THE VILE
Fantastic Fest alum Majid Al Ansari brings this year’s audience a terrifying tale in THE VILE. Amani and her impressionable teen daughter, Noor, predominantly exist as a dynamic duo. When her husband shows up after an extended work trip with a second wife in tow, Amani must come to terms with living conditions she never planned for.
Not only is Amani confronted with the fact that Zahra is pregnant, but her husband is quick to return to work, leaving Noor to adapt to her other “mother.” Once alone in the house, Amani battles between supernatural forces and her motherly instincts. She becomes haunted by visions and sounds in the house. When she discovers that Zahra has been a second wife before, she goes searching for answers.
Zahra asserts herself as a savior in Noor’s life, flattering her, consoling her, and even intimidating her school bullies. But quickly, Zahra pushes boundaries. Noor’s hobby is photography, specifically of dead animals. Zahra talks her into a picture no one should take. While Amani flails to piece the ensuing madness together, Noor falls back on Zahra’s sway. THE VILE comes to a head as a simple birthday celebration brings darkness to the entire family.
Sarah Taibah strikes a beautiful balance between gentle and sinister as Zahra. She makes you so uncomfortable, and I mean that in the best way possible. Iman Tarik is Noor. Her ability to envelop you in her seemingly sheltered existence is fantastic. She shares sharp chemistry with each cast member. Tarik is one to watch.
Bdoor Mohammad creates a tangible desperation as Amani. You will easily root for her, particularly when it comes to the emotional dynamics between her and her husband. His oppressive hand will likely infuriate the audience, but it is clear Al Ansari did his research. Mohammad captivates at every turn.
Al Ansari masterfully plays with classic tropes to fray the viewers’ senses. The repeated manipulation of darkness is mesmerizing, and genre fans will spot horror homages throughout. The film induces a skincrawling effect, both physically and emotionally. The film tackles gender roles, trauma, greed, and polygamy through a horror lens. We are left with powerhouse final girl scenes worthy of the buildup. THE VILE is a fantastic companion watch for THE SURRENDER. Fantastic Fest 2025 audiences are in for a satisfying and lingering scare.
The Vile Teaser Trailer:
Running Time: 97 Minutes
Countries of Production: UAE, USA
Shooting Location: Abu Dhabi, UAE
Logline: When a man decides to bring home a second wife, the new bride is not the only thing that enters the family house.
Synopsis: Amani is blindsided and heartbroken when her husband, Khalid, brings a second wife into their home. Forced to accept the circumstances and determined to fight for the sake of her daughter, Noor, Amani remains in the house and tries to assert her role as the family’s matriarch. Living with the new bride, Zahra, crushes Amani emotionally and sends her into a downward spiral.
When ominous, seemingly paranormal events begin to overtake the house, Amani launches a frenzied search for answers, leaving Noor fearful for her mother’s sanity. Driven by instinct and terror, Amani becomes increasingly convinced there is something sinister in Zahra’s past—but her desperate quest for the truth threatens to push her further from reality.
“The Vile” is based on a story & directed by Majid Al Ansari (“Zinzana”, “The Intruder”, “Paranormal” series), Written by Majid Al Ansari & Johnnie Alward ( “The Matter At Hand”, “Wendigo”, “Something Bad”) , Costume Designer Kamal Farajallah (“Canary”, “On Borrowed Time”, “Star Wars: The Force Awakens”, “Mission: Impossible-Ghost Protocol” ), Editors Ghalya Lacroix (“Blue is the Warmest Color”, Secret of the Grain”, “Games of Love and Chance”), Hafedh Laridhi (“To My Son”, “Streams”, “Hedi”), Production Designer Benedikt Lange (“Zinzana”, Simon och ekarna”) , Director of Photography Benjamin Kirk Nielsen (“Watcher”, “Slut”), Executive Producers Mohamed Hefzy (Aisha Can’t Fly Away”, “Abdo and Saneya” “Voy! Voy! Voy!”, “Hajjan”),Yasir Alyasiri (“Shabob Shayab”, “Murk Light”) , Producer Rami Yasinv (“Late Night with the Devil”, “Watcher”) , and Produced by Roy Lee(“Weapons”, “The Long Walk”, “Barbarian”) & Steven Schneider (“The Plague”, “Glass”, “Split”, “Insidious”, “Paranormal Activity”).
