Coming Soon: Fantasia Festival 2025!
Some films I'm looking forward to seeing at the 2025 Fantasia Festival
The Fantasia Festival kicks off next Wednesday (July 16-August 3), and I’m excited to be covering it again this year. Fantasia is one of the biggest genre festivals, and it’s a treat to have the opportunity to screen some really fun independent films. And this year, I get to do it as a Rotten Tomatoes-approved critic! (Sorry, I’m going to bring that up again because I am fully geeked out about it.)
In preparation for the festival, here are some of the films that I’m hoping to watch. Check out the program here and let me know what you would be interested in. Now, on to the list!
Barbie Boomer (dir. Marc Joly-Corcoran): This documentary follows Sylvie Longpré, who has an immense collection of Barbies and Barbie accessories. When I was a girl, I loved playing with Barbies, so I’m excited to see everything she has and also to just have a better understanding of someone who collects something enough to be featured in a documentary!
Hold the Fort (dir. William Bagley): A horror movie about an HOA that exists to guard a portal to hell? Say no more, I’m in.
The School Duel (dir. Todd Wiseman Jr.): This film has been doing the festival rounds for a minute, but it looks fascinating. A 13-year-old joins a statewide competition called The School Duel, which is a fully Hunger Games-style battle royale. I don’t know why dystopian movies are of interest to me in the middle of a real dystopia, but there it is.
Terrestrial (dir. Steve Pink): In this movie, an author gets the big book deal and the movie option, but when his friends come to celebrate with him, they find someone who seems completely unlike the man they know. I’ll be honest, some of my interest is in seeing Ted Lasso star Brendan Hunt as a famous sci-fi writer.
Hi-Five (dir. Kang Hyung-chul): Unexpected superheroes. A dangerous cult leader trying to get those powers for himself. There isn’t a lot available about this movie, but the little that we can read sounds like a lot of fun.
The Last Woman on Earth (dirs. Yeum Moon-kyoung and Lee Jong-min): This film features a woman who gets no positive feedback for her writing because she seems to hate men, and a man who can’t get a grant to fund his movie because his script lacks a woman’s perspective. This feels like it could be a blast.
Watch for reviews and interviews (subscribe to my YouTube channel!) from Fantasia in the coming weeks. As always, thank you for supporting my work!