Ari Aster’s Eddington opens the Fantasia International Film Festival in Montreal. Photo courtesy of the festival.
The 29th edition of Montreal’s Fantasia International Film Festival kicks off on July 16, offering three packed weeks of film screenings, panels, and launch events set to take over the downtown Concordia campus (and beyond).
The festival launches with an advance screening of Ari Aster’s Eddington starring Joaquin Phoenix, Pedro Pascal, and Emma Stone, and in a great bit of counter-programming, an early screening of…The Smurfs.
That brand of eclectic programming runs throughout the festival, which features an emphasis on horror and action films while also showcasing animation, experimental films, and genre-defying titles from all corners of the globe.
This year’s edition honours music legend Danny Elfman and animation icon Genndy Tartakovsky with lifetime achievement awards, and features dozens of international guests appearing for Q&As following their films.
With 125 feature films and 200 short films screening this year, Fantasia offers something for every taste. To help narrow it down, we’ve selected 10 must-see films from this year’s festival below.
Montreal’s Fantasia International Film Festival runs from July 16 to August 3, 2025. Tickets and the complete festival schedule can be found here.
$Positions still. Photo: Fantasia Film Festival.
If Safdie Brothers films like Uncut Gems and Good Time weren’t quite stressful enough for you, may we recommend Brandon Daley’s $Positions? The film stars Mike Kunicki as Mike Alvarado, a blue-collar Midwesterner who puts his life savings into a volatile cryptocurrency, leading to 97 minutes of the worst life decisions possible.
Ari Aster (Midsommar) returns with a COVID-set neo-Western satire starring Joaquin Phoenix and Pedro Pascal that is sure to be one of the most divisive movies of the year. Get ahead of the inevitable discourse at this special advance screening before the film opens wide on July 18.
Every Heavy Thing still. Photo: Fantasia Film Festival.
Genre-hopping filmmaker Mickey Reece (Country Gold, Agnes) returns to Fantasia with Every Heavy Thing, which appears to be his take on the ‘70s conspiracy thriller. Josh Fadem stars as an employee at an alt-weekly in Oklahoma who becomes embroiled in a dangerous conspiracy after witnessing a murder. Also starring Vera Drew, John Ennis, and genre legend Barbara Crampton, this one is at the top of our must-see list this year.
Good Boy still. Photo: Fantasia Film Festival.
Ben Leonberg’s feature debut is a horror film centered around a family dog, who happens to be the only one who can see mysterious entities putting his human family at risk. As long as nothing bad happens to the proverbial Good Boy, we’re all in on this inventive twist on the haunted house trope.
It Ends still. Photo: Fantasia Film Festival.
It Ends has a thrilling premise: a group of recent graduates reunites for a road trip and finds themselves trapped in a terrifying time loop with no escape. The feature directorial debut from 27-year-old Alexander Ullom, It Ends is a mysterious and rewarding journey that riveted audiences at SXSW this past March. Read our review here.
Messy Legends arrives at Fantasia right when we need it the most. With news of yet another Montreal venue getting shut down due to noise complaints, this is the opportune time for directors Kelly-Kay Hurcomb and James Watts’ ode to Montreal nightlife, featuring a sprawling cast out on the town for one chaotic night.
Fantasia favourites The Adams Family (Hellbender, The Deeper You Dig) return with Mother of Flies, the story of a young woman with cancer who sets out with her father on a journey to enlist the help of a witch to reverse her condition. The Adams Family writes, directs, edits, scores, and stars in their films, which always lends them a distinct style and point of view. Read our interview with the family here.
Three women in different eras and locales deal with a terrifying entity in director/co-writer Pedro Martín-Calero’s acclaimed horror film The Wailing. Set in Spain and Argentina over many decades, The Wailing promises to be a unique and unsettling experience that has already earned raves during its international festival run.
The Woman still. Photo: Fantasia Film Festival.
A young woman answers an ad for a free vacuum cleaner and becomes wrapped up in a murder case in this tense and unpredictable South Korean thriller. Directed and co-written by Hwang Wook (Mash Ville), The Woman features a stirring lead performance by Han Hye-ji as the titular woman who finds herself embroiled with a mysterious stranger who refuses to let her be.
Together still. Photo: Fantasia Film Festival.
Real-life married duo Dave Franco and Alison Brie star as a couple who move to the countryside and begin undergoing strange physical transformations in writer-director Michael Shanks’ Together. The film blew away audiences at Sundance and SXSW earlier this year, so don’t miss your chance to catch this early screening ahead of its wide release on July 31.
Montreal’s Fantasia International Film Festival runs from July 16 – August 3, 2025. Tickets and the complete festival schedule can be found here.
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