Grabbers, Great Whites, and Gooey Gore Galore: The Best Movies of Fantastic Fest 2025

For implicit a decade, I've had the pleasance of attending the Alamo Drafthouse's Fantastic Fest successful Austin, Texas. It's been a glorious tally filled with signature cocktails, sleepless nights chatting with chap movie lovers, and movies … truthful galore movies. The largest genre movie festival successful the US, inactive going beardown nether Festival Director Lisa Dreyer's enactment aft 20 glorious years, had an exceptionally bountiful harvest of titles this year. The programming squad truly stepped up to observe a milestone anniversary, and each of america theatergoers reaped the rewards.

In the tone of celebration, I'd similar to item arsenic galore of my favorites from Fantastic Fest 2025. For IGN, I was fortunate capable to reappraisal six titles retired of the festival—but I saw astir 30 movies. Between each the Blumhouse and A24 releases already connected your radar, I was devouring aboriginal indie darlings that person yet to adjacent find distribution. That's the beauteous portion of attending festivals: being a portion of a film's travel earlier it finds its audience. Hopefully, aft speechmaking this article, you'll person a fewer much genre-focused titles connected your radar to look retired for successful the coming months oregon later.

Sisu: Road to Revenge

Dir. Jalmari Helander

Release Date: November 21, 2025

Hands down, Sisu: Road to Revenge is the champion movie I saw astatine the festival. Jalmari Helander executes a near-perfect enactment sequel that packs arsenic overmuch punch arsenic the archetypal but tastes minty fresh. Jorma Tommila returns arsenic Aatami Korpi, the Finnish ex-commando who volition not die, but this clip he's laying discarded to vile Red Army enemies. Helander employs a post-WWII blend of Mad Max: Fury Road and aboriginal Fast & Furious franchise sequels to stroke the extortion disconnected explosive combat sequences that tally connected brazen grit, unparalleled courage, and bullets galore. It's much of the aforesaid with 2 large thumbs up, which you tin work much astir successful my afloat reappraisal for IGN.

Obsession

Dir. Curry Barker

Release Date: TBD 2026

Are y'all acceptable for the latest comedian turned overnight fearfulness sensation? There's a crushed Focus Features purchased Curry Barker's Obsession retired of the Toronto International Film Festival for $15+ million. His "simple" monkey's paw thriller astir a hopeless romanticist who wishes for his crush to emotion him much than anyone successful the satellite goes for broke with psychotic intentions. What starts surreally silly becomes devious Valentine's Day counterprogramming arsenic a selfish "nice guy" gets everything helium wished for and the consequences that follow. Where Barker's theatrical debut goes volition permission your jaw agape from daze and laughter. Check retired my afloat reappraisal for IGN.

Sirāt

Dir. Oliver Laxe

Release Date: November 14, 2025

This year's Cannes Jury Prize victor and Spain's Oscar enactment for Best International Feature is worthy the hype. Oliver Laxe's Sirāt is simply a travel into rave civilization and godforsaken bedlam, hiding twists and turns with capable whiplash to origin a concussion. It's astatine times joyful and inviting, driven by superb dependable plan that hinges connected rhythmic trance beats that pulsate throughout, but it's besides devastatingly dark. A father's hunt for his "missing" girl leads him to a Moroccan rave wherever helium meets a set of merry ravers who accidental they'll escort him to the adjacent creation party. Over arid terrain, Luis (played beautifully and tragically by Sergi López) learns astir the radical helium erstwhile misunderstood—but the terrain, similar our mortal existence, is unforgiving. Where Sirāt goes is worthy the ride, with spikes of acheronian and enlightenment passim Luis' grungy and groovy quest.

Beast of War

Dir. Kiah Roache-Turner

Release Date: October 10, 2025

I've been reviewing piss-poor indie shark movies for IGN agelong capable to springiness up anticipation that we'll ne'er not beryllium tortured by pitiful CG sharks, but salvation, thy sanction is Beast of War. In Kiah Roache-Turner's Aussie WWII fin flick, a radical of 1942-era soldiers are stranded adrift successful the Timor Sea erstwhile Japanese forces descend their vessel. But you cognize what's much unsafe than Axis attackers? A monolithic large achromatic that's trying to devour your brothers-in-arms. Roache-Turner keeps hostility heavy and strength razor-sharp arsenic Mark Coles Smith's Leo leads a floating radical of survivors against an aquatic predator, with nasty touches similar an aerial raid siren that's jammed into the shark, which emits this howling screech arsenic it approaches. Oh, and the shark looks great successful its applicable instauration - see, is it truly that hard?

Give maine gooey gore, a fewer astonishment battlefield threats, and a slayer shark that looks the part. That's each I need.

Good Luck, Have Fun, Don't Die

Dir. Gore Verbinski

Release Date: January 30, 2026

Welcome back, Gore Verbinski. The weirdo (complimentary) who brought america A Cure for Wellness is backmost successful afloat effect with his sci-fi action-comedy Good Luck, Have Fun, Don't Die. Sam Rockwell, playing a crazed lunatic who says he's from the future, leads a ragtag radical of diner patrons connected a ngo to prevention humanity from an AI doomsday. Par for the Skynet course, right? Wrong! Writer Matthew Robinson pens a silly, relentlessly bleak, yet hopefully resilient communicative astir not however to destruct AI, but however to modulate its due usage. Verbinski's ocular creativity bursts connected display, transforming "shitty algorithm prompts" into fantastical obstacles, portion the film's messaging delivers what I'd telephone the clearest distillation of AI's existent dangers arsenic they beryllium successful reality. I really, truly enjoyed Verbinski's return, which you tin work much astir successful my reappraisal for IGN.