“The Vile” features the talents of international stars Bdoor Mohammed (“La Tuqasus Ru’yak, “Ghassat Ubor”, “Majareeh” “Embers Years”), Sarah Taibah (“Night Courier”, “VHS Tape Replaced”, Fays Palette”), Iman Tarik (“The Vile”), Jassem AlKharraz (“Embers Year”, “Daw Dames”), Nora Ali (“Camera Ready and Abel”, “Cheddar News”, “Closing Bell”), Saeed AlHarsh (“The Anbush”, “Female Jinn” series), and Samira Al Wahaibi (“Rehlet Daeaa”).
About the Production: Academy-award winning studio Image Nation Abu Dhabi and US-based horror label Spooky Pictures present the latest film under their multi-picture slate partnership. “The Vile” is the first Arabic-language Emirati film in their line-up thus far and is directed by critically acclaimed Emirati genre filmmaker Majid Al Ansari. The film’s producers are Spooky Pictures’ founders Roy Lee(“Barbarian”), and Steven Schneider (“The Plague”), as well as Image Nation’s Derek Dauchy (“Late Night With The Devil”), and UAE-based producer Rami Yasin(“Watcher”) from Breakout Films.
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Evy sits in front of a blurred open doorway as she listens. This trope alone keeps your heart in your throat. Graham Beasley‘s overall framing is jarring as hell. Darkness plays an important role. Beasley rarely places Evy in the center of the frame and uses odd angles and stationary camera pans to keep you off balance in every way. It almost suggests the camera is haunted.
For all things Fantasia, 
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.
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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 
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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. 
Director: Gerard Johnson, Producers: John Jencks, Isabel Freer, Matthew James Wilkinson, Patrick Tolan, Screenwriters: Gerard Johnson, Austin Collings
Director: Elaine Epstein, Producers: Elaine Epstein, Robin Hessman
Directors/Screenwriters: Helena Ganjalyan, Bartosz Szpak, Producers: Maria Gołoś, Monika Matuszewska
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: Jessica Earnshaw, Producers: Holly Meehl Chapman, Jessica Earnshaw
Director: Eli Craig, Producers: Marty Bowen, John Fischer, Wyck Godfrey, Screenwriters: Carter Blanchard, Adam Cesare, Eli Craig
Director/Screenwriter: Kaspar Astrup Schröder, Producers: Maria Helga Stürup, Katrine A. Sahlstrøm
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: Kahane Corn Cooperman, Producers: Innbo Shim, Kahane Corn Cooperman
Director: Anayansi Prado, Producers: Ina Fichman, David Goldblum, Screenwriters: Anayansi Prado, Pablo Proenza
Director: Matt Johnson, Producers: Matthew Miller, Matt Greyson, Screenwriters: Matt Johnson, Jay McCarrol
Director: Ari Gold, Producers: Michelle Stratton, Starr Sutherland, Screenwriters: Ari Gold, Ethan Gold, Lara Louise, Brian Bell, Herbert Gold, Tongo Eisen-Martin, John Flanigan
Director/Screenwriter: Chelsea Christer, Producers: Clinton Trucks, Alexa Rocero, David B. Lyons
Director/Screenwriter: Lucy Davidson, Producers: Vanessa Batten, Amy Upchurch
The Virgin of The Quarry Lake
Jealousy collides with superstition in Laura Casabé‘s coming-of-age Sundance 2025 film The Virgin of The Quarry Lake. Natalia lives with her grandmother, Rita, after being abandoned by her parents. The summer after high school graduation is a time of angst, curiosity, fear, and desire. Intimated by a worldly older woman named Silvia, Nati and her two best friends become deeply entrenched in a battle to keep her crush, Diego, from her clutches. 
Although set in 2001 Argentina, the film’s narrative parallels today’s political climate with startling accuracy. The government is a disaster. There are rolling blackouts, civil unrest, and the popular television personality peddles misinformation. Nati witnesses violence again and again. Her envy of Silvia and sexual frustration push her to her limits. The repeated and infuriating misogyny she endures results in a bloody act of pushback. Nati unleashes an alarming feminine rage. 
Based on the stories of Mariana Enriquez, screenwriter Benjamin Naishat creates something quite magic. The Virgin of The Quarry Lake also delivers a visceral sense memory of young love. Nati receives a heartbreaking phone call from Silvia. I received a shockingly similar call the summer of my Senior year, and it destroyed me in a way that I still remember at almost 45 years old. You will hurt for her. It is vicious. Dolores Oliverio owns the role of Natalia. She is an undeniable star. 
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.
