The Fantasia Film Festival is one of the most exciting times of the year for film fans as one of the most diverse selections of films gets screened and celebrated. The 2024 edition of the festival kicks off July 18th and runs to August 4th. With an incredible lineup of over 100 feature films, the lineup can be a daunting one to explore. In this article, 7 of the most promising feature films in this lineup will be highlighted. Make sure to keep an eye on Buttered Popcorn for reviews from Fantasia and find the full screening lineup on the festival's official website.
Dark Match
The Fantasia Film Festival has had a long history with wrestling-related media with the newest being Lowell Dean's Dark Match. Following a wrestling company who get involved in a dark cult who have more devious plans than just hosting a normal wrestling show, the film promises to be a wild and entertaining ride featuring real-life wrestler Chris Jericho. One of the brightest parts of the Fantasia Film Festival every year is the festival's showcases of unique and zany horror features with Dark Match sure to fit into this identity perfectly.
Hell Hole
After their 2021 breakout hit, Hellbender, and their 2023 feature, Where the Devil Roams, John Adams and Toby Poser return once again to the horror genre with Hell Hole. It is always exciting to see a new addition to the monster genre with Hell Hole offering a more ecological angle with its story that almost feels reminiscent to the mindset behind the original Godzilla story.
Meanwhile on Earth
Originally building his resume within the world of animation, french director Jérémy Clapin makes a jump to live action with Meanwhile on Earth. An extraterrestrial drama, it is hard to overlook the feature as being one of the most promising films of the festival after the fantastic feature debut which was 2019's I Lost My Body.
Rita
Slowly building quite a filmography for himself with features including 2019's Tremors and 2020's La Llorona, Jayro Bustamante has proven himself to be a truly inspired and skilled filmmaker and returns with Rita. Promising to be a violent and emotional drama, judging by the filmmaker's past works Rita will be one of the can't miss films of the 2024 Fantasia Film Festival.
Shelby Oaks
One of the most influential film critics of the last decade, Chris Stuckmann's feature directorial debut, Shelby Oaks, finally makes its way to release with its debut at the 2024 Fantasia Film Festival. Originally announced in 2021, the film has since grown to include Mike Flanagan as an executive producer and has the chance to be a breakthrough hit to establish Stuckmann as a filmmaker.
Swimming in a Sand Pool
Best known for his 2005 feature, Linda Linda Linda, Nobuhiro Yamashita comes to the 2024 Fantasia Film Festival with a pair of feature films, both the animated feature Ghost Cat Anzu and the live-action feature Swimming in a Sand Pool. The latter, a slice-of-life feature following a group of high school girls who are tasked with cleaning their school's swimming pool during summer vacation, looks to tackle larger conversations including thoughts on gender, love, and life. Considering Yamashita's previous work, this has incredible potential to be something special and be one of the true gems of the festival.
Witchboard
The 2024 Fantasia Film Festival sees the return of a true icon as Chuck Russell returns to the director's chair. With a career including the likes of A Nightmare on Elm Street 3: Dream Warriors, The Blob, The Mask, and The Scorpion King, the prospect of Russell returning to the big screen with a new horror film is incredibly enticing. The film's cast also is quite promising with Madison Iseman and Jamie Campbell Bower bringing this supernatural haunt to life.
