Fantasia Film Festival 2021
The full lineup of the Fantasia Film Festival was released and tickets are on sale (and probably sold out), and while I would love to eat PB&J sandwiches for the next month to cover the cost of the tickets, I can’t because I spent all my money on Dreamcatcher and 2PM. Since I have to live vicariously through everyone else covering, I figured I would go through the schedule and share what movies I would have tried to watch if I got to attend. Maybe next year I can will into existence being cool enough for a press pass. While some of them are Asian and horror, it’s not true for all of the movies listed below.
Descriptions are pulled from Fantasia Film Festival’s webpage. The festival runs August 5-25.
THE 12 DAY TALE OF THE MONSTER THAT DIED IN 8 (Japan, 2020)
Sci-Fi
Director/Writer: Shunji Iwai
Like so many actors, Sato (Takumi Saitoh, playing a version of himself) is out of work due to COVID-19. He sits at home, and wonders what to do. Until tokusatsu director and kaiju expert Shinji Higuchi (of ATTACK ON TITAN and SHIN GODZILLA) suggest he buy capsule monsters online – to defeat the virus! Thus begins a bizarre series of videos in which the unemployed actor raises little play-putty monsters, which take on increasingly familiar, yet alien names. He is not alone: Youtube stardom forms around the phenomenon and soon his colleague Non (JELLYFISH PRINCESS, this year’s HOLD ME BACK) even starts fostering an alien! But as isolation blues kicks in in earnest and popular fictions blend with reality, one rightfully asks: What is going here?
ALIEN ON STAGE (UK, 2021)
Comedy, Documentary, Sci-Fi
Directors: Lucy Harvey & Danielle Kummer
A high-spirited group of British bus drivers set their minds to launching a homemade stage play adaptation of Ridley Scott’s ALIEN in Lucy Harvey and Danielle Kummer’s debut documentary ALIEN ON STAGE. With a Christopher Guest-esque charisma that particularly recalls his community theatre classic WAITING FOR GUFFMAN, the film follows the ups and downs of the delightfully DIY production, with its second-hand costumes and cardboard sets, and the charming crew determined to make it succeed.
ALL ABOUT LILY CHOU-CHOU (Japan, 2001)
Drama
Director/Writer: Shunji Iwai
Mysterious, ethereal dream-pop star Lily Chou-Chou dominates the charts, and the hearts of middle schoolers across Japan. Among them, the shy Shuichi (Hayato Ichihara) and the bullish Shusuke (Shugo Oshinari). Lily Chou-Chou’s music becomes a shared gateway into their tumultuous lives over the course of a few, formative years of adolescence. The teens discover their identities, affirm their passion and the slippery distinction between right and wrong as their embattled psychic landscapes are laid bare on the virtual walls of an Internet chatroom – pulsing to the pangs of a powerful, all-consuming fandom.
ALL THE MOONS (Spain, 2021)
Drama, Horror, Fantasy
Director: Igor Legarreta ∣ Writers: Igor Legarreta, Jon Sagala
As war rages through 1876 Spain, an orphanage is bombed and a young girl (Haizea Carneros) is gravely injured. She is rescued by a woman (Itziar Ituño) whom she perceives to be an angel, and who heals her wounds, while telling the girl she must now avoid the daylight. She also promises the girl that she will see many more full moons, and when more soldiers attack, they are forced to flee into the wilderness. The two become separated, and the girl is forced to take shelter, facing an uncertain future – and one that will last far beyond that of ordinary human beings.
