Fantasia Film Festival Archives

Straatcoaches vs Aliens: When Gentrification Gets Outrageously Slimed

From tar pits to turf wars, Straatcoaches vs Aliens (Straight Outta Space) proves even extraterrestrials aren’t immune to the politics of who belongs.

Spoiler Alert

Straatcoaches vs Aliens (American title: Straight Outta Space) is a Dutch entry in the rarely explored subgenre of urban sci-fi survival—and it surprisingly fits the mold. In 1982, something extraterrestrial crash-landed into a tar pit and attacked a construction worker before the Schijndrecht apartment complex and neighbourhood were fully built. Although no investigation followed, this vague, Thing‑like prologue sets the stage for a film that, while chaotic, plays as a sincere homage to broader genre traditions.

According to IMDb, the script has an unusually large roster of writers—Daan Bakker, Nico van den Brink, Paul de Vrijer, Ashar Medina, Fadua El Akchaoui, and Michael Middelkoop, who also directs. Middelkoop aims for an absurdist tone reminiscent of Ghostbusters and Evil Dead, but it doesn’t always land. Uneven pacing and tonal shifts get in the way—especially since the film never fully explains how the alien’s vomit zombifies people.

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Félix Brassard’s “L’écrivain” (The Writer): A Quiet Scream in the Woods at Fantasia Film Festival 2025

Official poster for L’écrivain (The Writer), 2025 short film by Félix Brassard — **This work played as part of the Are You Afraid of Fantasia? 2025 short film program on July 28, 2025**

Félix Brassard’s film L’écrivain (The Writer) follows Pierre (Josian Neveu), a TV writer with an unusual, secretive nightly routine. Each evening, he locks himself in a room—and no one knows why. Not even his boss Gilbert (Marco Giguère), who’s recently started dropping by more often to figure out why Pierre is frequently slow to deliver.

I won’t spoil the outcome—mainly because the film is so simple that even a small reveal might give too much away. The poster even says too much. When the dynamic is clear, it’s easy to know how this tale will end. Here, Pierre is our reclusive protagonist, and Gilbert is the pushy antagonist. Watching Neveu and Giguère interact feels like fire meeting water. The twist isn’t exactly shocking, but that’s not the point. This short feels like a proof of concept—a sketch hinting at something bigger. I wouldn’t be surprised if Brassard is laying the groundwork for a feature. It reads as a personal take on genre cinema.

That makes sense if you’re familiar with Brassard’s 2019 documentary L’inquiétante Absence, which explores Quebec’s underappreciated genre film scene. Though I haven’t seen it yet, it reportedly delves into the cultural and institutional barriers that keep horror, sci-fi, and fantasy films from truly thriving in the province—despite a passionate fan base and abundant talent. Featuring big names like David Cronenberg, Robin Aubert, and Fantasia Festival organizers, Brassard clearly knows this terrain.

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Mother of Dawn: An Unforgettable Journey Through Creation and Cosmic Wonder in Clara Trevisan’s Surreal Short

Clara Trevisan’s Mother of Dawn is a haunting stop-motion short that explores cosmic creation and transformation—without a single word of dialogue.

Mother of Dawn Movie Poster — **This work is part of the Circo Animato 2025 Short Film Program that played at Fantasia Film Festival 2025**

Clara Trevisan’s Mother of Dawn is a mesmerizing stop-motion short that lands somewhere between a cosmic fairytale and a handcrafted fever dream. Running just under eight minutes, the film doesn’t rely on dialogue, exposition, or conventional storytelling—and that’s precisely why it resonates. It invites you to feel, not just watch.

What immediately stands out is the animation style. As someone used to the dark whimsy of Tim Burton or the polished fantasy of Studio Laika, I wasn’t expecting something so raw, textured, and unapologetically surreal. If I had to compare it to anything, it would be Phil Tippett’s Mad God (which also screened at Fantasia Film Festival), though this leans less into chaos and more into cosmic poetry. The design is otherworldly—vivid and dreamlike one moment, then barren and eerie the next. It feels pulled from some subconscious mythos, and it’s unlike anything else on the festival circuit right now.