IT’S COMING
Ashley can see and hear spirits. The physical and mental toll is obvious, despite her shockingly calm demeanor. She has become so accustomed to her circumstances, and not much ruffles her feathers, until she realizes how deep the negative energy goes.
Ashley brings in medium Soledad Haren to cleanse the apartment. She provides viewers with paranormal canon, reasons, and triggers for an uptick in activity. It is a solid checklist if you aren’t a connoisseur of this genre. Like clockwork, incidents get worse. An acrid odor pervades their apartment, so intense it triggers CO2 alarms and multiple fire department visits. Soledad returns with her spirit box and performs an automatic writing session, providing few answers and more questions.
A husband and wife team of demonologists, Chris and Harmony DeFlorio, arrive with all the electronic bells and whistles. We see their footage intercut with Shannon’s. The results are undeniably unsettling. This is the point where Ashley finally breaks. It is the first time we see her cry and become physically unwell. When you witness the effect on Chris and Harmony, your heart rate increases tenfold. The comparisons to England’s most infamous haunting, The Enfield Poltergeist, are inevitable.
Javier’s personality slowly changes throughout the long months of filming. He describes a growing friendship with the black entity he calls Kitty. If you know anything about the paranormal, you understand how dangerous this is. You can track what looks like disassociation creeping onto his face. Something is affecting this child, whether it’s his mother’s energy or something genuinely sinister is up to the viewer, but I’ve not been this disturbed by a paranormal documentary in a long time. The final scene will send a shiver down your spine. IT’S COMING will haunt your mind long after the credits roll. You’ll question everything.
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BA
You’re damned if you do, and you’re damned if you don’t. In Benjamin Wong‘s Screamfest 2024 film BA, a father in dire straights makes a supernatural bargain with hideous consequences. On a mission to provide a better life for his young daughter, Daniel must reap souls until he settles his debt. His appearance is a decaying skeleton, names carved into his skin, and physical touch kills any living thing. But, if he breaks the otherwordly agreement, it could be deadly.
Daniel’s challenges are plenty. Besides the Faustian bargain, he must keep his features hidden from his daughter. If she comes in contact with her, she will perish. He makes extra cash by working nights for a near-blind convenience store owner. He walks in the daylight draped in clothing to conceal his literal Death mask. With Collette missing school, Daniel must also dodge child services.
The FX makeup is sleek and scary, and the team matches Daniel’s reflection moments. Kai Cech delivers a lovely performance as Collette, giving her natural innocence and an appropriate fear of abandonment. Lawrence Kao gives a relatable turn, making impossible decisions that any parent would replicate in his position. It is a nuanced role, and Kao brings us along on his emotional rollercoaster with gentle hands.
In filmmaker Ludvig Gür’s IN THE NAME OF GOD, a young priest struggling to inspire his congregation rekindles a relationship with his long-lost mentor. Jonas’ Old Testament-style promises of a higher calling come with a caveat. The Lord grants him special healing powers only when Theodor sacrifices bad people.
Performances are solid across the board. Thomas Hanzon gives Jonas a self-assuredness that simultaneously comforts and terrifies. It is an effortlessly unsettling turn. Vilhelm Blomgren is journalist Erik. Blomgren represents the audience in an emotionally turbulent performance. 
Filmmaker Luke Genton tells the story of a wannabe influencer living in Paris looking for a hook. Short on cash, she accepts a cleaning job, not knowing the location is an infamous murder castle. Thinking this might be her internet 15 minutes, she brings her nonexistent audience on the job. CHÂTEAU gives Popcorn Frights 2024 the YouTube ghost-hunting treatment. 
FANTASIA 2024
A road trip through Canadian oil fields conjured up fantasies of secrets deep in the dirt for the Adams family, and inspired them to create HELL HOLE, an indie rock-n-roll monster movie set at a far-away fracking site. Known for their DIY ethos, John and Lulu Adams and Toby Poser, partnering with Shudder, have joined the team behind The Last Drive-In with Joe Bob Briggs and FX legend Todd Masters to shoot their latest in Serbia with a local cast and crew. Absurd, mutinous, and transgressively comical, Hell Hole is old-school sci-fi horror, yet in typical family fashion, they subvert the genre with textures of biological and environmental horror in tandem with questions of gender and bodily autonomy. This will be the fourth time Fantasia World Premieres work from the gifted filmmaking family, following launches of 
After the success of 
Peter Vack (ASSHOLES) and Dasha Nekrasova (THE SCARY OF SIXTY-FIRST) star as couple on the rocks during the early part of the Covid-19 pandemic in American filmmaker Eugene Kotlyarenko (
It’s been 21 long years since Scooter McCrae (SHATTER DEAD) released a new feature, and he’s lost none of his smart, transgressive bite. Desperate for work, Derek (Damian Maffei, THE STRANGERS: PREY AT NIGHT) accepts a job at a shady tech start-up, working intimately with Susan (Yvonne Emilie Thälker in a powerful debut role), a bleeding-edge BDSM sex doll meant to receive and appreciate sexual punishment as an integral part of her evolving AI. Shot on Super 16, BLACK EYED SUSAN counterbalances its dark, vulgar core with a surprisingly tender vulnerability, creating a lo-fi science-fiction landscape infused with surprising fragility, as legendary Italian composer Fabio Frizzi (THE BEYOND, ZOMBIE) lends the picture a lush, atmospheric backdrop. Not for the faint of heart, BLACK EYED SUSAN delves into themes and questions that will only become more pertinent with the continued evolution of artificial intelligence. World Premiere.