APRIL STORY (Japan, 1998)
Drama, Romance
Director/Writer: Shunji Iwai
Uzuki Nireno (Takako Matsu), a shy girl from the countryside of northern Hokkaido, is heading to the big city for university. Settling into a new, exciting life, she comes to admit to herself that she might have ulterior motives in determining her choice of university: what if she came to Tokyo chasing a crush? To be near a boy, whom she fell in love with, before he moved away to work at a bookstore? What then? Like FIREWORKS, APRIL STORY is a remarkable example of Iwai’s talent as a chronicler of youthful experiences, here moving on from elementary school to tackle the momentous transition between high school and university – the first taste for complete independence, the shaping of identity, the new friendships and discoveries, the particular texture of light in a new apartment – with great pathos and an irresistible nostalgia. Featuring one of the all-time great umbrella scenes in the history of the medium and a joyful, magnetic performance from pop star Takako Matsu, APRIL STORY is an Iwai classic. – Ariel Esteban Cayer
BRAIN FREEZE (Canada, 2021)
Comedy, Horror
Director: Julien Knafo ∣ Writer: Jean Barbe, Julien Knafo
In the small, middle-class community of Ile-aux-Paons (Peacock Island), a new fertilizer is spread on the golf courses to allow the rich to play year-round. But the experimental fertilizer contains an active component that contaminates the population, turning them into zombies interested only in multiplying. This is how André (Iani Bédard), a young teenager who is taking care of his baby sister, crosses paths with Dan (Roy Dupuis), a security guard. As they journey across their quarantined island, they try to find the source of the evil and save themselves!
CAUTION HAZARDOUS WIFE THE MOVIE (Japan, 2020)
Action, Comedy, Drama
Director: Toya Sato ∣ Writer: Yukiko Manabe
Appearances can sometimes be deceiving. The inhabitants of the coastal town of Tamami will find this out soon enough. A methane hydrate processing plant is about to be built on their shores, a project dear to the government, and the stink of corruption reaxches for miles around. In addition, attacks on opponents of the project are on the rise. There is also the discreet Nami (Haruka Ayase, CYBORG SHE) who hides a secret that she herself has forgotten. The clumsy, unremarkable housewife is in fact a formidable secret agent who suffers from amnesia since a head injury suffered during a mission. A victim of strange dreams in which she confronts Russian mercenaries, she undergoes therapy to recover her memory, but receives mixed support from her husband Yuki (Hidetoshi Nishijima, CREEPY), who keeps a close eye on her. And what about Juri (Kenshi Okada), the cosplay-loving café owner who seems to shun certain people? Tamami is not nearly as peaceful as it seems. And its citizens, especially Nami, haven't seen anything yet!
COMING HOME IN THE DARK (New Zealand, 2021)
Thriller, Horror
Director: James Ashcroft ∣ Writers: Jam Ashcroft, Eli Kent
This extraordinary neo-noir is a blisteringly tense road movie into hell that plays like a home-invasion thriller set largely in a moving car. Based on the 1995 short story by award-winning New Zealand author Owen Marshall, described by David Hill as “one of the most harrowing narratives in our literature.” Official Selection: Sundance 2021, Calgary Underground Film Festival 2021.
THE DEEP HOUSE (France, 2021)
Horror
Directors/Writers: Alexandre Bustillo & Julien Maury
Two daredevil Youtubers with a passion for abandoned urban edifices film themselves as they take a deep dive into the bottom of a lake where there lies a mysterious house with a sinister past. Award-winning French genre maestros Alexandre Bustillo and Julien Maury (INSIDE, KANDISHA) display numerous filmic skills with this intelligent found footage style feature. The immersive darkness, the floating strangeness, THE DEEP HOUSE takes us down and further down, from mere unfamiliar discomfort to absolute and unfathomable terror.
DIGITAL VIDEO EDITING WITH ADOBE PREMIERE PRO: THE REAL-WORLD GUIDE TO SET UP AND WORKFLOW (South Korea, 2020)
Romance, Horror, Comedy
Director/Writer: Hong Seong Yoon
A mysterious ghost keeps appearing in the shots of a film as it’s being cut, causing its editor and director to bicker to death. An innovative “screen life” horror comedy trading the usual desktop for the editing software and skillfully blending expected long-haired scares with Hong Sang Soo-esque petty drama! – Ariel Esteban Cayer
DON’T SAY ITS NAME (Canada, 2021)
Horror
Director: Rueben Martell ∣ Writer: Rueben Martell, Gerald Wexler
When an environmental activist is called back to the world of the living after a suspicious accident takes her life, an ancient spirit is reborn outside a small northern town. With a wealth of Indigenous talent both in front of and behind the camera, DON’T SAY ITS NAME, the eerie feature debut from director/co-writer Rueben Martell, builds its chills with compellingly real characters and strong performances from Madison Walsh (SOMETHING UNDONE), Sera-Lys McArthur (OUTLANDER), Samuel Marty (GODLESS), Carla Fox, and Julian Black-Antelope (HOLD THE DARK).
