6 Films to See at Fantasia International Film Festival 2023
The Fantasia International Film Festival is back for its 27th annual edition, running July 20 through August 9, and it’s bringing one of Hollywood’s biggest stars in spirit now; he’s officially canceled so as to not cross the picket line of the current SAG-AFTRA strike to Montreal with a world premiere and career recognition. Nicolas Cage, his new film Sympathy for the Devil, and his Cheval Noir Career Achievement Award aren’t the only draw for this three-week event, though. You’ve got a spotlight on Korean cinema to celebrate sixty years of diplomatic relations between Canada and the Republic of Korea. There’s the honor of bestowing underground filmmaker Larry Kent with the 2023 Canadian Trailblazer Award alongside a screening of a rare 35mm print of his 1981 film Yesterday. And a slew of world premieres from horror’s best and brightest a list spanning Larry Fessenden (Blackout), Jenn Wexler (The Sacrifice Game), and the Adams Family (Where the Devil Roams).
The festival kicks off with the North American premiere of Pascal Plante’s Red Rooms. Wrapping things up, the world premiere of the latest We Are Zombies by the RKSS collective (François Simard, Anouk Whissell and Yoann-Karl Whissell). In between rests a laundry list of genre goodies from IFC/Shudder (the aforementioned Sympathy for the Devil and The Sacrifice Game as well as Birth/Rebirth, Perpetrator, and Suitable Flesh); Teresa Sutherland’s debut Lovely, Dark and Deep; Victor Ginzburg banned Russian blockbuster Empire V; Xavier Gens’ Mayhem!; Junta Yamaguchi’s River; Zach Clark’s The Becomers; and Jared Moshe’s Aporia.
Perpetrator (Jennifer Reeder)
There is a mystery involving five missing young girls and a particular trend of plastic surgery among the adults we meet in the story, which creates a major antagonistic force for the Jonny’s abilities and help explain his mother’s peculiar absence from his family life. Reeder boldly views patriarchy as an exploitative force that not only undermines women’s solidarity and individuality, but uses it as a resource to be exploited in grotesque ways. This “snap” moment towards the end, where Perpetrator’s plot arc, thematics, and visuals are all coherently brought together, make up for when it feels more generic, unconvincing, and distracted.
Raging Grace (Paris Zarcilla)
Like the fury unleashed in Bong Joon Ho’s now-classic Parasite, Paris Zarcilla’s Raging Grace explores the depraved relationship between a wealthy landowner and his workers. Instead of commenting on class systems and the rage of populism, the writer-director sets this conversation within the context of immigration and colonization, which is on its face scarier than any slasher movie could ever be. Striking an often playful and darkly comic tone, the SXSW Jury Prize winner captivates as it delves deeper into psychological horror.
Skin Deep (Alex Schaad)
Alex Schaad’s Skin Deep seeks to unravel. Using a sci-fi concept in which two people can agree to transfer their essences into each other’s bodies, he and his co-author and brother Dimitrij are able to begin tearing down walls. on gender, sexuality, psychology and identity. Because although our purest selves are that essence, all the other pieces that make up who we are affect its formation, its evolution, and inevitably its disintegration. Leyla doesn’t get bogged down in “hard times” as Tristan sees it as a coping mechanism to deal with her apparent personality change from an active life lover to a depressed hermit no sparks. His body and brain – his very existence – became a prison. And when the only way out is death, this replacement promises rejuvenation.
Sometimes I Think About Dying (Rachel Lambert)
Though she says her mundane, no-description office job is that doing spreadsheets is the only thing she loves in her life—besides fresh cheese—one wouldn’t guess that’s how Fran Larsen (Daisy Ridley) does her boring 9:5 to 5 routine. Spending exhausting minutes staring at leaks in the ceiling, staring at computer screens, and barely talking to his overzealous colleagues, Larsen has something more existential eating away at her soul: she’s preoccupied with dying. Whether it’s being washed up on a beach, hanging from a crane outside her window, being consumed by the forest, or a violent car crash, she has recurring visions of what could be an escape from her lonely life of isolation. Although not feeling fully formed with its emotionally rushed finale, Rachel Lambert’s Sometimes I Think About Dying is a humorously droll, narratively restrained look at the feigned personalities of workplace office culture and the social anxieties of being forced into such spaces.
Talk to Me (Danny and Michael Philippou)
Featuring a great premise from which to build a franchise, YouTube creators Danny and Michael Philippou’s directorial debut Talk To Me is a refreshing retread, imagines tantalizing “micro-properties” that grow stronger as you use them. The premise is quite simple: a possessed hand that appears to have been passed down from generation to generation will open a supernatural portal to the unknown, possibly bringing a brief moment of clarity before unleashing unimaginable violence. As far as the violence goes, the film checks all the boxes with a murder/suicide opening sequence at an out-of-control house party, setting the affair in motion without giving away what’s to come.