Fantasia 2023 reviews: Devils, The Sacrifice Game, Sometimes I Think About Dying

Montreal’s Fantasia International Film Festival is always the highlight of the summer for fans of the latest action/horror/sci-fi/underground films out there, and this year is no exception.

In our latest dispatch from the festival this year we look at the bonkers Korean thriller Devils, the occult Christmas horror film The Sacrifice Game, and Sometimes I Think About Dying, a bittersweet romantic comedy starring Daisy Ridley. Stay tuned for more reviews and exclusive interviews from the festival in the coming days.

The Fantasia International Film Festival runs through August 9. The complete schedule and ticket details are available here.

Devils

The Korean action-thriller Devils is one of the most wildly entertaining and over-the-top films at this year’s Fantasia (which is really saying something). The feature directorial debut from Kim Jae-hoon, Devils is an amped-up take on Face Off with some black magic thrown in for good measure.

Homicide detective Jae-hwan is urgently trying to catch Jin-hyuk, a prolific serial killer who recently killed his partner. When he finally tracks him down, the pair are involved in a bloody accident and appear to have swapped minds. Jae-hwan believes his mind is trapped in the body of the killer Jin-hyuk, who is now in police custody. Meanwhile, the deranged killer has now apparently taken over Jae-hwan’s body, putting his family’s life in danger.

The story unfolds with a breakneck pace as Jae-hwan tries to convince his colleagues that he is really who he says he is while struggling to prevent any further murders and save his family (all while in the body of an infamous killer).

Featuring a pair of stellar dual performances from its body-swapping stars, the film is packed with enough brutal action and left-field plot twists to keep your head spinning through its final moments. Devils is visceral, crowd-pleasing action excess at its finest.

Sometimes I Think About Dying

While Fantasia is primarily known as a genre film festival, their programmers always expand that vision with films like this year’s Sometimes I Think About Dying. Directed by Rachel Lambert (and based on a short film of the same name by writer-director Stefanie Abel Horowitz that screened at Fantasia in 2019), this is an introspective love story about modern disconnection and social anxiety that feels perfectly suited for these times.

The film stars Daisey Ridley as Fran, a young quiet woman obsessed with her office job in a sleepy coastal town. Shy and introspective, Fran is often suddenly struck with images of herself dying, her only perceived reprieve from her lonely life.

Her isolated bubble begins to crack when Robert (David Merheje) gets hired in her office. Funny and gregarious, Dave quickly takes a shine to Fran and the two begin an unexpected romance as Fran begins to come to terms with just what she wants out of her life.

With a sharp script that hones in on office culture and modern social anxieties, Sometimes I Think About Dying is a bittersweet romantic comedy that touches on deep-routed insecurities that have only been heightened for many since COVID. Daisy Ridley delivers a heartbreaking lead performance, and the supporting cast is filled with great character actors that feel lived in and true to life.

While the film’s somewhat detached tone may not click with everyone, if you’re on this movie’s wavelength, Sometimes I Think About Dying is an emotional and often quite funny journey about self-discovery that should resonate deeply for anyone who’s ever felt apart from the crowd.

The Sacrifice Game

Following up 2018’s The Ranger, director Jenn Wexler returns to Fantasia with The Sacrifice Game, a brutal ‘70s-set Christmas horror film featuring a Satanic cult terrorizing a Catholic school for girls.

Samantha (Madison Baines) and Clara (Georgia Acken) are two young girls stuck spending the holidays at their Catholic school alongside young teacher Rose (Chloë Levine). Meanwhile, a gang of Manson-esque murderers (led by Mena Massoud of Aladdin fame) are in the midst of a crime spree in order to fulfill a Satanic rite. When the gang descends on the girls’ school, they believe they have the missing victims for their ritual, but there are bloody surprises lurking in the most unexpected places, leading to a violent and surprising showdown.

Wexler imbues The Sacrifice Game with a grimy ‘70s exploitation aesthetic that sets the film apart from countless other Christmas-based horror entries. Mena Massoud, in particular, brings a level of intensity that ratchets up the level of unease throughout, and the script (co-written by Wexler and Sean Redlitz) throws enough curveballs to keep things fresh and unpredictable.

Shot just outside of Montreal with a predominately Canadian crew, The Sacrifice Game is a worthy new addition to the beloved Christmas horror sub-genre. Expect this one to turn heads when it hits Shudder later this year.

The Fantasia International Film Festival runs through August 9. The complete schedule and ticket details are available here.