I Spent 10 Days at the Fantasia Film Festival. Here Are 10 Films To Watch Out For

What makes a film festival — or a film, for that matter — “genre?” As a category, it’s more about what you leave out than what you put in: Although horror, science fiction, and fantasy have always been at the core of its programming, at the Fantasia International Film Festival, you’ll also find crime thrillers, martial arts adventures, supernatural romances, and deeply weird surrealist comedies. About the only thing you won’t find are straightforward dramas — unless they also happen to involve werewolves, or maybe an infamous true-crime case.

This ethos has sustained Fantasia through three decades, and last month the festival celebrated its 30th edition with headliners that included Her Private Hell, Teenage Sex and Death at Camp Miasma, The Samurai and the Prisoner, and Hot Spot — all previously covered here at Inverse. Beyond the marquee titles, however, navigating the Fantasia lineup can be intimidating: Stretched out over three weeks and featuring more than 100 short and feature films, it can be difficult to navigate without a guide. Luckily, Inverse spent 10 days in Montreal checking out this year’s offerings, and is here with 10 new movies to watch out for from Fantasia 2026.

Ancestral Beasts

Ancestral Beasts director Tim Riedel is a member of the Red River Mètis nation, and the Indigenous cast and crew of this Canadian creature feature bring fresh eyes to a style of horror we’ve seen a lot over the past decade. Here, a run-down country cabin stands in for generations of trauma and mental illness, as Elyse (Morgan Holstrom), a young Indigenous woman, retreats to her aunt’s place for some quiet amid her own mounting mental-health issues. There, she comes face to face with the monsters that have tormented her family for generations — one of which takes a truly ingenious form that I’ve never seen before. And I’ve seen a lot of monster movies.

Corpus

The best straightforward horror movie at this year’s Fantasia comes from New York City, where director Corrin Evans draws inspiration from the city’s legendary ‘90s nightlife scene for a twisted tale of erotic obsession laced with occult body horror. Sayo (Jeff Wahlberg) is living his life as a nightlife photographer (read: drug dealer) at a downtown club when Vince (Brodie Townsend), his old friend and former secret hookup, shows up unexpectedly and invites Sayo to a party at his favorite photographer’s country estate. The mind games escalate, and so does the sexual tension. Then a 1 percent type puts on a metal mask with a long, pointed beak that’s straight out of a Hellraiser movie, and things start to get really weird.

Dance Freak

Alan Resnick’s approach to comedy can be indistinguishable from horror, which makes his and co-director Robby Rackleff’s vibes-based experimental feature Dance Freak a natural fit for Fantasia. Fans of alt-comedy will recognize some familiar faces drifting through the film’s bizarre, Eraserhead-esque black-and-white world: SNL’s Sarah Sherman, Bugonia’s Stavros Halkias, and Connor O’Malley all appear in supporting roles. Rackleff stars as the titular Dance Freak, whose already violent alienation only increases after he’s possessed by an electrifying urge to twist and shake in freaky ways. But be forewarned: This movie is for a very specific type of person, the kind who knows who both Michael Snow and Neil Hamburger are. If that’s not you, then boogie on elsewhere.

The Last Jiangshi

Mr. Vampire meets What We Do in the Shadows in this droll mockumentary directed by Yu Chih-chieh, a recent film-school graduate from Taiwan. Expect to hear more from Yu in the future, as this short film (screened with the new Junji Ito TV adaptation) was among the most charming and entertaining movies of any length to play at this year’s Fantasia. Fans of Chinese “hopping vampire” movies will find lots of loving nods to the genre, but the clever editing, bold use of real locations — including the Forbidden City in Beijing — and appealing blend of hangout vibes, silly supernatural comedy, and poignant goodbyes make it accessible to newbies as well.