FOLLOW THE LIGHT (Japan, 2020)
Drama
Director: Yoichi Narita ∣ Writer: Yoichi Narita, Yu Sakudo
Freshly arrived from Tokyo to a fading village in the Japanese countryside, Akira becomes fascinated with an isolated girl who is obsessed with a crop circle in her grandfather's fields. This multi-layered, sci-fi coming-of-age story by first-time director Yoichi Narita is a true gem with a dazzling narrative. The majestic, rich cinematography, which highlights the magnificent rural landscapes, and judicious use of music recall Shunji Iwai's masterpiece ALL ABOUT LILY CHOU-CHOU. FOLLOW THE LIGHT will leave a lasting impression with its soft visual splendour and sensitive storytelling.
FUNKY FOREST: THE FIRST CONTACT (Japan, 2005)
Drama, Comedy, Sci-Fi
Directors/Writers: Katsuhito Ishii, Hajime Ishimine, Shunichiro Miki
If you look at them just right, the most mundane elements of daily life can seem utterly bizarre. Conversely, the strangest, most inexplicable things can seem perfectly ordinary. That's the lunatic logic behind 2005’s FUNKY FOREST, a sprawling omnibus of the obvious and the oddball, the casual and the completely insane. FUNKY FOREST's daringly disjointed narrative is a mishmash of blackouts, non-sequiturs, flashbacks, lucid dreams, magical moments and so much more. Life's little disappointments are woven together with all sorts of extraterrestrial freaks and incomprehensible biological curiosities, music-video mayhem and mind-bending theatrics, and psychedelic surrealism of the finest grade, delivered with a deadpan shrug.
GLASSHOUSE (South Africa, 2021)
Thriller, Sci-Fi
Director: Kelsey Egan Writers: Emma De Wet, Kelsey Egan
A memory-shredding neurochemical permeates the atmosphere like airborne dementia, but safe within an airtight glasshouse a family preserves their past through rituals of collective memory. Sensual and savage, GLASSHOUSE weaves aspects of dystopian science fiction with notes of folk horror and perverse, brooding, Gothic melodrama to craft a taught existential tale that ultimately explores the importance of storytelling and memory. It’s a stunning feature debut from South African filmmaker Kelsey Egan, starring Adrienne Pearce, Jessica Alexander, Anja Taljaard, and Hilton Pelser.
THE GREAT YOKAI WAR - GUARDIANS (Japan, 2021)
Fantasy, Advenutre
Director: Takashi Miike ∣ Writer: Yusuke Watanabe
Like many children his age, Kei learns to control his fears and constantly quarrels with his little brother Dai. One night, a strange creature comes to visit him, then a mysterious portal opens in his room. He is transported to the magical world of the Yokai, the gentle Japanese demons, each with an unusual shape and unique character traits. They tell him that a terrible war threatening their world will devastate downtown Tokyo in the form of the colossal Yokaiju. Worse, the emergency meeting of the great international council of Yokai, where Dracula, the mermaid, what looks like a Trumpist, and their cronies have abandoned them, has designated Kei and Dai as their only hopes, as they are the last descendants of a legendary fighter. Frightened, Kei refuses. When he returns, Dai has disappeared. Kei must find the courage to fulfill his destiny in order to save his brother, the Yokai, and Tokyo.
