July 2025 includes the 29th edition of Fantasia International Film Festival and Elements of Madness is delighted to be covering the esteemed fest for the sixth time. EoM Founder Douglas Davidson and EoM Contributors Justin Waldman and AJ Friar are covering the festival remotely this year and have put together a list of titles they hope to cover, plus a few that the site already has that will be screening during the festival.
**These recommendations are primarily based on reading the summaries and finding them intriguing. If we’re able to cover (or EoM has covered previously), the titles will be hyperlinked with a review – so be sure to check back.**
Fantasia International Film Festival takes place in Montreal, Québec, Canada from July 17th – August 3rd, 2025.
All You Need Is Kill
Official Synopsis:
Set in the year 20XX, All You Need Is Kill follows the story of Rita, a resourceful but isolated young woman volunteering to help rebuild Japan after the mysterious appearance of a massive alien flower known as “Darol.” When Darol unexpectedly erupts in a deadly event, unleashing monstrous creatures that decimate the population, Rita is caught in the destruction—and killed. But then she wakes up again. And again. Caught in an endless time loop, Rita must navigate the trauma and repetition of death until she crosses paths with Keiji, a shy young man trapped in the same cycle. Together, they fight to break free from the loop and find meaning in the chaos around them.
Anna Kiri
Official Synopsis:
A young delinquent narrowly escapes a violent altercation with a local gangster after a robbery gone wrong. Anna (Catherine Brunet, FARADOR, IN MEMORIAM) seizes the chance to turn her life around, but soon realizes the price of freedom is high and the past is not so easily left behind.
Blazing Fists
Official Synopsis:
When Ikuto and Ryoma attend a lecture by a martial artist Mikuru Asakura at a juvenile reformatory, the speech lingers in Ikuto’s mind. Wanting to meet the fighter again, Ikuto decides to participate in Breaking Down, the fighting sport tournament held by Mikuru.
Buffet Infinity
Official Synopsis:
Picking from hundreds of hours of original, low-budget TV ads, Simon Glassman tells the sinister tale of two restaurants battling it out in the town of Westridge County. Insurance ads, used car rivals, and plugs for a local religious scholar and recording artist, Langdon P. Hershey, all converge to tell the story of an expanding sinkhole, a cult, and an ever-growing restaurant that becomes unsettlingly sentient.
Burning
Official Synopsis:
One stormy night, a fire engulfs a family home. In a nearby convenience store, neighbors gossip and speculate: was it black magic, a woman’s madness, or a man crushed by life?
A scene from BURNING. Photo courtesy of Fantasia International Film Festival.
ChaO
Official Synopsis:
From acclaimed Japanese animation production house Studio 4°C comes a wild romantic comedy and true “fish out of water” story. In a futuristic world where humans and mermaids coexist, ChaO follows Stephan, a mild-mannered office worker at a shipbuilding company, whose life is upended when he is suddenly proposed to by Chao — a princess from the mermaid kingdom. With no time to make sense of what’s happening, Stephan soon finds himself living with the unpredictable, wholehearted Chao. As her sincere love begins to break down his emotional barriers, an unexpected and touching romance begins to unfold.
Dog of God
Official Synopsis:
In a 17th-century Swedish Livonian village, constant rain and drunkenness prevail. When a stolen relic sparks witchcraft accusations, an 80-year-old self-proclaimed werewolf named the Dog of God arrives with a mysterious gift: The Devil’s Balls. This triggers a chain of unexpected events that climaxes in a wild sexual rave party, transforming the village into a frenzy of unleashed desires.
Every Heavy Thing
Official Synopsis:
Set against the unsettling backdrop of a string of disappearances, the film follows Joe (Josh Fadem, Better Call Saul), an unassuming office worker at an online periodical who becomes entangled in a conspiracy after witnessing a murder. As a colleague begins to investigate, Joe struggles to conceal the truth as his carefully constructed life falls apart. With his signature blend of lo-fi aesthetics and sharp, high-concept wit, Reece delivers another visionary exploration of Oklahoma and a darkly comic meditation on the fractured American soul.
Find Your Friends
Official Synopsis:
Set against cinematic desert scenery, what starts as a wild girls trip quickly turns dangerous when the locals don’t want them there. As the hostile environment escalates, Amber’s friends uncover her past trauma and become fed up with toxic dynamics. Little do they know, their fun trip will transform into one of revenge—building to a jaw-dropping finale that audiences will never forget.
A scene from FIND YOUR FRIENDS. Photo courtesy of Fantasia International Film Festival.
