With some of the most fearless (and, said lovingly, weirdest) programmers in North America preparing yet another stacked spread for this summer, genre devotees should have plenty to feast their eyes on in Montreal come July. The Fantasia International Film Festival is furiously gearing up for its 30th anniversary edition, and the long-running cinematic showcase in Québec has just unveiled its first wave of titles — with the full programming lineup expected in the coming weeks.
Fantasia Fest 2026 will run from July 16 to August 2 as audiences return to Concordia Hall and the J.A. de Sève cinemas, with additional screenings at Cinéma du Musée. Expect packed theaters as diehard attendees sweat it out together for another slate of movies that will blend selected filmmakers’ eclectic international tastes through a core sensibility that’s universally unhinged.
Leading the announcement is Agnieszka Smoczyńska’s “Hot Spot,” a detective story set in a world governed by sentient A.I., where a murder investigation exposes cracks in the system itself. With Noomi Rapace in the cast and a berth in the Cheval Noir Competition, it’s a major contender with strong early buzz.
On a very different wavelength, Jenn Wexler returns to the festival with “The Last Temptation of Becky,” the latest chapter in the cult-favorite franchise. Lulu Wilson’s ferocious antihero is now a CIA agent, squaring off against a modern-day Nazi played by Neil Patrick Harris, with Wexler once again leaning into maximalist violence and pitch-black humor.
Also, Fantasia continues its love affair with high-concept time experiments through Makoto Ueda’s directorial debut, “You Are the Film.” Its premise — two characters separated by distance, but interacting through a movie screen — arrives with strong word of mouth after picking up audience honors on the broader festival circuit.
The main competition also includes Kasper Kalle’s “No Rest for the Wicked,” a Danish period piece that blends gothic romance with bloodsucking creature horror against the backdrop of the Faroe Islands — and Yeom Ji-oh’s “The Eyes,” a promising, visually inventive South Korean take on the Spanish thriller “Julia’s Eyes,” following a woman investigating her sister’s death while simultaneously losing her sight.
North American filmmakers are bringing plenty of their own off-kilter energy, too. Harrison Atkins’ “Sour Minnows” plays with perception and paranoia after a strange encounter fractures a young man’s sense of reality, while Casey Walker’s “Home Bodies” traps its characters inside a tightly controlled domestic environment even as it begins to unravel. For something more grounded but no less intense, Harrison Houde’s “Tight Lettuce” digs into addiction and family ties with a mix of humor and devastation.
More selections from across the globe continue to highlight the festival’s broad range, with Giddens Ko’s “Kung Fu” drawing exciting new, large-scale martial-arts fantasy storytelling out of Taiwan. Plus, from Japanese YouTuber Koichi, “Captured!” blends influencer culture with supernatural chaos, and Yu Nakamoto’s “Break Free” follows a yakuza enforcer who stumbles into viral fame through dance, and Yusuke Iwasaki’s “Anymart” turns a convenience store into a pressure cooker for capitalist dread.
Elsewhere, the festival announcement ventures into more bizarre territory with Michael Gabriele’s “Unholy Night” aiming for holiday carnage, while Andrea Corsini’s “Ferine” channels grief into something more primal and predatory. Edwin’s “Sleep No More” dives into demonic workplace horror, while Tim Riedel’s “Ancestral Beasts” explores intergenerational trauma through a supernatural lens.
The festival’s documentary and thriller offerings round out this first programming announcement. Nick Taylor’s “Rubberhead: The Life & Monsters of Steve Johnson” examines the legacy of a legendary practical effects artist, while Akira Nagai’s “Suzuki=Bakudan” delivers a tense, twisty crime story about a man claiming he can sense bombings before they happen.
If there’s a unifying thread in this first wave, it’s a fascination with control — over bodies, systems, and even narrative itself. More titles are still to come. But for now, Fantasia’s 30th anniversary is already shaping up to be a landmark event you won’t want to miss. Read official first-wave fest synopses here.