HELLO! TAPIR (Taiwan, 2021)
Drama, Animation, Fantasy
Director: Kethsvin Chee ∣ Writers: Kethsvin Chee, Chris Leong, Yoon Yee Teh
It has the body of a pig, the trunk of an elephant, the ears of a horse and the feet of a rhinoceros. At night, it passes through sleeping villages and gobbles up people’s pesky nightmares. This huge, fantastical beast, called a tapir, is real, and eight-year-old Ah Keat’s father once told the boy he had in fact seen one when he himself was young. One grey day, the family’s fishing boat is towed back into the village harbour, and Ah Keat’s father is not on it. The adults around him – his distraught grandmother, his anxious mom who has returned from Taipei – are not forthcoming with Ah Keat about what has happened. He wants his father back, and he believes the tapir can help, so he and his friends begin a quest to find the gentle, benevolent beast.
JOSEE (South Korea, 2020)
Romance, Drama
Director/Writer Kim Jeong Kwan
After an incident that leaves her electric wheelchair disabled, Josée is rescued by Young Seok, who she then brings in to discover her unique imaginary world. A beautiful, moving, charming, and visually polished film by Kim Jeong Kwan faithfully adapted from the popular novel Josee, the Tiger and the Fish. Official Selection: Busan International Film Festival 2021.
KRATT (Estonia, 2020)
Comedy, Fantasy
Director/Writer: Rasmus Merivoo
Ah, children. The source of much joy, hope and innocence for many, but truth be told the little monsters are out to kill us all. Let's be honest, they're all selfish wretches who do nothing but drive you crazy and suck up your will to live. And now, in a small Estonian village, two narcissistic little brats (Nora and Harri Merivoo, the director's kids!), dropped off at their Grandmother's (Mari Lili) farm for a few weeks while their parents attend a self-help retreat, may bring about the end of human existence as we know it. Complaining about the actual work they're expected to do, these little snot-nosed pests bring the local legend of the Kratt – a Terminator-like demonic spirit that must always be fed work, or else – to life just so they can take it easy, but in doing so they may have set in motion the destruction of Grandma, her village and perhaps the world with it. And all because they couldn't get internet access.
LOVE, LIFE AND GOLDFISH (Japan, 2020)
Action, Comedy, Romance, Drama
Director: Yukinori Makabe ∣ Writer: Harumi Doki
They say it's unhealthy to bottle up your emotions. Makoto, an elite employee at one of Tokyo's biggest banks, has learned this the hard way. The poor guy is so closed off, and has built up so much frustration, that when he is about to receive an important promotion, he can't help but shower a volley of gratuitous insults on his boss. As a result, he finds himself transferred to a small rural town, in the middle of nowhere. Once there, he meets the sweet Yoshino, the owner of a strange establishment where the customers compete in goldfish fishing. He immediately falls in love with her, but strongly resists this unwanted feeling. Then there is the exuberant local pub owner, Asuka, who seems to have a crush on him. Caught up in an emotional whirlwind, Makoto will have to learn to tame and express his emotions before he explodes again, and unwittingly sends everyone packing.
MIDNIGHT (South Korea, 2021)
Thriller
Director/Writer: Kwon Oh Seung
A wave of murders hits the city and, lurking in the shadows, a killer has just identified his new prey – a deaf woman. South Korea has become the go-to source for fans of dark, intense, unpredictable thrillers that deliver cutthroat tension, and Kwon Oh Seung's debut feature MIDNIGHT follows in this tradition. A breathless tale boasting hallucinatory sound design that relishes in testing the nerves of even the most seasoned viewers.
THE NIGHT HOUSE (USA, 2021)
Thriller, Horror
Director: David Bruckner ∣ Writers: Ben Collins, Luke Piotrowski
From director David Bruckner (THE RITUAL, THE SIGNAL) comes THE NIGHT HOUSE. Reeling from the unexpected death of her husband, Beth (Rebecca Hall) is left alone in the lakeside home he built for her. She tries as best she can to keep it together – but then nightmares come. Disturbing visions of a presence in the house calling to her, beckoning her with a ghostly allure. Against the advice of her friends, she begins digging into her husband’s belongings, yearning for answers. What she finds are secrets both strange and disturbing – a mystery she’s determined to unravel. THE NIGHT HOUSE stars Rebecca Hall (GODZILLA VS. KONG), Sarah Goldberg (Barry, Elementary), Vondie Curtis Hall (DIE HARD 2, EVE’S BAYOU), Evan Jonigkeit (Togetherish, Sweetbitter), and Stacy Martin (VOX LUX, NYMPHOMANIAC).
