FANTASTIC FEST 2025 AWARDS
Austin, TX – September 23, 2025 – Fantastic Fest 2025 is excited to unveil the winners of this year’s awards, celebrating a remarkable array of genre films from around the world. With an abundance of unique and captivating features and shorts, narrowing down the selections proved to be a tough challenge. Even so, our distinguished jury has risen to the occasion, selecting the most outstanding works of the festival.
Fantastic Fest was also thrilled to host the first edition of Fantastic Pitches this year, presented by Chroma. The winning pitch receives $100,000 in funding for their feature film, global distribution, and a world premiere at Fantastic Fest 2026.
“To celebrate our 20th anniversary, we curated a remarkable lineup of feature and short films,” said Annick Mahnert, Director of Programming for Fantastic Fest. “Each year, our jurors face the difficult task of choosing from an extraordinary pool of talent, and this year was no exception. Despite the challenge, their selections reflect the true spirit of Fantastic Fest — a celebration of global cinema and the diverse voices that bring it to life.”
“MAIN COMPETITION” FEATURES Fantastic Fest 2025
Jurors: Mercedes Bryce Morgan, Fred Durst, Patton Oswalt
Best Picture: THE PLAGUE, directed by Charlie Polinger
Best Director: Bartosz M. Kowalski – 13 DAYS TILL SUMMER
Special Mention: DECORADO, directed by Alberto Vázquez
“NEXT WAVE” FEATURES Fantastic Fest 2025
Jurors: Aaron Schimberg, Otessa Moshfegh, Lars Knudsen
Best Picture: CAMP, directed by Avalon Fast
Best Director: Paolo Strippoli – THE HOLY BOY
Special Mention: LUGER, directed by Bruno Martín
“HORROR” FEATURES Fantastic Fest 2025
Jurors: Jose Cañas, Mònica García Massagué, Brandon Hill
Best Picture: THE VILE, directed by Majid Al Ansari
Best Director: Martín Mauregui – CRAZY OLD LADY
Special Mention: Best Kill – Knife in Bed in THE CURSE, directed by Kenichi Ugan
SHORT FILMS Fantastic Fest 2025
Jurors: Lisa Ogdie, Shams Mohajerani, Matt Pifko
SHORTS “BEST OF FEST”
WATER SPORTS, directed by Whammy Alcazaren
SHORTS WITH LEGS
Best Picture: WATER SPORTS, directed by Whammy Alcazaren
SHORT FUSE
Best Picture: THE DYSPHORIA, directed by Kylie Aoibheann
FANTASTIC SHORTS
Best Picture: GIANT SKELETON, directed by Austin Birtch
DRAWN AND QUARTERED
Best Picture: A BREATH OF MINDFULNESS, directed by Milly Cohen
Honorable Mention: THE GNAWER OF ROCKS, directed by Louise Flaherty
AUDIENCE AWARD Fantastic Fest 2025
THE HOLY BOY, directed by Paolo Strippoli
FANTASTIC PITCHES Fantastic Fest 2025
Jurors: Barbara Crampton, Toby Poser, Tim League, Matt Johnson
PLAY HOUSE director Nicolas Curcio, Producer Kirby Gladstein, Producer Ben Gojer
For more information on the films listed above, visit https://www.fantasticfest.com/film-guide.
For the latest developments, visit the Fantastic Fest official site www.fantasticfest.com and follow the festival on Instagram, Facebook and Twitter.
