When Ancestral Beasts Come A Wanting…. Things Are Certainly Cold in the Forest

Ancestral Beasts turns a remote family home into a breeding ground for trauma, giant insects and buried secrets. Morgan Holmstrom anchors this unsettling Indigenous horror story about isolation and inherited pain.

Ancestral Beasts Movie Poster
Screening at Fantasia Film Festival 2026 on July 28, 2026 at the Salle J.A. De Sève

In the movie Ancestral Beasts, either Auntie (Gail Maurice) must have been a shaman for the Red River Métis tribe, or Elyse Poitras’ demons (Morgan Holmstrom) have found the means to literally manifest. She has Indigenous roots, and after telling her sister Nikki (Darla Contois) that she needs her own space, the decision to “go home” comes easily. However, her trepidation grows when folks living nearby try to help. As for her cousins, they try to rekindle what was lost when the two sisters decided life elsewhere was better. Apparently, it wasn’t.

When their family home exists off the beaten path, I knew what came next would basically be a terror-haunting-the-cabin-in-the-woods scenario. As for what exists there, it’s almost easy to tell! No, what’s in the basement isn’t a Deadite, but that was my first thought. Instead, what’s presented is more like an ancient covenant, along with something else involving giant insects!

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