OFFICE ROYALE (Japan, 2021)
Comedy
Director: Kazuaki Seki ∣ Writer: Bakarhythm
Naoko (Mei Nagano, RUROUNI KENSHIN) is an innocuous office worker at Mitsufuji, a company like any other. Colleagues talk about the latest developments in their favourite TV series, discuss their diets, and many have a good time during lunch hours. Naoko steers clear of the clique war between three departments led by ruthless, backside-kicking bosses. Then a new employee arrives – Ran Hojo (Alice Hirose, THE TRAVELLING CAT CHRONICLES). She has the charisma and strength of a manga heroine. Ran defeats the clan leaders one by one and becomes the undisputed leader of Mitsufuji. She also befriends Naoko, who is not interested in office fights. The legend of Ran is spreading and the female warriors from other sections are constantly challenging her, without success. But what if she is dethroned by another gang, seeking to wrest control of Mitsufuji? Who would stand up for the company's honour?
REMAIN IN TWILIGHT (Japan, 2021)
Comedy, Drama, Fantasy
Director/Writer: Daigo Matsui
Six high school friends reunite for a wedding ceremony. They reconnect as if no time has passed, recall old nicknames, joke around and get ready to perform a trademark – and delightfully embarrassing – dance routine from their youthful days. But an unspoken weirdness lingers: Yoshio (rising star Ryo Narita of HOMUNCULUS) should not be there. At all. Metaphysically speaking, that is. And yet… His friends are able to see him, hear him, and touch him. As the day progresses, painful memories start blending with the present and an old flame makes an appearance, building towards a reckoning for all involved. No one wants to face the obvious: the lost Yoshio has remained in twilight.
THE SADNESS (Taiwan, 2021)
Horror
Director/Writer: Rob Jabbaz
In an alternate version of Taiwan, a rapidly spreading pandemic suddenly mutates into a rabies-like affliction, and the infected find themselves unable to control their id. A nightmare vision steeped in unspeakably upsetting moments of violence, Rob Jabbaz’s THE SADNESS plays like a return to the no-holds-barred shock sensibilities of ’90s Hong Kong Category III films. Electrified with an existential fear that punches spikes of panic energy straight into your nervous system, and told with incredible style, THE SADNESS is a force to be reckoned with. Fantasia is proud to be bringing this extreme horror rollercoaster to North American shores, hot off its bow at Locarno.
SAKURA (Japan, 2020)
Drama
Director: Hitoshi Yazaki ∣ Writer: Masa Asanishi, Kanako Nishi
As a young adult, Kaoru (Takumi Kitamura, TREMBLE ALL YOU WANT) returns home after a long absence. He is welcomed by his father (Masatoshi Nagase, MYSTERY TRAIN, SUICIDE CLUB), his mother (Shinobu Terajima, DARE TO STOP US) and his sister Miki (Nana Komatsu, BAKUMAN), but most of all he seems to be happy to be reunited with Sakura, the family dog. Gentle yet strong, sweet yet mischievous, she has been a significant part of their lives in the 12 years since they adopted her as an adorable puppy. Kaoru remembers this during his stay with his parents; he also thinks about his older brother Hajime (Ryo Yoshizawa, BLEACH), who was a star baseball player in school, but whose life was turned upside down by a curveball of fate…
SEOBOK (South Korea, 2021)
Action, Thriller, Sci-Fi
Director: Lee Yong Joo ∣ Writers: Yeom Gyu Hun, Lee Jae Min, Jeo Min Suk, Lee Yong Ju
A former secret service agent (Gong Yoo, TRAIN TO BUSAN) struggling with a brain tumor must return to duty for a mission of the utmost importance: protecting Seobok (Park Bo Gum, COIN LOCKER GIRL), the first human clone who has unnatural powers. Few mainstream films integrate ethical reflection with breathtaking, high-octane entertainment to this incredible extent.