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Dungeons and Television’s Hilarious Debut At Fantasia Film Festival 2025 Will Want You Posing Too!

Set to release on YouTube next month, Dungeons and Television is fast-paced, charming series about dungeon livestreaming in a way where why isn’t that reporter running away from that dragon!?!?

Dungeons and Television is one of the standout new series introduced at Fantasia Film Festival, and what’s presented is merely a teaser. When the festival also becomes a launchpad for fresh shows, there’s more than one title I’m already tuning in to. Another is Night of the Living Cat, which is currently streaming on Crunchyroll and you can catch my review of the first two episodes here; Fantasia hosted a theatrical screening of episodes three and four (highly recommended—the plot finally thickens).

As for this fantasy series, this made-for-the-web anime will arrive next month on YouTube. Although I can’t find an official channel, I’m sure that’ll quickly be live very soon, and as soon as I know, I’ll posted updates! In this world, the discovery of the vacuum tube has reshaped life in the kingdom of The Grand Half-Moon Cauldron, turning once-mythic dungeons into hotspots for exploration and opportunity. The setup feels very Dungeons & Dragons-inspired, and that’s definitely a plus.

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Studio 4°C’s ChaO: An Enchanting Tale That’s More Than Just a Fairy Tale Romance

A bold and emotional story blending mermaid mythology, interspecies romance, wild mecha rides, and high-stakes drama, ChaO makes a memorable splash.

ChaO Movie Poster English) — This movie played at the 2025 Fantasia International Film Festival on July 27th.

GKIDS

When a movie simply titled ChaO begins with an account of a mermaid saving a boy from drowning, writer/director Yasuhiro Aoki moves away from the idea of presenting another fairy tale. Unlike those fantasy yarns from long ago, what we find here is perhaps more inspired from Splash! that Tom Hanks and Darryl Hannah film is more of a sitcom about a fish out of water trying to get used to living in the human world, and in this anime, what’s offered here is similar.

In this presentation, Stefan (Oji Suzuka) and Princess Ao Sonni Chao Neptunus (Anna Yamada) haven’t even had their first date. Technically, this film begins in the present, where the surface world lives in harmony with the aquatic one. Here, we find that this human has moved on. Although the plot makes Juno (Shunsei Ōta) look like the protagonist, he is not. He’s a reporter who loses a scoop to a story, but when he finds Stefan, this chance to interview the sailor may well save him from being fired! During my second viewing, I noticed he’s similar to the actual lead, because both are wishy-washy.

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[Fantasia Film Festival] Transcending Dimensions (次元を超える) To Boldly Go Where No Soul Has Gone Before

Presented here is not a very traditional story about a hitman hired to take out a cult leader and rescue a brother. There’s added layers in Transcending Dimensions which suggest it’s best not to challenge some of these mystics, and here’s why:

Transcending Dimensions poster — **This movie played at the 2025 Fantasia International Film Festival on July 24th, and has an encore performance July 28th. Get your ticket here.**

Transcending Dimensions is less a conventional narrative and more of an immersive sensory experience. While this review delves into its themes and stylistic choices, readers who prefer to encounter the film with absolutely no prior knowledge of its unconventional journey may wish to proceed with caution regarding potential thematic insights.

As an instalment in the series of films by writer/director Toshiaki Toyoda, this latest in his Wolf Mountain series delves further into thematic tones about the perils of human ignorance. Each film concerns the repetition of historical mistakes. This movie is not always straightforward, and some viewers might find it challenging to follow. Shinno (Ryûhei Matsuda), a professional hitman, is the focus here, and everything he will soon experience may well reshape his world view!. Here, his sister, Nonoka (played with quiet charm by Haruka Imô), recruits him to find her brother, Rosuke (Yôsuke Kubozuka). He is apparently brainwashed, and she hopes to rescue him from the cult he is now part of.

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