curse. As bodies start piling up, it’s up to Kindaichi to discover the source — and whether it’s supernatural in origin. This kind of story is right up Shimizu’s alley, as is its mixture of tones. I love a good mystery, and adding horror elements puts this on my must-see list.
#10: Rubberhead: The Life & Monsters Of Steve Johnson
Some of my favorite documentaries explore the creators behind horror hits. Rubberhead looks very likely to join that list. Steve Johnson may not have the instant name recognition of a Rick Baker, a Stan Winston, a Tom Savini, or a Greg Nicotero, but he’s responsible for some of horror fans’ favorite moments and creations. Slimer, Sil from Species, the demons in Night of the Demons — all creations of Johnson, who worked on some of the greatest special effects-heavy films of all time.
It would be easy for Rubberhead to just run down Johnson’s career highs and lows and call it a day. But director Nick Taylor is just as interested in the man, who has gone through number of personal struggles alongside with his prodigious talent. The film promises to examine both sides of his life, personal and professional, featuring interviews from Johnson himself, his ex-wife Leanna Quigly, John Landis, Tom Holand and more. This feels like a must-watch film for anyone who has a love of practical special effects work — and let’s be honest, who doesn’t have that love?
#9: Nightborn
In addition to helping films secure distribution, Fantasia serves as a fantastic venue to build hype films that are about to make their way to audiences. Nightborn is a perfect example of this. Shudder picked up Hanna Bergholm’s English language debut last month and will be debuting it on the platform on July 31st.
Anyone who has seen Bergholm’s Hatching knows that the director is capable of doing great things in the genre. Her new film centers on Rupert Grint and Seidi Haarla as Jon and Saga, an expecting couple who move to Finland. After their child is born, Saga starts to sense something is wrong with it. Is it a problem with the parents, or with the child? This is the kind of story that tackles a common thread in horror — that of motherhood — and looks to deliver some grisly and bleak results (the best kind, really).
#8: Attack On Paradise
Based on its preview and synopsis, Attack On Paradise looks to capture the kind of wall-to-wall action spectacle that drove audiences wild in The Raid. Bob Colaers directs this film about newly released ex-con Suleyman (Saïd Boumazoughe) in Antwerp, Belgium who returns to his old apartment complex only to find that a drug lord (Achmed Akkabi) has taken over, leading to a police raid. Caught in the middle, Suleyman must team with a rookie cop in order to escape with his mother, fighting bad guy after bad guy in the process.
Boumazoughe co-wrote the film and stands at its center, with the trailer giving us several teases of how much ass he can (and will have to) kick over its tunning time. Where mainstream action films fall into stylistic ruts and become monotonous as a result, you can always count on indie action to throw out the rules and do their own thing. From what Attack on Paradise has shown us thus far, it could easily become a favorite of action fans.
#7: You Are The Film
Anyone who’s followed my coverage of Fantasia over the years knows how much I love the time travel movies of Makoto Ueda. Ueda wrote the delightful trio of Beyond the Infinite In Two Minutes, River, and Rewrite, each of which took a unique approach to time travel and emerged as touching, funny and sometimes dramatic takes on the concept. And with Ueda now stepping behind the camera for his directorial debut, there’s no way I’m not excited for You Are the Film.
With this fantasy-comedy, Ueda centers on a scriptwriter (Marika Ito) and a musician (Kai Inowaki) who find they can watch each other’s lives in real time in a movie theater. They can inexplicably interact with each other through the screen as they get caught inside the narrative as it changes around them. This sort of thing is exactly Ueda’s strength; he knows how to play with wild concepts and turn them into something funny and often profound. You won’t be likely to get any scares or big action out of You Are the Film but if his previous works are any indication, you won’t be disappointed in the slightest.
#6: Drag
Drag is a film that’s been on my radar for a while, following its debut at SXSW back in March. It caught my attention because of the stars, namely genre fave Lizzy Caplan and Little Demon voice actress Lucy DeVito. The two star as sisters who go to steal something from a guy over an offense committed. The problem? The elder sister (Caplan) throws her back out, and the guy (John Stamos) turns out to be more than your run of the mill jerk. It then becomes a fight to escape as Little Sister has to drag (there’s your title!) Big Sister to safety.
The buzz around this comedy thriller has been incredibly high since its premiere and with the cast, it’s not hard to see why. Raviv Ullman and Greg Yagolnitzer are making their feature directorial debuts on the film, which leans hard into the dark comedy and rests heavily on the dynamic between its two stars. Dark comedy is one of the hardest genres to get right, but one of the most rewarding when someone does. All indications are that Drag will fall right in that range, and I am deeply looking forward to it.
