The 29th Edition of the Fantasia International Film Festival is now underway, featuring an electrifying program of screenings, workshops, and events from July 17 to August 3, 2025.
The Fantasia International Film Festival is back, and its 29th Edition offers an eye-popping array of premieres that demonstrate the breadth and diversity of fantasy, science fiction, horror, and thriller filmmaking worldwide.
Fantasia’s 29th edition will open with a special screening of Ari Aster’s Eddington. In May of 2020, a standoff between a small-town sheriff (Joaquin Phoenix) and mayor (Pedro Pascal) sparks a powder keg as neighbour is pitted against neighbour in Eddington, New Mexico. Also featuring Austin Butler, Emma Stone, Luke Grimes, Deirdre O’Connell, Michael Ward, and Clifton Collins Jr., Eddington is Aster’s fourth feature in an extraordinary filmography of landmarks, following Hereditary, Midsomer, and Beau is Afraid.
Steve Pink’s Terrestrial is a provocative thriller with unconventional comedy and sci-fi elements, still rooted in character and behaviour, but filtered through paranoia and fear. A reunion weekend spirals out of control for four college friends when the host (Jermaine Fowler), a science fiction writer on the verge of newfound success, fights to maintain his sense of reality in the face of sudden, uncanny dangers. Fowler is brilliant here and is flanked by a cast that includes James Morosini (I Love My Dad), Pauline Chalamet (Sex Life of College Girls), Edy Modica (Jury Duty), with Rob Yang (Succession) and Brendan Hunt (Ted Lasso).
The 29th Edition of Fantasia International Film Festival – Terrestrial
Prolific producer/writer/director/MacGyver Kenichi Ugana (The Gesuidouz) shares his love for Independent horror filmmaking and underground culture in the smart, hilarious, and deeply touching romantic comedy I Fell in Love with a Z-Grade Director in Brooklyn. Fans of Jim Jarmusch, Kevin Smith, and obscure horror gems alike will adore this soulful and somehow quite bloody rom-com!
Julie Pacino plunges us into a vibrant and nightmarish psychodrama that reverberates with echoes of David Lynch, Dario Argento, and the Coen brothers in I Live Here Now, and Kurtis David Harder takes us to the South of France with dark persuasions and fatal outcomes in Influencers. Meanwhile, Tato Yotsuba and manga artist Ryo Ogawa meddle with reincarnation as Zhuge Kongmin, the legendary military strategist of China’s War of the Three Kingdoms, is reincarnated in modern-day Tokyo in Ya Boy Kongmin! The Movie.
The 29th Edition of Fantasia International Film Festival – I Fell in Love with a Z-Grade Director in Brooklyn
In Hold the Fort, outrageous circumstances, and plenty of stylish splatstick see humans and inhumans dispatched in gruesome, giggle-worthy ways, with heaps of spurting, splashing gore and a nonstop parade of practically created creatures and zombies. Meanwhile, Alice Maio Mackay returns to Fantasia with The Serpent’s Skin, a supernatural romance that follows Anna, a young woman who leaves her transphobic small town, and develops a romance with a tattoo artist with whom she shares a supernatural connection. After accidentally unleashing a demon, they must work together to defeat the evil that’s killing their friends.
The 29th Edition of Fantasia International Film Festival – Foreigner
Todd Wiseman Jr’s The School Duel, winner of the 50th Anniversary Canal+ jury award at the 2024 Deauville Film Festival, takes us into a dystopian near-future in the “Free State of Florida,” where gun control is outlawed, and school shootings are at an all-time high. Meanwhile, in her debut feature film, Foreigner, Ava Maria Safai expertly harnesses the power of identity, social acceptance, horror, and comedy. It’s 2004, and Iranian immigrant Yasamin, also known as Yasi, is the new girl in school. Desperate for acceptance, she dyes her hair blonde and, in doing so, also attracts a demonic force. With a fun retro setting, great performances by Rose Dehgan as Yasi, Chloë MacLeod as the creepy high school “Queen Bee” Rachel, and a blend of our favourite teen horrors, Foreingner takes up space as a new entry to “bubblegum horror,” bringing a fresh narrative to the Canadian immigrant experience.
If you have felt the super-wealthy are above the law, The Verdict is the film for you! Raka, an elite court security guard played by the excellent Rio Dewanto, sees it every day—trust-fund babies escaping consequences thanks to their family’s influence, shady lawyers, and an overall corrupt system. When his pregnant wife is murdered by an affluent young man flexing his invulnerability, the trial is nothing but another masquerade, and Raka takes it upon himself to deliver justice. The class divide has rarely been exposed in such an impactful and satisfying fashion.