About Fantastic Fest Fantastic Fest 2025
Fantastic Fest is the largest genre film festival in the U.S., specializing in horror, fantasy, sci-fi, action and just plain fantastic movies from all around the world. In years past, the festival has been home to the world and US premieres of PARASITE, SMILE, JOJO RABBIT, THE BLACK PHONE, JOHN WICK, FRANKENWEENIE, THERE WILL BE BLOOD, APOCALYPTO, ZOMBIELAND, RED DAWN, SPLIT, HALLOWEEN, BAD TIMES AT THE EL ROYALE, MID 90s, and SUSPIRIA while the guest roster has included such talent as Tim Burton, Nicolas Winding-Refn, Lilly and Lana Wachowski, Bong Joon-Ho, Taika Waititi, Robert Rodriguez, Rian Johnson, Bill Murray, Keanu Reeves, Martin Landau, Winona Ryder, Edward Norton, Ryan Reynolds, Patrick Wilson, Matthew Fox, Karl Urban, Josh Hartnett, The RZA, Dolph Lundgren, Paul Rudd, Bill Pullman, Paul Thomas Anderson, Kevin Smith, Jon Favreau, George Romero, Darren Aronofsky, Mike Judge, Karyn Kusama, M. Night Shyamalan, James McAvoy, Vince Vaughn, Jamie Lee Curtis, Jonah Hill, Barbara Crampton and Jessica Harper. Fantastic Fest also features world, national, and regional premieres of new, up-and-coming genre films. Fantastic Fest has seen the acquisition of many titles, including BULLHEAD, KILL LIST, MONSTERS, KLOWN, THE FP, PENUMBRA, HERE COMES THE DEVIL, NO REST FOR THE WICKED, VANISHING WAVES, COMBAT GIRLS, I DECLARE WAR, THE PERFECTION, and TIGERS ARE NOT AFRAID. Fantastic Fest is held each year at the Alamo Drafthouse Cinema in Austin, Texas. Alamo Drafthouse has been named the best theater in the country by Entertainment Weekly, Wired, and TIME.
In March 2023, Fantastic Fest joined the FIAPF (International Federation of Film Producers’ Associations) as a Competitive Specialized Feature Film Festival alongside Cannes, Berlin, and Venice.
About Alamo Drafthouse
Alamo Drafthouse Cinema was founded in 1997 as a single-screen mom and pop repertory theater in Austin, TX. Twenty-eight years later, with 44 locations and counting, Alamo Drafthouse has been called “the best theater in America” by Entertainment Weekly and “the best theater in the world” by Wired. Alamo Drafthouse has built a reputation as a movie lover’s oasis not only by combining best-in-class food and drink service with the movie-going experience, but also introducing unique programming and high-profile, star-studded special events. Alamo Drafthouse created Fantastic Fest, a world-renowned genre film festival dubbed “The Geek Telluride” by Variety featuring independents, international filmmakers, and major Hollywood studios. Alamo Drafthouse continues to expand its brand in new and exciting ways, including the American Genre Film Archive, a non-profit film archive dedicated to preserving, restoring and sharing film, and with several new theaters announced for this year and beyond.
Don’t get ahead of yourself in viewing. ANYTHING THAT MOVES is far more than a high-concept soft porn. I mean, it is also that. The cast fearlessly embraces full frontal nudity, which is incredibly rare for male actors, but more importantly, it honors kink. Audiences will not expect the hidden trauma. Phillips also addresses the demoralization of sex workers.
Shot in Super 16mm, its gritty look completes the homage to 1970s adult films. The Joshua Rains‘s artwork is diabolically genius. The bright spotlight device that denotes an orgasm is brilliant. Casting Nina Hartley and Ginger Lynn Allen was a superior move, as the two essentially served as the film’s intimacy coordinators. By the way, can we acknowledge the importance of that role on a set? I am thrilled we’re adding a Stunt category to next year’s awards season, but Intimacy Coordination is also an art.
The complete nonchalance of the residents sets the tone for HOLD THE FORT. Nagley delivers over-the-top characters and laugh-out-loud one-liners from beginning to end. Creature builds are super fun, practical FX are decent, mostly throwing buckets of blood on Lucas, and one gnarly gunshot wound. Colored lights delineate each monster in a fashion similar to the 2000s Syfy network, and it is a perfect match for the film’s subgenre. The score reminds me of Ren and Stimpy, and that’s the best way to describe it.
