Few film festivals provide as exciting and unique a lineup as the Fantasia Film Festival. Embracing genre and international filmmaking, the festival has a lineup you won't find anywhere else. Here are 7 films from the 2026 lineup that are worth keeping an eye on. 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.
Black Zombie
The Fantasia Film Festival consistently provides a diverse array of releases across multiple genres, with regular standout documentaries being included in the lineup each year. Examining the zombie vein of horror cinema and its ties to race, Black Zombie promises to make a splash this year. From its earliest days, the horror genre has been a catalyst for social reflection, and films like Black Zombie allow for meaningful recontextualization of the genre with a deeper appreciation forming for the art form. This is the perfect fit for a Fantasia schedule, working both as a celebration of horror and a meaningful discussion on it. My full review of the film from its SXSW debut can be found here.
Her Private Hell
His first feature film in over a decade, Her Private Hell marks a return to the big screen for Nicolas Winding Refn, who has proven himself before to be an exciting and experimental filmmaker with dynamic works like Bronson, Drive, The Neon Demon, and Only God Forgives. Pulling in horror influences from across the genre, Refn is back with yet another challenging work that has divided audiences since its debut at the Cannes Film Festival. Fantasia audiences will get the chance to take in the work for themselves and immerse themselves in what is sure to be a standout entry of the festival.
Jim Queen
In a time when LGBTQ+ cinema is under attack, having welcoming spaces like Fantasia has never been more needed to celebrate and share queer art. An adult animated comedy, Jim Queen promises to be a fun yet holistic piece of queer media, playing with queer culture while also representing the various identities found under the modern LGBTQ+ umbrella. One of the lighter entries in the Fantasia lineup, Jim Queen is undoubtedly going to be one of the most fun screenings at the festival.
Los Vampires
To save money and add to the profitability of the production, a Spanish version of Dracula was filmed overnight using the sets and production materials of the iconic 1931 film as the cast and crew of the English film took their rest before continuing to shoot the next day. Taking this concept and spinning it into an original story, Los Vampires sees this wild production get blended with a series of murders happening around the soundstage, promising both a treat for Universal Monster fans and a compelling original thriller. This is a genius concept and could easily be one of the breakout hits of Fantasia this year.
Nightborn
Few films have left quite as visceral an impact as Hanna Bergholm's 2022 feature, Hatching. With incredible practical effects and creature design, the film was an impressive directorial debut, and now Bergholm is back with her sophomore film, Nightborn. Following a pair of new parents who begin to suspect something is wrong with their baby, the film embraces folklore to provide another twisted and shocking feature from Bergholm, who feels at home in the Fantasia lineup.
Teenage Sex and Death at Camp Miasma
To put it plainly, no filmmaker is doing it like Jane Schoenbrun. Both of her previous films, We Are All Going to the World's Fair and I Saw the TV Glow provided deeply personal and vulnerable statements that both experimented with narrative and cut deep in emotional gravitas. Schoenbrun's films represent the feeling of being lost, choosing one's destiny, and trying to grow up in the modern world. With her newest film, Teenage Sex and Death at Camp Miasma, Schoenbrun takes this same level of depth and translates it into a film using the slasher genre and the nostalgia felt for the classic slashers of decades ago. Schoenbrun has always used relationships to media as a guiding force in her work, and this is sure to be a worthy continuation and evolution of this voice.
You Are the Film
A Fantasia regular, Makoto Ueda has continually impressed as a screenwriter at the festival. His collaborations with both Daigo Matsui and Junta Yamaguchi have led to some of the strongest works of the festival over recent years, and it is beyond exciting to see Ueda step into the role of director for the first time at this year's festival with You Are the Film. Always playful and pushing what a narrative can look like, Ueda has prospered on the Fantasia stage as one of the most exciting working filmmakers, and this new level of authorship and creative control has all the markings of being something truly special.