THE SLUG (South Korea, 2021)
Drama, Fantasy
Director/Writer: Choi Jin Young
Chun Hee (Kang Jin Ah, MICROHABITAT) has yet to come out of her shell. Reeling from trauma harking back to her parent’s death, she still lives in her childhood home and goes about her business in a rather solitary but empathetic way – peeling inordinate amounts of garlic for restaurants and trying to connect with other people. Until she is struck by lightning – an event she not only survives, but which manifests her younger self (Park Hye Jin) into her life, in flesh and bone, awaiting explanations for this sad state of affairs.
TAIPEI SUICIDE STORY (Taiwan, 2020)
Thriller
Director/Writer: KEFF
A receptionist at a suicide hotel in Taipei forms a fleeting friendship with a guest who can't decide if she wants to live or die. A festival hit throughout the pandemic and winner of the Narrative Grand Jury Prize, Audience Award and Acting Prize for Tender Huang at Slamdance 2021, KEFF’s latest (following SECRET LIVES OF ASIANS AT NIGHT) is a uniquely poignant tale of resilience amidst alienation, set two minutes into our ever-uncertain futures.
UZUMAKI (Japan, 2000)
Horror
Director: Higuchinsky ∣ Writer: Takao Niita
Strange events are afoot in the small town of Kurozu – and schoolgirl Kirie seems to be caught in the maelstrom of it all. Her boyfriend’s father becomes obsessed with spirals. First, the patterns on a snail’s shell, then the movement of a washing machine or the whirlpool one makes with chopsticks when mixing fish cake into a soup. At school, a student starts dripping inordinate amounts of sweat – only attending class on damp, rainy days. Meanwhile, another classmate develops imposing curls. The sky darkens; spirals seem to be everywhere at once, exerting an irresistible fascination on all things.
VOICE OF SILENCE (South Korea, 2021)
Thriller, Crime
Director/Writer: Hong Eui Jeong
It's back to business as usual for Chang-bok (You Chea Myung, BRING ME HOME) and his assistant Tae In (Yoo Ah In, #ALIVE), who has lost his voice. They go to the village to sell their eggs, then change clothes and go to fulfill their contract with gangsters to prepare and clean the scene of an execution. Finally, they return home after disposing of the body. Their discretion and professionalism are so well respected that a gang leader gives them an unprecedented task: to fetch a person and hide them for 24 hours. When they arrive at the designated place, they are stunned. It’s a little girl. They bring her back and fulfill their part of the contract, but no one comes to claim her. So the antisocial Tae-in has to take the child back to his home, hidden deep in the land he shares with his little sister. Everything goes wrong when he and his colleague arrive at their new assignment, and find out that it’s their employer.
WHAT JOSIAH SAW (USA, 2021)
Horror, Thriller, Drama
Director: Vincent Grashaw ∣ Writer: Robert Alan Dilts
In director Vincent Grashaw’s Southern Gothic nightmare WHAT JOSIAH SAW, an estranged family grapples with the sins of the past… yanking the skeletons right out of their closet, kicking and screaming all the way! The superlative cast includes Robert Patrick, Nick Stahl, Kelli Garner, Tony Hale, Scott Haze and Jake Weber. It’s this year’s THE DARK AND THE WICKED.
WONDERFUL PARADISE (Japan, 2020)
Comedy, Fantasy
Director: Masashi Yamamoto ∣ Writers: Suzuyuki Kaneko, Masashi Yamamoto
The debt-ridden Sasayas are moving out of their big house in the suburbs of Tokyo. Misinterpreting her father’s suggestion to “make fun memories” instead of focusing on the material move, Akane, the family’s daughter, posts an open invitation on Twitter: “Let’s have a party!” Soon, a homeless man comes to pray at the altar of the kitsch Greek statue in their driveway, and thus begins the bacchanal! Guest after guest pours into the house: movers first (of course), the family’s estranged mother second, a couple looking for a place to wed, the neighbourhood drug dealers, a confrontational aunt, and soon, with the unflinching logic of an ever-escalating matsuri gone utterly and irreversibly wild, jilted lovers, supernatural surprises, and delights of the kaiju variety…
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