![Touch Me (2025) - [www.imdb.com]](https://i0.wp.com/reelnewsdaily.com/wp-content/uploads/Touch-Me-2025-www.imdb_.com_.png?resize=678%2C473&ssl=1)
Writer/director Addison Heinmann follows up his 2022 Fantasia hit 
When a young woman faces a deadly diagnosis, she seeks dark magic from a witch in the woods… but every cure has costs. Written and directed by John and Zelda Adams and Toby Poser (The Adams Family), who also star, shot, edited, and scored, MOTHER OF FLIES is the latest creation from the filmmaking family behind such singular landmarks as 
In one of 2025’s major genre breakouts, four college friends find themselves on an infinite, unending road, forcing each of them to decide how to confront their fate in an unnerving journey into the unknown. Writer/director Alex Ullom and his gifted cast work miracles and offer a compelling, constantly intriguing, and often terrifying road trip into adulthood. Official Selection: SXSW 2025, Overlook 2025. 
Desperate to avenge her daughter’s murder, Irene Kelly (Michaela McManus) journeys through parallel dimensions to repeatedly track down and annihilate her killer (Jeremy Holm). A tense sci-fi vengeance thriller unlike any other, REDUX REDUX is the latest creation by Kevin and Matthew McManus, the Peabody award-winning writers and producers of AMERICAN VANDAL and COBRA KAI, and writers/directors of FUNERAL KINGS (Fantasia 2012) and THE BLOCK ISLAND SOUND (Fantasia 2020). Official Selection: SXSW 2025. Neuchâtel International Fantastic Film Festival 2025. 
After coming to Fantasia as a short film selected for the Frontierés Market Shorts to Features Lab in 2022 and Sitges Fanpitch that same year, directing duo Deanna Milligan and Ramsey Fendall expand the world of Mia Sunshine Jones in their darkly trippy feature, LUCID. Mia is a rebellious art student who struggles to create the ultimate project for a demanding professor. Desperate to find her artistic voice, she takes Lucid, a candy elixir, to access her creativity, but taps into something much darker. Starring Caitlin Acken Taylor, who reprises her role from the short, and Georgia Acken (star of the 2023 Fantasia hit THE SACRIFICE GAME), Milligan and Fendall create a surreal nightmare with a vintage look that fully embraces the 90s grunge era with a punk art aesthetic. Using live on-set music, an eclectic cast, and loads of experimental and haunting visuals, the World Premiere of LUCID will be a nightmare-come-true. 
For her debut feature film, FOREIGNER, Ava Maria Safai (Zip) expertly harnesses the power of identity, social acceptance, horror, and comedy. It’s 2004, and Iranian immigrant Yasamin, or Yasi, is the new girl. Her high school experience is daunting, as she tries to improve her English by watching her favorite sitcom and befriends a trio of pastel-clad girls who feed Yasi’s need to fit in. Desperate for acceptance, she dyes her hair blonde and, in doing so, also attracts a demonic force. With a fun retro setting, great performances by Rose Dehgan as Yasi, Chloë MacLeod as the creepy high school “Queen Bee” Rachel, and a blend of our favorite teen horrors, FOREIGNER takes up space as a new entry to “bubblegum horror,” bringing a fresh narrative to the Canadian immigrant experience. The film has been referred to by some as Mean Girls meets The Exorcist and Ava is definitely a young director to watch. 
A woman (Dakota Gorman) wakes in the back of a moving camper trailer. A voice (Todd Terry) from the truck towing it tells her they must reach a mysterious doctor within the hour. Thus begins HELLCAT, the feature debut of writer/editor/director Brock Bodell, who previously cut the mind-bending 
The jury is exceptional as they move through measured recall to furious shouting matches. Their diligence in tracking down evidence and looking at all sides gives me hope that jurors take their duties seriously. Jack Thornton’s editing is a feat. The choice to keep Krieps in the frame for longer than seems normal has a chilling effect. RE-CREATION is akin to live theatre. It is an improvisation session strapped to a ticking time bomb. The audience is the 13th jury member. Sheridan provides newsreel footage, newspaper clippings, video testimony, and audio recordings at the precise times we might feel lost. It is a real-time exploration of possibilities. 
