Get ready to put some movies on your radar. For more than 20 years, Fantasia International Film Festival has been delivering a celebration of genre cinema, growing into a three-week smorgasbord of horror, action, sci-fi, fantasy, crime dramas and all the weird little niches in between. Showcasing genre films from around the world, Fantasia is one of the best destinations to get a first look at upcoming under-the-radar gems and potential breakout hits.
On July 11th, Fantasia returns for its 23rd edition in Montreal, Quebec, and the lineup is just as adventurous and stacked as ever, with an exciting international lineup. From South Korean thrillers to indie action flicks, martial arts dramas, buzzy festival favorites, and even a potential J-horror revival, the lineup is as diverse and intriguing as it gets.
Which means I'm just scratching the surface here, but with the 2019 Fantasia Fest upon us, I've rounded up 9 of the films I'm most excited to see. But the best thing about a film festival like Fantasia are all the surprise gems you don't see coming, so stay tuned in the coming days for the highlights.
Ready or Not
This one kind of came out of nowhere and shot to the top of must-watch lists with one very kickass trailer. Starring the always delightful Samara Weaving (the Mayhem and SMILF standout who's poised for a big breakout any minute now,) Ready or Not follows Grace (Weaving), a bride who learns the strange and violent time-honored traditions of her new husband's elite family on her wedding. Adam Brody, Mark O’Brien, Henry Czerny, and Andie MacDowell also star in the action-horror, which throws the whole lot into a deadly, ritualistic game of hide-and-seek. If the trailer's any indication this one's going to be a hoot and a half, with cheeky thrills and energetic kills in abundance.
Sadako
It's about time for a J-horror resurgence, wouldn't you say? While Rings certainly didn't work out, and the icons recently squared off (a little) in the underwhelming Sadako vs. Kayako, but the stylish scares and slow-burn murder mysteries of the dominant early-aughts subgenre are still ripe with the potential for new terrors. Hideo Nakata's films Ringu and Dark Water launched the iconic horror trend, and with Sadako, Nakata returns to the Ringu franchise to deliver a chilling new installment in the curse of Sadako. The film mixes up a psychology counselor, her brother, a YouTuber, and a young girl with amnesia, who wind up on the wrong end of the curse when a world that's forgotten about Sakado gets a frightening reminder of her powerful curse.
The Gangster, the Cop, the Devil
Here's the tea; at this point, I'll watch pretty much anything with South Korean powerhouse and international superstar in the making Dong Seok-ma, any time I get the chance. The actor first came to my attention in Kim Jee-woon's 2008 gem The Good, the Bad and the Weird, and he's been a standout in everything I've seen him in since, best among them his tender-hearted turns in the zombie breakout Train to Busan and the arm-wrestling charmer Champion.
Suffice it to say, I'm a fan (and with an MCU gig in The Eternals heading Ma's way, a lot more people are about to be too,) so when I see a fest film with his name on it, I get excited. But The Gangster, the Cop, the Devil has more intrigue than Ma's leading role. The crime thriller follows a crime lord (Ma) who teams with an ambitious police officer (Kim Moo-yeol) to bring down a serial killer (Kim Sung-kyu) that's compromising his empire. The film hit theaters in South Korea back in May and Sylvester Stallone's production company quickly scooped up the rights for an English-language remake, with Ma reprising his role, and recently hit the festival circuit at Cannes, where it earned a round of strong reviews.
The Lodge
The Lodge is heading into Fantasia with a whole heap hype behind it. The film debuted at Sundance to rave reviews, and its been steadily building more steam from fest to fest, earning early buzz as the disturbing indie horror to beat in 2019. The latest from Goodnight Mommy filmmakers Veronika Franz and Severin Fiala , The Lodge stars Riley Keough as Grace, a young woman trying to win over her boyfriend's children (Jaeden Lieberher and Lia McHugh) when they get snowed in together at the family's remote cabin. Throw in a traumatic past tie with a suicide cult and increasingly creepy disturbances as the snow grows thicker, and you've got the recipe for a trip down the rabbit hole of sanity and social discomfort. Can't wait.
Vivarium
Vivarium: "a place, such as a laboratory, where live animals or plants are kept under conditions simulating their natural environment, as for research." The new existential sci-fi horror of the same name from Lorcan Finnegan (Without Name) stars Jesse Eisenberg and Imogen Poots (one of two Fantasia titles starring the duo, along with The Art of Self-Defense) as a couple looking for a new home who wind up trapped in a suburban housing lot with no explanations and no means of escape. The plot has a nice Twilight Zone tinge to it, Eisenberg and Poots make for an intriguing duo, and the film is riding into Montreal off of a round of strong reviews out of Cannes, making it an easy pick for a Fantasia 2019 must-watch.
Killerman
Malik Bader's (Cash Only) Killerman is one of the more high-profile world premieres on the docket this year, starring Liam Hemsworth as Moe and My Dude Homer, The OA's Emory Cohen as Skunk, two low-level criminals looking to make the big score who will take them to the next level. But when their party gets crashed by dirty cops, the old friends wind up in quite the mess and Moe loses his memory in a car crash. With the clock ticking, they have to find a way to clean it up before the cops or criminals they pissed off come to collect. We know Hemsworth is good with action, but he's never had a film that really highlighted his talents, and Cohen is undeniably one of the most intense actors of his generation (watch Lords of Chaos if you doubt that statement,) which seems like a perfect pairing for an action-packed crime thriller.
Master Z: Ip Man Legacy
Set after the events of Ip Man 3, the franchise spinoff-sequel follows up with Cheung Tin-chi (Zhang Jin) after he lost his showdown with the legendary Ip Man and his one-inch punch. Following his defeat, he opts to leave martial arts behind and settles into a quiet life until he crosses paths with a criminal gang and gets wrapped up in a fight with a drug ring and the corrupt officials who let them off the hook. I love the Ip Man films, and while I'll miss the man himself (and the incomparable Donnie Yen in action,) Master Z has a kickass cast all its own including Dave Bautista, Michelle Yeoh, and Tony Jaa. Oh, and it's directed by the great Yuen Woo-ping, filmmaker behind martial arts classics like Drunken Master and Iron Monkey and fight choreographer with an impossibly impressive resume that includes Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon, The Matrix trilogy, and Kill Bill.
Satanic Panic
Who doesn't love a gory satanic adventure? Produced by the recently relaunched Fangoria and picked up by RLJE Films for a theatrical release later this year, Satanic Panic follows a pizza girl struggling to make ends meet who winds up fighting for more than tips when her last delivery of the night leads her right into a satanic ritual. Chelsea Stardust (All that We Destroy) directs the film based on the script by Grady Hendrix (author of 'My Best Friend's Exorcism' and Mohawk co-writer) from a story he wrote with Ted Geoghegan. The film debuted at the Overlook Film Festival, where it picked up some buzz as a splattery midnight movie best seen with a raucous crowd ... exactly the kind of crowd you'll find at Fantasia.
Extreme Job
Extreme Job may have already come across your radar for a couple of reasons. For one, it became the highest-grossing film in South Korea earlier this year, taking home $127 million at the box office -- about fourteen times the film's budget. Shortly after that, Kevin Hart's production banner Hearbeat scooped up the rights for an English-language remake with Girls Night scribe Tracy Oliver set to write. The film follows a group of narcotics detectives who go undercover at a fried chicken restaurant, where they roll out a new sticky chicken recipe brings in droves of customers. Directed by Byung-heon Lee, Extreme Job promises a combination of killer comedy and action set-pieces that's already proven a box office smash.