Junta Yamaguchi’s brilliantly clever Beyond the Infinite Two Minutes is my favorite film of Fantasia 2021 so far. A high-concept, single-take masterwork that melds small stakes sci-fi with lighthearted sweetness, it spins intricate gears inside a deceptively simple framework. Beyond the Infinite Two Minutes pushes lo-fi, low-budget filmmaking to its absolute limit. Minor spoilers ahead…

A cynical, rage-fueled film carried by its no-holds-barred violence, gore, and depravity, Rob Jabbaz’s The Sadness is the most difficult watch of 2021’s Fantasia Festival. Crossing lines and spilling copious amounts of blood, Jabbaz’s feature-length debut strikes at the heart of our depraved, animal nature. For better or worse, The Sadness is like no zombie movie you’ve seen before. Minor spoilers ahead…

The Night House flips the script on haunted abodes with chilling efficiency. Powered by a singular, wrenching performance from Rebecca Hall, director David Bruckner’s latest explores the spaces between terrifying, grief-fueled dreamscapes. Minor spoilers ahead…

My 2021 Fantasia Festival coverage begins here! Hong Kong action maestro Benny Chan’s final film, Raging Fire, kicks things off with an injection of adrenaline. The tale of two men on opposite sides of the law barreling towards a bloody, knives-out confrontation, Chan’s swan song is a throwback to old-school action cinema - even its rote story and sleepy lead performance can’t stop the barrage of brutal, steel-fisted violence. Minor spoilers ahead…

Once again, I have the privilege of being invited as accredited press to Fantasia Festival, North America’s largest genre film festival. With a larger focus on Asian genre cinema and some eye-popping premieres, this year’s festival will undoubtedly be a cinematic feast. This page will be your portal to my coverage, a full list of all of my Fantasia Festival 2021 film reviews. All reviews in viewing order…

Bryan Bertino’s new possession horror film, The Dark and the Wicked, is a merciless gauntlet of grief, trauma, and violence. Centered around a nerve-fraying performance by Marin Ireland, the film is rife with effective scares and blistering violence that become increasingly heavy. The Dark and the Wicked is birds of a feather with the director’s cult debut, The Strangers, and while the film takes the home invasion concept to a new place, it struggles to rekindle its predecessor’s razor-sharp tautness. Minor spoilers ahead…

A cleverly affecting mix of environmental and cosmic horror, The McManus brothers’ The Block Island Sound is one of the best surprises of Fantasia Festival this year. With its standout performances and adroit pacing, the film ratchets up a creeping atmosphere of dread and paranoia, all in service of a powerful allegory for mental illness, inherited ailments, and the deteriorating state of our world.

Deeper and more pensive than your average video game adaptation, John Hsu’s Detention aims to shine a revealing light on a violent and oft-ignored time period in Taiwanese history. A love story, a horror movie, and a political thriller all wrapped up in a single package, the film delivers a stirring history lesson and an incisive commentary on the evils of authoritarianism, but its fractured and ride-the-rails ghost story does it no favors. Minor spoilers ahead…

One of a handful of documentary features in this year’s Fantasia Festival lineup, Feels Good Man chronicles the evolution (or devolution) of an innocuous cartoon character into an uncontrollable symbol of racism, misogyny, and the alt-right. As told by documentarian Arthur Jones, the film paints a tragic portrait of meme culture and of artist Matt Furie as he grapples with his corrupted creation. Despite some odd pacing and a tonally inconsistent focus on Furie himself, Feels Good Man is a timely and gripping examination of the dark side of the web. Minor spoilers ahead…

The only anthology in Fantasia Festival’s 2020 lineup, director Ryan Spindell’s The Mortuary Collection is a haunting love letter to vintage horror and the pulp comics that inspire it. With Clancy Brown chewing up the scenery just like the horror hosts of yore, the film delightfully reaches back to recall the frightful morality plays of Tales from the Crypt and Creepshow. Expertly crafted and gorgeous to boot, The Mortuary Collection is the most fun I’ve had at Fantasia so far, and a film that will likely be a Halloween mainstay for years to come. Minor spoilers ahead…

My coverage of Fantasia Festival 2020 continues with director Ivo Van Aart’s dark satirical comedy, The Columnist. The tale of a writer driven to murder by Internet trolls, the film is a timely modern-day parable about the power of words and one woman’s swath of bloody vengeance when she pierces the veil of online anonymity. In the titular role, Katja Herbers puts forth a wicked performance that is pure fun and catharsis, but The Columnist leaves a fair amount on the table, rarely venturing past the surface to get its kicks. Minor spoilers ahead…

Our coverage of 2020’s Fantasia Film Festival begins here! With Fried Barry, director Ryan Kruger expands his hit short film of the same name into a feature length fever dream of violent and near-pornographic absurdity. Not everyone will vibe with the film’s provocative vision, but Fried Barry is anchored by a mesmerizing performance from Gary Green and a rollicking improvisational momentum. Minor spoilers ahead…