Chloé Cinq-Mars returns to the festival with her debut feature, Nesting. Delving into the quiet horrors of early motherhood, the film opens with a scream in the night. Pénélope (Rose-Marie Perreault), a new mother grappling with sleep deprivation and postpartum depression, finds herself unable to separate dreams from reality. After witnessing a violent hold-up in a convenience store, her already fragile psyche begins to crack. Sensitive and haunting, Nesting offers an intimate, unsettling portrait of a mother unravelling. What emerges is a chilling and deeply human exploration of identity, isolation, and the aching silence surrounding maternal mental health.
Rewriting the time loop tale, Fantasia alumni Daigo Matsui returns this year with another hit, collaborating with talented screenwriter Ueda Makoto, who previously worked with Junta Yamaguchi on Fantasia-favourite time-loop films Beyond the Infinite Two Minutes (2021) and River (2023). Rewrite brings fresh ideas to the beloved genre, challenging and playing with its audience’s minds. Transfer student Yasuhiko has had an amazing 21 days with Miyuki, and their shared secret—that Yasuhiko comes from the future—binds them even closer. This seemingly cute, slightly sad, coming-of-age time-travelling romance somehow doesn’t work the way it should, though. What could be wrong? Are there more secrets to come? If you had the chance, would you rewrite your past?
The 29th Edition of Fantasia International Film Festival – Rewrite
It’s back to reality with the emotional and powerful Fragment, which follows the lives of two teenagers intertwined in a devastating way. Jun-gang (Oh Ja-hun) takes care of his little sister while being threatened with eviction, while Gi-su (Moon Seong-hyun) lives alone since his father was killed… by Jun-gang’s father. Will they be able to resist the vicious cycle brought on by such a sordid crime? Fragment explores pain, trauma, and conflict in a profound and intense way that stays with you long after the credits roll. With this shattering first feature, which pondered the heartbreaking choice between vengeance and redemption with acute maturity, writer/director Kim Sung-yoon has already achieved significant success on the festival circuit, receiving three prizes at the World Premiere of his film at the Busan International Film Festival in 2024 and another win in Florence in 2025. Carried by the stellar performances of three exceptional young actors, this dramatic suspense story is sure to leave no one indifferent.
In Good Boy, a curious and resourceful dog senses that something supernatural is threatening his owner in this one-of-a-kind ghost story. Featuring one of the greatest canine performances in movie history, Good Boy is already one of the most talked-about genre films of 2025, and for good reason. Meanwhile, in Haunted Mountains: The Yellow Taboo, a couple’s peaceful hiking trip takes a wrong turn and becomes a nightmare when a mysterious force targets Yu Hsin, repeatedly taking her life in horrifying ways. Also set in the mountains and forests of North America, filmmaker Alexandra Elkin follows two seasoned climbers in their seventies, Jack Lambert and Dierdre Wolownick, who push the boundaries of age in the extreme sport of climbing in Au Pied Du Mur.
The 29th Edition of Fantasia International Film Festival – Fragment
Closing Fantasia 2025 is Genndy Tartakovsky’s Fixed, an adult animated comedy that’s lewd, rude, raunchy, and riotously funny. Tartakovsky carries the torch forward for the finest craftsmen of classic TV cartoon foolishness, recalling Chuck Jones, Tex Avery, and Hanna-Barbera, although they never got away with anything as outrageous as Fixed! Bull (Adam Devine) is a lovable mutt and loyal companion to his pack, including the brawny boxer Rocco (Idris Elba), the pretentious dachshund Fetch (Fred Armisen), and the neurotic beagle Lucky (Bobby Moynihan). He also has a massive crush on Honey (Kathryn Hahn), the sexy show dog next door, but his pride and joy are his magnificent testicles. Alarmed by indications that a trip to the vet looms in his immediate future, the frantic Bull will do anything to delay the inevitable—or at least unleash his carnal impulses while he still can! Genndy Tartakovsky’s Fixed is coming to Fantasia, with its mind in the gutter, its heart in the right place, and its balls entirely intact!
This is only a taster of what the 29th Fantasia Film Festival has to offer, so why not head over to the festival website for the complete lineup of over 125 features and 200+ shorts, and join us here at Cinerama for coverage over the coming weeks.
Follow Us