Fixed
Official Synopsis:
Bull (Adam Devine) is a lovable mutt and loyal buddy to his pack, including brawny boxer Rocco (Idris Elba), pretentious dachshund Fetch (Fred Armisen), and 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!
Flush
Official Synopsis:
Middle-aged coke fiend Luke (R. Jonathan Lambert of Quentin Dupieux’s Reality) has gone to confront his ex at the club where she works, determined to somehow win back her love. One thing leads to another and he soon finds himself wedged firmly in a toilet, effectively trapped in a bathroom stall – with a heap of drugs that he stole from the bar’s resident dealer. He’s soon found, setting off an increasingly crazy series of events as Luke’s world is assailed from every conceivable direction in a bizarro race against time that will leave you gasping for air.
The Forbidden City
Official Synopsis:
The son of an indebted restaurant owner joins a foreign girl in search of her sister. Together, they’ll have to fight side by side against the most ruthless members of the Roman criminal underworld.
Foreigner
Official Synopsis:
It’s 2004, and Iranian immigrant Yasamin, or Yasi, is the new girl. Her high school experience is daunting, as she tries to improve her English by watching her favorite sitcom and befriends a trio of pastel-clad girls who feed Yasi’s need to fit in. Desperate for acceptance, she dyes her hair blonde and, in doing so, also attracts a demonic force.
The Girl Who Stole Time
Official Synopsis:
A girl from a humble fishing village gains the extraordinary ability to stop time through a coveted magical device. Embarking on a thrilling adventure with newfound friends, she explores a fantastical city filled with wonder and danger.
Good Boy
Official Synopsis:
Do you ever wonder why your dog stares at empty corners, barks for no reason, or refuses to go into the basement? Good Boy is the story of a dog who sees everything that goes bump in the night. No talking pets, just terrifying scares.
Shane Jensen as Todd in GOOD BOY. Photo courtesy of What’s Wrong With Your Dog? LLC.
Good Game
Official Synopsis:
Tai is the middle-aged owner of an Internet cafe, but unfortunately, it’s not doing so well. It’s mostly empty, especially because, as his landlord points out, kids play games on their phones nowadays. He decides to participate in the Hong Kong One Shot Esports tournament and hopefully win the grand-prize money to save his business. To qualify, he needs to be part of a team, so he recruits Solo, a recently fired esports player facing a decline in his career; Fay, who started working at Tai’s Internet cafe after not lasting long at her previous jobs; and former movie star Octo, who plays games with his elderly wife to help her exercise her brain and fight the degeneration process. Together, they call themselves Happy Hour, and they’ll combine their strengths in gaming to win this fierce competition. It ain’t over till it’s game over!
Hellcat
Official Synopsis:
Lena wakes up in a moving camper trailer with a horrifying wound. She’s warned by the driver that they have one hour to get to a doctor, or she’ll succumb to an unimaginably awful fate. As the pain sets in and reality begins to fray, who should really be afraid? Dakota Gorman (Natural Disasters) delivers a blistering performance in this tense, mind-bending horror where survival cuts both ways.
Hi-Five
Official Synopsis:
In the dead of night, a body donated for organ transplants mysteriously disintegrates into ashes. Soon after, five recipients, given a heart, corneas, lungs, liver, and kidneys, begin to develop supernatural powers. A teenage girl gains immense strength, a hipster manipulates electromagnetic waves, a novelist summons powerful gusts, a factory manager can heal others, and a woman discovers a strange, still-unidentified ability. Together, they form a reluctant but heroic team known as “HI-FIVE.” But they aren’t the only ones transformed. A cult leader who received the donor’s pancreas gains the terrifying power to drain life energy and sets his sights on stealing the abilities of HI-FIVE to achieve godlike domination.
Hold the Fort
Official Synopsis:
Hold the Fort follows Lucas and Jenny who think their life is finally coming together when the couple become homeowners. Little do they know that their new house comes with a big catch. Lucas and Jenny soon find themselves in a fight for their lives when they become trapped in a battle between their Homeowners Association and an onslaught of monsters from hell. The horror-comedy takes the timely concern of home-ownership and wraps this up in an entertaining action-packed thrill ride.
Holy Night: Demon Hunters
Official Synopsis:
Starring Don Lee as Bau, the leader of a secret team known as Holy Night, that hunts down demon-worshipping cults threatening Seoul. Alongside Sharon (Seohyun), who can detect and exorcise demons, and Kim-kun (David Lee), their tactical support, the team faces a rising evil. When psychiatrist Jung-Won (Kyung Soo-Jin) seeks their help to save her younger sister Eun-Seo (Jung Ji-So) from demonic possession, the mission becomes more dangerous than ever.