A true DIY passion project from Estonian filmmaker Sander Maran, CHAINSAWS WERE SINGING is a zany, blood-soaked musical about lovers split up by a chainsaw-wielding killer. Over a decade in the making, Saran not only directed but wrote, scored, shot, and edited this colorful murder-fest that’s part gory horror movie and part ridiculous musical. The camerawork is inventive, the editing slapstick, and the tone truly absurdist. Most importantly, though, the songs are incredibly catchy, with Sander clearly deeply indebted to Trey Parker and Matt Stone’s CANNIBAL! THE MUSICAL and Frank Oz’s LITTLE SHOP OF HORRORS. Underground Section. International Premiere.
The stunning sophomore feature from award-winning director Carlota Pereda (
My favorite shorts collection of the year, this wildly eclectic and insanely talented group of female filmmakers aims to please, shock, and gag audiences. You never know what you’ll get with each passing year and I get giddy in anticipation. Fantasia 2024’s Born Of Woman lineup includes the following films:
THE BLEACHER
WILDFLOWER
DEAD TOOTH
DELICATE ARCH
Kevin Bohleber gives Cody a know-it-all environmentalist vibe. He hides a much more nuanced undertone. Kelley Mack is Wilda. She mixes a breezy girl-next-door quality with authentic emotional baggage. 
The titular location is a real place in Utah. It is striking and entirely isolated, making for an immediately tense premise. The score is haunting and ethereal, comprised of disembodied voices. Scenes in which Grant trips on mushrooms utilize a combination of ever-evolving animation and VHS-style imagery to illustrate his POV. It is trippy. 
Victoria Jorge gives Elena a tangibility that keeps us engaged. Ana Guevara and Leticia Jorge write a fun and authentic character, putting us at ease. Chiara Hourcade delivers a self-aware performance that allows the audience to ride this emotional rollercoaster alongside Adela. Hourcade and Jorge capture our hearts with genuine familiarity in their chemistry.
Beth’s protective best friend Julia, played by Alex Essoe, balances Emma’s anxiety-ridden nature. Essoe’s level-headed portrayal feels authentically grounded. Juliette Kenn de Balinthazy as Lex is extra cool as writers David Blair and Vida give her character a rare disease, making her unable to sense physical pain. Juliette Kenn de Balinthazy is a star.
Jane Badler plays Mona with an eccentric personality, fully tapping into her career toolbox. Wise and mesmerizing, curious and terrifying, Badler delivers an intriguing villain like the pro she is. Beth Million is Emma. She is timid, paranoid, and desperate for cash. Million is relatable and quietly powerful.
The narrative shifts into a visionary anthology of stories as Nathan moves through the levels of Hell. The progression feels like the dark films by Jim Henson in the 80s, but PANDEMONIUM takes it to an entirely new level of demented. It is the definition of French Extreme Cinema.
Hugo Dillon is Nathan. He is the only constant in PANDEMONIUM. We have pieces of his story, but only what he reveals. Dillon delivers a brilliant performance filled with fear, disdain, and bargaining. He’s phenomenal. 
An imaginative descent into the personal Hell we create, PANDEMONIUM is like nothing you’ve seen before. 
The first official appearance of our titular character is startling. Anne Müller‘s is dazzling. Her jarring physical performance makes BAGHEAD relentlessly unsettling.
Freya Allan plays Iris with equal parts frailty and fearlessness. You cannot take your eyes off her. Someone, please write a film featuring her as a young version of Juliette Lewis because the resemblance is uncanny. Take my money now.
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