#5: Our Effed Up World
If you don’t know who Alice Maio Mackay is, you should. At the age of 21, Mackay already has six previous directorial efforts to her name, each of which have shown her growth by leaps and bounds as she tells genre stories from a queer perspective. Last year’s entry was The Serpent’s Skin, which showed her increasing depth as a storyteller and again left me excited to see where she’s going.
With Our Effed Up World, Mackay puts her singular voice behind the alien invasion genre as Sheri, a woman dealing with the passing of her grandmother, must content with an entity that crashes in the woods. It leads into Sheri and her friends fighting for survival against the creature. Mackay has assembled a great cast including Sara Thompson, Annapurna Sriram, Scott Major, Brandon Flynn and Jack Haven. Anyone looking for a mix of genre thrills with a fiercely non-mainstream DIY style and a deep emotional core will be likely well served by checking this one out.
#4: Black Zombie
Another horror documentary, Black Zombie looks beyond the modern zombie popularized by George Romero, Robert Kirkman and others look at the creature’s horror origins. The zombie film has been a staple of horror since cinema began but has drifted away from its origins in Haitian religious practices. The zombie has always been rooted in social and racial issues, all the way back to White Zombie and I Walked With a Zombie.
Black Zombie is directed by Maya Annik Bedward and began as a project in Fantasia’s Frontieres platform in 2018. The film looks at the origins of the zombie beyond the big screen through the slave trade, the arrival of African religious practices in Haiti and how it was portrayed by European colonialism. Interviews with Tananarive Due, Tom Savini and more promise to make this an engaging and informative film that shines a light on one of the famous movie monsters and its influence on culture, both pop and otherwise.
#3: The Glorious Dead
The rules are simple: if The Adams Family have a film coming out, I will be seeing it at my earliest opportunity. I’ve spoken at length in the past about my admiration for this filmmaking family, who are bring their DIY efforts to such stellar films as Hellbender, Where The Devil Roams, and Hell Hole. Their independent sensibilities are not necessarily for everyone, but their talents are impressive to behold regardless.
The Glorious Dead is the latest film from John Adams, Toby Poser, Zelda Adams and Lulu Adams, and it sounds like one of their most ambitious yet. Poser plays a sheriff who, along with their young deputy (Zelda), wake up to find the world changed. People in the small rural town are disappearing, and signs of the apocalypse are making themselves known. The two most try to navigate the situation as the town starts to turn on each other and the dead start to rise. It’s exactly the kind of American gothic tale that the family excels at, which means I’m as good as sat.
#2: The Last Temptation Of Becky
If you’d told me when Becky released in 2020 that it was going to become a trilogy, I would have probably chuckled and said, “If only.” I was a big fan of the bloody Lulu Wilson-starring action thriller, but it didn’t seem like the kind of film that was going to see much life. But 2023’s The Wrath Of Becky set up such a wild next chapter that I couldn’t help but hope we’d get to see it.
And now, it’s delightful to see that we’re finally getting continuation of this series as our titular heroine is working for the CIA and comes head-to-head with another Nazi — this time, much like the last two, played by a star known for his comedic talents in Neil Patrick Harris. Jenn Wexler (The Sacrifice Game) is behind the camera on this one, and Fantasia is promising more action, more gore and more outrageous kills. That’s exactly what I want to hear, and Kate Siegel coming along for the ride in a supporting role is an added bonus. I expect nothing less than a violent, wildly entertaining ride — and plenty of Nazi killing, which is a plus in every situation.
#1: Teenage Sex & Death At Camp Miasma
Teenage Sex & Death At Camp Miasma isn’t just my most anticipated film out of Fantasia Fest — it’s my most anticipated film of the year and has been since 2026 began. I’ve made no secret of my love for Jane Schoenbrun’s cinematic output to date; We’re All Going to the World’s Fair was an amazing breakout film at Fantasia in 2021, and I Saw The TV Glow was one of my favorite films of 2024, one that had a very deep impact on be as a person and showed Schoenbrun’s growth as a filmmaker.
With Teenage Sex & Death At Camp Miasma, Schoenbrun turns their lens on the slasher film for a meta entry that promises to tackle similar themes in a new way. The film follows Kris (Hannah Einbinder), a queer director who is set to direct the reboot of the slasher Camp Miasma that she’s always wanted to make. With the original film’s final girl (Gillian Anderson) on board, she gets obsessed with taking on the problematic franchise to the point that she and her actress descend into a psychosexual mania. The potential is through the roof, the cast is phenomenal (including Jasmin Savoy Brown and Jack Haven), and the buzz out of its Cannes Film Festival premiere has been through the roof. It’s not hard to guess why this is my most anticipated film out of the festival; expect to hear a lot about this, particularly when it arrives in theaters next month.
And there’s my top 20 films to look forward to! But even that is just a smattering of what’s available at Fantasia Fest this year. If you’re interested, you can check out the program here. I’m looking forward to covering it and discussing the films set to come out of it in the next few weeks.