Honeko Akabane’s Bodyguards
Official Synopsis:
Koneko has a 10 billion yen bounty on her head. Ibuki, her childhood friend turned bodyguard, must protect her incognito. Unexpectedly, all his classmates are assigned as her covert bodyguards.
I Am Frankelda
Official Synopsis:
In 19th-century Mexico, Frankelda is a gifted writer whose dark tales are ignored and dismissed. Forced to suppress her voice, she refuses to give up, even as many try to silence her. But when she is thrust into her subconscious, the very monsters she created come to life. Guided by Herneval, a tormented prince trapped between dreams and nightmares, she must restore balance between fiction and reality before both realms collapse. Meanwhile, the sinister writer Procustes and his conspirators plot to seize control. As Frankelda and Herneval grow closer, their bond becomes both a strength and a curse. To rewrite their fate, she must confront a love that defies existence and reclaim her power as a storyteller—before dark forces consume her imagination and reveal horrors beyond her creation.
I Fell in Love with a Z-Grade Director in Brooklyn
Official Synopsis:
When a fed-up Japanese actress dives headfirst into Brooklyn’s no-budget horror underground, she finds herself in a world of fake guts, real weirdos, and unexpected inspiration.
I Live Here Now
Official Synopsis:
In the surreal landscape of I Live Here Now, Rose (Lucy Fry), a struggling actress in Los Angeles, is thrown into crisis by an unexpected pregnancy. Believed to be infertile due to childhood trauma, she’s forced to confront a future she never thought possible, just as a major career opportunity with top agent Cindy Abrams (Cara Seymour) comes into view.
Things spiral further when her casual boyfriend, Travis (Matt Rife), and his overbearing mother (Sheryl Lee) weigh in, pushing Rose to the brink.
She flees to The Crown Inn, a crumbling motel at the edge of nowhere, where time fractures and reality bends. Haunted by sleep paralysis, splintered memories, and eerie motel dwellers, especially the enigmatic Lillian (Madeline Brewer), Rose begins to unravel.
To move forward, she must confront a buried truth her body has never forgotten.
A scene from I LIVE HERE NOW. Photo courtesy of Fantasia International Film Festival.
Juliet & The King
Official Synopsis:
Complications abound for a lovestruck monarch, a Parisian actress, and her playwright pal bringing Shakespeare to the Persian stage in the charming, animated musical comedy Juliet & The King. Following the bloody, mythic fantasy The Last Fiction (2018), the second feature film from Iranian animator Ashkan Ragozar and his team at Hoorakhsh Studio is something lighter and brighter. It’s a lively historical flight of fancy about Nasser-al-Din Shah, Iran’s first ruler to visit Europe, in 1873, saluting his open mind and appetite for the arts, though Ragozar doesn’t spare him bouts of cartoon buffoonery. The frisky spirit of Shakespeare’s complicated ensemble comedies is ever-present, as are the exquisite delights of classical Persian aesthetics, as Juliet & The King counters the Orientalism in Western animated visions of West Asia and celebrates cross-cultural curiosity with love, laughter, and catchy tunes!
Lifehack
Official Synopsis:
Ronan Corrigan’s thrilling debut feature is a bold new entry into the Screenlife genre. After scamming the daughter (Jessica Reynolds) of a ruthless crypto millionaire, a group of digital troublemakers (Georgie Farmer, Yasmin Finney, Roman Hayeck-Green, and James Scholz) find themselves entangled in a heist for their lives.
A scene from LIFEHACK. Photo courtesy of Fantasia International Film Festival.
Lurker
Official Synopsis:
When twenty-something Los Angeles retail clerk and loner Matthew (Théodore Pellerin) encounters rising pop star Oliver (Saltburn’s Archie Madekwe), he takes the opportunity to edge his way into the in-crowd. But staying there isn’t easy.
With an entire entourage (Bottoms’ Havana Rose Liu, Abbott Elementary’s Zack Fox, Y2K’s Daniel Zolghadri, mid90s’ Sunny Suljic) vying for attention, Matthew must prove himself to Oliver as more than just a follower. As their bond grows strained and mainstream fame appears within reach, access and proximity become a matter of life and death.
Mother of Flies
Official Synopsis:
When a young woman faces a deadly diagnosis, she seeks dark magic from a witch in the woods… but every cure has costs.
A scene from MOTHER OF FLIES. Photo courtesy of Fantasia International Film Festival.