Deathstalker

Dir. Daniel Bernhardt

Release Date: October 10, 2025

If you emotion immoderate operation of Astron-6, ’80s swords and magic movies, and dense frickin' metal, past you're going to emotion Deathstalker. Steven Kostanski remakes James Sbardellati's phantasy swordplay flick of the aforesaid sanction with his signature flair for lovable do-it-yourself applicable effects. The antheral liable for Psycho Goreman and Frankie Freako is drafting from fantastic influences that see Army of Darkness, Ray Harryhausen, and Heavy Metal (the movie) successful this blood-splattered dungeon crawler. Swiss stuntman and histrion Daniel Bernhardt (John Wick, Atomic Blonde) stars arsenic Deathstalker, with Patton Oswalt voicing his wizard goblin sidekick Doodad—and that's the sanest-sounding facet of this movie. It's each one-eyed flying creatures, pig-faced warriors, and two-headed trolls arsenic Deathstalker vanquishes foe aft foe who effort to bargain his newfound amulet.

Credit Blitz//Berlin for keeping vigor precocious with their mighty and badass people (solid rippin' and tearin' Doom vibes), arsenic good arsenic guitar virtuoso Slash, who not lone serves arsenic a producer, but lends his axe to a taxable opus successful collaboration with iconic composer Bear McCreary.

Primate

Dir. Johannes Roberts

Release Date: January 9, 2026

Sure, Primate is fundamentally conscionable Cujo but with a chimpanzee. That's bad… why? Director Johannes Roberts gives america precisely what we privation from the premise and past some. It's a lean, astir 90-minute film, the termination sequences drip with vicious, bone-shattering gore, and the carnal effects—whether integer oregon practical—are sublime. Miguel Torres Umba delivers phenomenal motion-capture enactment arsenic Ben, a superintelligent chimp who contracts a lawsuit of what tin lone beryllium described arsenic "Murder Rabies." Roberts besides treats the movie similar a Halloween movie, with Ben slinking astir and bashing down closet doors similar The Shape. It's a axenic popcorn amusement creature-feature that'll person you howling with excitement, making it the cleanable opening nighttime movie to footwear disconnected this year's Fantastic Fest.

Black Phone 2

Dir. Scott Derrickson

Release Date: October 17, 2025

I've gotta say, this twelvemonth was an exceptionally beardown showing for workplace projects astatine Fantastic Fest. The biggest alleviation of each was Scott Derrickson and C. Robert Cargill's Black Phone 2, a sequel that was ne'er truly intended, and yet is specified a affluent improvement that I'm truthful gladsome exists. The co-writers aren't shuffling retired The Grabber again for much of the same. A now-deceased Grabber is reinvented arsenic the 2nd coming of Freddy Krueger, which allows Ethan Hawke to play with adjacent much sinister tones. It's veering harder into campground slasher territory, arsenic good arsenic the sick impurity of wintertime wonderland horrors, dotting pristine achromatic snowfall with crimson blood. The displacement to Gwen (the sister of the main quality of the archetypal film) arsenic a medium-esque protagonist opens the doorway to plentifulness much continuations, which I spell connected to praise with different superb aspects successful my afloat reappraisal for IGN.

Whistle

Dir. Corin Hardy

Release Date: February 6, 2025

Writer Owen Egerton pens a nifty reinvention of Final Destination setups with Whistle, an adaptation of his ain abbreviated story. Director Corin Hardy does a splendid occupation bringing the horrors of an Aztec Death Whistle to life, particularly successful immoderate magnificent decease scenes that are brimming with fantabulous gore effects. It's a portion of American precocious schoolhouse fearfulness acquainted to thing from A Nightmare connected Elm Street to Scream, but with an inviting supernatural twist. Those who stroke into the whistle oregon perceive its screech summon Death early, negating their earthy expiration dates. It's truthful simple, and yet truthful originative successful the mode their deaths are represented present "out of context," let's say. Whistle is simply a full batch of amusive for fearfulness fans who similar it juicy, but besides someway remains uplifting, particularly successful however the film's themes preach astir making the astir of our 1 and lone decease by surviving beingness to the fullest.

Meat Kills

Dir. Martijn Smits

Release Date: TBD 2026

Sometimes you request a genuinely nihilistic, brutal-to-the-core ticker to cleanse the soul. At this year's Fantastic Fest, that was Martijn Smits' Meat Kills. A radical of extremist activists known arsenic the "Animal Army" invades a section pig workplace hoping to escaped the creatures, but alternatively finds them slaughtered—so they crook to revenge. What unfolds is simply a lawsuit of activism gone haywire that turns into a reverse slasher, with shades of New French Extremity filmmaking. It each goes repulsively wrong, with plentifulness of slaughtering extracurricular the pig farm's butchery. Meat Kills is for the '90s fearfulness fans that similar 'em mean and hateful, due to the fact that beingness ain't each rainbows and unicorns.