Jim Sheridan also plays Juror #1, serving as a guide and sounding board. Sheridan’s attention to detail is award-worthy. Going as far as to take the jury on a tour of the key locations in the investigation. It’s hard to discern where Sheridan lies on the guilty spectrum personally. His extensive knowledge never feels coercive. He and Merriman skillfully make a case for confusion and conflict, mirroring the state of the evidence.
Directed by: Steven Feinartz
Director: Oscar Boyson
Directed by: Lauren Meyering
While waiting at the airport for her husband, Aya (Sarah Adler) is mistaken for someone else. Intrigued, she decides to pick up a complete stranger (Ulrich Thomsen) on a whim. Their encounter sparks an unexpected intimacy that unsettles Aya’s sense of certainty and awakens a yearning she neither fully understands nor knows how to fulfill. Her quiet search for meaning unfolds in a hotel room, a customer service chat and in subtle disruptions to her daily routine, as we are taken through a woman’s delicate and honest search for something meaningful.
Directed by: Rick Gomez
Director: Karam Gill 
Director: Amy Scott
TERRESTRIAL REVEALS A DIFFERENT SHADE OF (STEVE) PINK
I FELL IN LOVE WITH A Z-GRADE DIRECTOR IN BROOKLYN IS A HEARTFELT LOVE LETTER TO INDIE HORROR FILMMAKING AND UNDERGROUND CULTURE
JULIE PACINO MAKES HER DIRECTORIAL DEBUT WITH THE LYNCHIAN I LIVE HERE NOW
J-POP IS A BATTLEFIELD IN YA BOY KONGMIN! THE MOVIE
OUR FAVORITE BAD GIRL IS BACK! GET READY TO BE LED ASTRAY AND BETRAYED WITH INFLUENCERS!
INDIE KOREAN THRILLER THE WOMAN TRADES IN TENSION AND SUSPENSE
POST-APOCALYPTIC ECO-THRILLER THE WELL FORETELLS OF ENVIRONMENTAL COLLAPSE
STRANGE STUDENTS WITH STRANGER TALENTS KEEP WATCH IN HONEKO AKABANE’S BODYGUARDS
FANTASY ROMCOM ANIME CHAO MAKES A BIG SPLASH
A WILD TRIBUTE TO 1970s PORNOGRAPHY AND EROTIC THRILLERS WITH ANYTHING THAT MOVES
A SUPERNATURAL RIDE DEEP INTO UNEXPECTED TERRITORY: HELLCAT
WHOSE TALE IS TRUE IN KYRGYZ MYSTERY BURNING?
THE BEARDED GIRL BLENDS SIDESHOW CHARM WITH A COMING-OF-AGE STORY YOU WON’T FORGET
DREAMS AND NIGHTMARES COLLIDE IN MEXICO’S FIRST STOP-MOTION FEATURE
THE LAST WOMAN ON EARTH JUMPS INTO CINEMA’S GENDER DIVIDE
A HAUNTING 8MM DESCENT INTO AUSTRALIA’S SURREAL UNDERBELLY
MORE SPECTACULAR SPOOKINESS IN MONONOKE THE MOVIE: CHAPTER II – THE ASHES OF RAGE
THE MOOGAI
Barely tolerating her birthmother, Ruth, Sarah’s whitewashed existence comes to a halt when an ancient entity rears its ugly head. Sarah’s aggression heightens as her delusions increase. She quickly spirals out of control in every aspect of her life. Sarah’s husband, Fergus, embraces his culture and does his best to navigate his familial deterioration.
The break between Sarah and her first child, Chloe, is heartbreaking. There’s no denying her resemblance to Fergus has something to do with Sarah’s icy response. The connection between Chloe, Fergus, and Ruth burns Sarah’s limited understanding of her absent culture. Ruth tries her best to protect her family, but Sarah’s relentless resistance to her roots only makes them manifest quicker as lore becomes reality and history repeats itself.
