Every summer, the Fantasia International Film Festival returns with one of the year’s most adventurous and eclectic lineups, celebrating boundary-pushing horror, international cinema, action, science fiction, animation, and genre-defying independent filmmaking. With another outstanding slate of world premieres and acclaimed festival favorites, narrowing the lineup down isn’t easy. These are the films I’m most looking forward to covering and discovering at this year’s festival.
The Samurai and the Prisoner
One of my most anticipated films of the festival is Kiyoshi Kurosawa’s The Samurai and the Prisoner.
The acclaimed filmmaker behind Cure and Pulse returns with a historical mystery based on Honobu Yonezawa’s novel. Set in 16th-century Japan, the film follows Lord Murashige Araki as, while besieged in his castle, he joins forces with imprisoned strategist Kanbei Kuroda to investigate a series of mysterious crimes.
The film made its world premiere out of competition at this year’s Cannes Film Festival and has been one of my most anticipated titles ever since. While it wasn’t eligible for awards, it was met with widespread acclaim from the critics who attended its premiere.
Her Private Hell
Following its out-of-competition world premiere at the 2026 Cannes Film Festival, Nicolas Winding Refn’s first feature in a decade has quickly become one of the year’s most talked-about genre films.
Starring Sophie Thatcher and Charles Melton, Her Private Hell promises a hypnotic, unhinged thriller filled with glamour, sex, and violence. Based on its premise and the early reactions, it feels poised to recapture the hypnotic style and neo-noir atmosphere that made Drive one of Refn’s defining works.
Teenage Sex and Death at Camp Miasma
Jane Schoenbrun returns with her highly anticipated follow-up to I Saw the TV Glow.
The film follows a director making a slasher sequel who becomes obsessed with casting the original film’s “final girl,” sending both women into a spiral of psychological and sexual chaos.
After making a splash with its Cannes premiere, this has remained one of the films highest on my watchlist.
Colony
After redefining the modern zombie genre with Train to Busan, Yeon Sang-ho returns with Colony, a film that has quickly become one of my most anticipated titles of the festival.
Since the passing of George A. Romero, few filmmakers have had a greater impact on zombie cinema than Yeon Sang-ho. I’m eager to see how he continues to evolve the genre he helped redefine for a new generation.
We’re Nothing at All
Following its world premiere at the Hong Kong International Film Festival, where it won the Audience Choice Award, Herman Yau’s We’re Nothing at All has quickly become one of the Hong Kong films I’m most eager to discover at Fantasia.
Inspired by the 1998 Wuhan bus bombing, the film follows a retired forensic investigator as he pieces together the lives behind a devastating Valentine’s Day bus explosion, uncovering a tragic story shaped by repression, discrimination, and despair.
Herman Yau has long been one of Hong Kong cinema’s most prolific and fearless filmmakers, making this one of the festival titles I’m looking forward to the most.
The Eyes
The Eyes follows Seo-jin, a renowned photographer whose search for the truth behind her twin sister’s mysterious death takes a terrifying turn as her eyesight begins to deteriorate and an unseen presence closes in around her.
Blending psychological horror with a mystery-driven premise, the film has all the makings of one of Fantasia’s most intriguing genre offerings. As a fan of Korean horror and thrillers, this is one of the titles I’m most eager to discover at the festival.
Insectasy
While I’m admittedly unfamiliar with the filmmaker’s previous work, Insectasy immediately caught my attention thanks to its unusual premise and the promise of something unlike anything else in this year’s lineup.
Every festival has a handful of discoveries that come out of nowhere, and I have a feeling Insectasy could end up being one of Fantasia’s hidden gems.
Tristes Tropiques
Following its world premiere at the 2025 Sitges Film Festival and its Silver Raven win at the Brussels International Fantastic Film Festival, Park Hoon-jung’s Tristes Tropiques makes its North American premiere at Fantasia.
The film follows a group of young assassins trained by a mysterious master who eventually turn against one another in a brutal quest for revenge. As a fan of stylish Korean action cinema, this is easily one of the films I’m most excited to experience at the festival.
Blaise
With so many exciting films making their way to Fantasia this year, there is one title I can already recommend without hesitation because I’ve had the pleasure of seeing it.
Premiering in the ACID section at this year’s Cannes Film Festival, Blaise is one of the year’s most inventive and memorable discoveries.
Blaise is a fantastic film that doesn’t just satirize the world—it distorts it until it finally looks honest.
If you’re attending Fantasia this year, make sure to put this one on your schedule.
Fantasia once again looks to be one of the year’s strongest celebrations of genre cinema, bringing together acclaimed auteurs, exciting newcomers, and some of the most anticipated international films of the year. These are just a handful of the titles I’ll be covering throughout the festival, so be sure to follow Four Time Film School Dropout for reviews, interviews, and continuing coverage from Fantasia 2026.
Check out my Blaise Review and Interview with the Directors below!