New Group
Official Synopsis:
High school student Ai sees her world collapse when a strange cult-like mentality gradually turns people around her into mindless followers who can transform simple gymnastics routines into a nightmarish dance of death.
Queens of the Dead
Official Synopsis:
The stage is set for a wild night inside a Brooklyn warehouse party boasting drag queens, a fully stocked bar and loud music. But things start off rough with feuding performers, last-minute drop-offs and a highly stressed-out party organizer (Katy O’Brian) who’s struggling to hold everything together. She couldn’t account for the evening’s biggest problem, though: a sudden onslaught of flesh-eating zombies. As if trying to work together to execute a party wasn’t difficult enough, now a motley crew of big personalities and eccentric characters must put their bickering aside and stave off the walking dead outbreak. And then maybe, just maybe, if they can live long enough, it’ll finally be time to party.
A scene from QUEENS OF THE DEAD. Photo courtesy of Fantasia International Film Festival.
Redux Redux
Official Synopsis:
In an attempt to avenge her daughter’s death, Irene Kelly travels through parallel universes, killing her daughter’s murderer over and over again. She grows addicted to the revenge streak, putting her own humanity in jeopardy.
Rewrite
Official Synopsis:
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.
Straight Outta Space
Official Synopsis:
Best friends Amin (Shahine El-Hamus, The Promise Of Pisa) and Mitchell (Daniël Kolf of Netflix’s Forever Rich) work as street coaches in the lively neighborhood of Schijndrecht. It’s not exactly a flashy job, and that all changes when the people around them transform into creepy, slimy creatures due to an intergalactic intervention! Together with a motley crew of local residents, the duo gets the ultimate chance to prove themselves to their entire community, or at least, what’s left of it.
Tamala 2030: A Punk Cat in Dark
Official Synopsis:
An astonishing, avant-garde anime anomaly, 2002’s eerie, erotic, and elaborately esoteric Tamala 2010: A Punk Cat in Space, a Fantasia award-winner, remains an all-time highlight of the festival’s animation programming, and more than two decades had to pass before rumours of a follow-up TAMALA feature could at last be proven true. With Tamala 2030: A Punk Cat in Dark, the mysterious Japanese writer/composer/director duo K. and kuno, known together as t.o.L (“trees of Life”), have resumed, recalibrated, and resolved their tale of the cutest girl-cat in dystopian Cat Tokyo, surpassing themselves in their control of the cryptic, complex, and cuddly chaos they’ve unleashed. The kawaii paradigm of Hello Kitty and Hatsune Miku collides with cabalistic capitalism, cataclysmic prophecy, and the ruptured realities of Lynch, Pynchon, and Philip K. Dick in a deviously dreamlike, metaphysical mind-melt of high-fructose, retro-futuristic, paranoid pop-art brilliance.
A scene from TAMALA 2030: A PUNK CAT IN DARK. Photo courtesy of Fantasia International Film Festival.
Terrestrial
Official Synopsis:
A reunion weekend spirals out of control for four college friends when the host (Jermaine Fowler, Sorry To Bother You) a science fiction writer on the verge of newfound success, fights to maintain his sense of reality in the face of sudden, uncanny dangers.
Together
Official Synopsis:
Years into their relationship, Tim and Millie (Dave Franco and Alison Brie) find themselves at a crossroads as they move to the country, abandoning all that is familiar in their lives except each other. With tensions already flaring, a nightmarish encounter with a mysterious, unnatural force threatens to corrupt their lives, their love, and their flesh.
Touch Me
Official Synopsis:
Touch Me is a story about two codependent best friends who become addicted to the heroin-like touch of an alien narcissist who may or may not be trying to take over the world.
Olivia Taylor Dudley as Joey in Addison Heimann’s TOUCH ME. Photo courtesy of Rustic Films/Sundance Film Festival.
About Fantasia International Film Festival:
In August 2025, the Fantasia International Film Festival will celebrate its 29th edition. Located in the heart of beautiful Montreal, Fantasia is a cultural and professional destination point, and since its first edition, the festival’s ever-growing popularity has attracted the attention of the international film industry alongside a legion of attendees from across the world. Every facet of the filmmaking chain is increasingly represented with in-person delegates at the festival: directors, actors, producers, studio representatives, distributors and festival programmers, who get to experience the legendarily enthusiastic, taste-making audience of Fantasia.
This summer, Fantasia will host the 15th edition of the Frontières International Co-Production Market, welcoming over 400 industry members. For more information about Frontières, please visit our website.
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Categories: Coming Soon, Recommendation
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