Jahdeana Mary brings earnest innocence and hurt to Chloe. You want to hug her. Meyne Wyatt is great playing Fergus. He is charming and protective. He’s a real highlight. Tessa Rose is spectacular as Ruth, giving audiences lived-in knowledge and fear. She is the heart of the film. Shari Sebbens gives Sarah everything from elitism to postpartum depression, unbridled rage to superstitious anxiety. You simultaneously loathe and feel for her. Sebbens is truly a revelation.
Practical FX, makeup, and jump scares are solid. THE MOOGAI keenly delves into medical gaslighting and the pressure on women to “do it all.” While the film is also a creature feature, Jon Bell never shies away from showing viewers that the scariest monsters are humans. It is a surprising cultural reclamation.
Civil Rights Attorney for the Institute for Justice, Marie Miller, breaks down the law surrounding the retaliation for Angeli speaking out about her experience. Angeli was pulled over on trumped-up charges, threatened, and stalked by police.
Meanwhile, out of the blue, Angeli is sent to a correctional facility 7 hours away from Uvalde for allegedly violating her parole. While there are zero consequences for the failed police, Angeli is served with an injustice the audience will feel in their bones.
For all things SXSW, 
![The Surrender (2025) - [www.imdb.com]](https://i0.wp.com/reelnewsdaily.com/wp-content/uploads/The-Surrender-2025-www.imdb_.com_.png?resize=615%2C913&ssl=1)
Vaughn Armstrong delivers a nuanced turn as Robert. Max allows him the opportunity to play multiple roles within one character. Kate Burton (Grey’s Anatomy) and Colby Minifie (The Boys) knock it out of the park. Their loaded dialogue gets more and more biting and honest. Their scenes are a masterclass in communication. Whether driven by confession or fear, Burton and Minifie are perfect together. 
BROTHER VERSES BROTHER comes from director Ari Gold. (The Song of Sway Lake) This hybrid bonanza of music, storytelling, and familial exploration of Ari and Ethan Gold in their search for their father, Herbert Gold, is perfect for the SXSW 2025 audience. 
SXSW 2025 documentary DEAR TOMORROW delves into the epidemic of loneliness. Filmmaker Kaspar Astrup Schröder follows two Japanese citizens who suffer from severe loneliness. Schröder quietly observes them through their physical and emotional isolation and a subsequent few conversations with the mental health hotline, “A Place For You.”
Director: Gerard Johnson, Producers: John Jencks, Isabel Freer, Matthew James Wilkinson, Patrick Tolan, Screenwriters: Gerard Johnson, Austin Collings
Director/Screenwriter: Alex Scharfman, Producers: Drew Houpt, Lucas Joaquin, Alex Scharfman, Lars Knudsen, Tyler Campellone, Tim Headington, Theresa Steele Page
Director: Yana Alliata, Producer: Jack Forbes, Screenwriters: Yana Alliata, Amy Miner
Director: Eli Craig, Producers: Marty Bowen, John Fischer, Wyck Godfrey, Screenwriters: Carter Blanchard, Adam Cesare, Eli Craig
Director/Screenwriter: Amy Landecker, Producers: Amy Landecker, Bradley Whitford, Valerie Stadler, Jenica Bergere, James Portolese
Director/Screenwriter: Geremy Jasper, Producers: Michael Gottwald, Noah Stahl
Director: Matt Johnson, Producers: Matthew Miller, Matt Greyson, Screenwriters: Matt Johnson, Jay McCarrol
Director/Screenwriter: Chelsea Christer, Producers: Clinton Trucks, Alexa Rocero, David B. Lyons
Director/Screenwriter: Lucy Davidson, Producers: Vanessa Batten, Amy Upchurch
Addison Heimann is a queer genre filmmaker currently residing in Los Angeles. His first feature, Hypochondriac, premiered at the 2022 SXSW Film Festival and was distributed by XYZ Films. His goal is to tell queer stories that explore mental health in the genre space.
Evan Twohy was raised on Hitchcock and opera on the edge of a forest outside Berkeley, California. From an early age, he found himself drawn to absurdist theater and began writing plays in New York City prior to making his first feature, Bubble & Squeak.
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