Every year, genre fans look to Austin, Texas, to see what Fantastic Fest has in store. The fest highlights what horror, sci-fi, schlock, and wholly unique movies are worth buzzing about throughout the rest of the year. This year’s festival takes place Sept. 22-29, and so with the festivities kicking off imminently, here are some movies we’re looking forward to seeing in the next week.
Piggy, directed by Carlota Martinez-Pereda
Sara is an overweight teen who’s constantly bullied for her physical appearance. After being terrorized by the group of girls who torture her daily, Sara happens to see them get kidnapped by a strange man. Will she let her enemies suffer with their kidnapper, or will she come clean about what she saw? This deliciously tricky dilemma seems like the perfect kind of throughline for a Fantastic Fest feature, with the teaser trailer (full of moments highlighting the plot without giving too much away, as well as some peeks at the blood and violence in the film) selling us on something suspenseful but darkly fun, too.
Triangle of Sadness, directed by Ruben Östlund
What do you get when you put a luxury cruise full of ultra-rich vacationers and the boat’s staff in choppy waters? A lot of puke and rising class tensions, according to the latest trailer for Triangle of Sadness. Director Ruben Östlund, of Force Majeure fame, appears to be delivering yet another satire that will deliver on tension and uneasy laughs.
Decision to Leave, directed by Park Chan-wook
In his first film since 2016’s The Handmaiden, Director Park Chan-wook is back with a murder-mystery romance. When a detective investigating the mysterious death of a man falls in love with the dead man’s widow, who also happens to be the prime suspect in the investigation. With this twisty plotline, Decision to Leave looks like it might be the next great international neo-noir, and we can’t wait to see it!
Bones and All, directed by Luca Guadagnino
Based on the young adult novel of the same name, Bones and All is about young lovers…who just so happen to be cannibals. The trailer for the movie teases a Badlands-style romance between leads Timothée Chalamet and Taylor Russell and hints at the violence that’s sure to come in a movie involving this subject matter (no matter how much of it is focused on romance). If you’ve seen Director Luca Guadagnino’s Suspiria remake, you know that he’s not afraid to go to some gory, blood-drenched places. Bones looks like an emotional, gruesome romance that we’ll just have to wait to see!
Huesera, directed by Michelle Garza Cervera
With a title that roughly translates to a resting place for bones, Huesera looks like it’s more than ready to deliver on scares. The movie focuses on the pregnancy of its main character, Valeria, and the body horror that comes from carrying a human life into the world, as well as some occult forces trying to dabble in her pregnancy. It’s one of many feature debuts showing at the fest that might haunt us long after we’ve left.
Check We Got This Covered all week for our reviews from the festival.