The Last Temptation of Becky

In the bloody conclusion to action’s most unlikely trilogy, Becky (Lulu Wilson) has evolved from a young hellion into a full-fledged CIA asset. Her volatility is put to violent and satisfying use when she is sent on a mission to find out what General Wilhelm Reuss (Neil Patrick Harris) and his suspiciously Aryan family are really up to at their compound in the Polish countryside. As it turns out, if it walks like a Nazi and talks like a Nazi, it is indeed a Nazi, which allows viewers to revel in the squirting, squelching bloodbath that follows guilt-free. Director Jenn Wexler has a talent for directing visceral scenes of violence, which makes her an asset to this chaotic and pulpy tale.

The Leader

One of those dramas that’s dark enough to play at a genre festival, The Leader dramatizes the story of the Heaven’s Gate cult from its free-spirited origins to its tragic end. Tim Blake Nelson and Vera Farmiga star as Marshall Applewhite and Bonnie Nettles, a.k.a. Do and Ti, whose strange, intense bond won them followers who were willing to follow them to the stars (or so they believed). Soon, however, the emphasis shifts to the experiences of two rank-and-file members played by Jim Parsons and Simon Rex, each cast against type in his own interesting way. Those who are familiar with the story can guess where and how this tips into horror, but even true-crime heads will be shocked by the sobering, matter-of-fact finale.

Levitating

The unclassifiable Levitating takes place within the esoteric world of trance parties, shamanic events where participants allow themselves to be possessed by animal spirits to the hypnotic sounds of traditional Indonesian music. Bayu (Angga Yunanda) is trying to make it as a flute player in this colorful world, but his rise to the top is threatened by a group of developers led by Bayu’s own father. The ‘80s-style “save the rec center” plot keeps Levitating grounded even as the dance sequences literally spin out into stunning, ecstatic fantasy worlds, and its smart blend of cultural specificity and universal themes makes this under-the-radar movie well worth seeking out as it continues its travels on the festival circuit.

Nightborn

Postpartum horror movies are a relatively new phenomenon, but it’s still nice to see a fresh spin on the concept like Nightborn, the second feature from Hatching director Hanna Bergholm. Rupert Grint co-stars alongside Finnish actress Seidi Haarla, who brings a feral energy to her role as a new mother whose bond with her newborn takes a bizarre turn after the baby — which initially refused to nurse — decides that he prefers blood to milk. Creatures from Finnish folklore combine with cultural commentary on the unique demands of modern motherhood, until it’s just mom and her monstrous baby against the world. Nightborn is already streaming on Shudder, making it the most accessible title on this list as well.

When You Open the Door

A film of both great gentleness and roaring ferocity, Japanese director Eriko Katagiri has constructed a truly unique werewolf movie with When You Open the Door. Miki (Serena Motola) struggles to fit in. She’s always felt different, a sensation that increases after she’s attacked by an unseen creature on her lunch break one day. Her boyfriend wants to find out what’s wrong with her, but Miki feels drawn to a cult of elderly female shamans who worship the moon. At one of their rituals, they tell Miki that she’s the recipient of an extraordinary gift, prompting a life-changing transformation. Katagiri’s film works both as a folk-horror movie and as a metaphor for the daily struggles of neurodivergent people, both of which are handled with unusual sensitivity.

You Are the Film

Sure, it’s within the hyper-specific world of microbudget Japanese time-loop comedies. But Makoto Ueda is a celebrity. Over the past several years, Ueda’s name has appeared in the credits of a string of charming sci-fi indies like River and Beyond the Infinite Two Minutes, all based around the same loopy (sorry) concept. Ueda graduates from screenwriter to director with You Are the Film, the story of two struggling artists who find themselves the protagonists of the other person’s movie as well as their own lives when they decide to duck into a cinema on a slow afternoon. The nods to Tokyo’s microcinema culture are charming, and the inventiveness of Ueda’s execution will inspire you to go out and make a movie of your own.

The 2026 edition of the Fantasia International Film Festival took place from July 16-August 2 2026.