By George & Josh Bate
Seventy-eight movies screened at this year’s Fantastic Fest and we’re grateful to have watched a ton of them (about half of the bunch). Some of the films impressed, others disappointed, but, regardless, they all nonetheless affirmed Fantastic Fest’s status as the pinnacle of genre film festivals.
Check out our 10 favorite movies of Fantastic Fest 2025 (in no particular order) below, info about each film, our thoughts about the movie, and how/when to watch it.
Good Luck, Have Fun, Don’t Die
What’s it about? From director Gore Verbinski (the original three Pirates of the Caribbean movies), Good Luck, Have Fun, Don’t Die stars Sam Rockwell as a man who travels from the future to the past to recruit patrons of a Los Angeles diner to help him save the world from a dangerous artificial intelligence.
What did we think of it? The fourth and final secret screening of Fantastic Fest did not disappoint. Good Luck, Have Fun, Don’t Die, Gore Verbinski’s first film in nine years, is a truly original and bizarre trip that scathingly and hilariously critiques the future we’re heading toward. Boldly and creatively addressing school shootings, social media addiction, and AI in a vibrant, coherently told time travel tale, the film proves unafraid to get delightfully weird with its story and visuals. Despite the story becoming a bit too grand and unwieldy in the final act, Verbinski excels in nailing a heightened world full of apathy and desensitization that hits all too close to home. Sam Rockwell nails both dramatic and comedic moments with a phenomenal, awards-worthy performance that showcases the Academy Award winning actor’s one-of-a-kind organic line delivery. Juno Temple and Hailey Lu Richardson also impress in key supporting roles, the latter of which arguably gives the film its emotional heart. Although not a horror movie, this is as scary and relevant as modern cinema gets in looking to the future, but it’s also a film imbued with incredible heart and even hope. Gore Verbinski has crafted a distinctly of-the-moment movie here that somehow proves as crowd-pleasingly entertaining as it is deeply relevant. Read our full review here.
How/when can I watch it? Good Luck, Have Fun, Don’t Die is in theaters on January 30, 2026.
Bad Haircut
What’s it about? Bad Haircut follows Billy (Spencer Harrison Levin), a college student struggling with his self-esteem. After a particularly embarrassing encounter with some girls at a party, Billy’s friends Sonny (Beau Minniear) and Dee (RJ Beaubrun) take him to get a haircut to boost his confidence and charisma. The barber of choice for this haircut is Mick (Frankie Ray), an eccentric and bizarre man, who forces Billy into a night from hell that progresses from odd to disturbing to downright horrifying.
What did we think of it? Bad Haircut does for haircuts what Jaws did for swimming in the ocean. Anchored by a stunning, unsettling, and career-defining performance from Frankie Ray as the bizarre and eccentric barber Mick, filmmaker Kyle Misak’s debut feature deftly tows a tonal balance for a movie that elicits terror, laughs, and empathy in equal measure. Due to the strength of Ray’s performance, Mick, who quickly has risen to be among the apex of our favorite horror movie antagonists in recent years, makes Bad Haircut the kind of movie you can’t take your eyes away from, even when the plot becomes a bit predictable and characters make frustratingly baffling decisions. Spencer Harrison Levin, meanwhile, plays opposite Mick with a performance that becomes more compelling throughout the film, correlating with his character Kyle’s progression in confidence. Closing out on a charming and even endearing note, Bad Haircut finishes strong and exhibits a masterful use of licensed music that rivals that of James Gunn’s work on the Guardians of the Galaxy trilogy. If you thought haircuts were frightening before this movie, think again. Sweeney Todd, eat your heart out. Read our full review here.
How/when can I watch it? TBD
Silent Night, Deadly Night
What’s it about? From director Mike P. Nelson (Wrong Turn (2021), The Domestics), the Silent Night, Deadly Night remake follows Billy Chapman (played by Halloween Ends’ Rohan Campbell), a disturbed young man drifting without much direction in life. Billy’s troubles come from a traumatic childhood, which saw him witness the murder of his parents at the hands of a man dressed in a Santa Clause outfit. Years later in adulthood, Billy turns to violence every Christmas, killing unsuspecting victims in a Santa Clause outfit just like his parents’ slayer.
What did we think of it? Silent Night, Deadly Night may just be our pleasant surprise of 2025. Unlike the previous films in the franchise, Mike P. Nelson’s remake takes itself seriously and plays more like a contemplative character study than a traditional slasher. Rohan Campbell does excellently as Billy Campbell, a disturbed young man whose full psychological make-up and motivations interestingly reveal themselves more slowly over the course of the runtime. Interacting with a Venom-like inner voice gives audiences a chance to get literally inside the mind of Billy and care for him on a deeper level, while the romance that blossoms between him and Ruby Modine’s Pamela proves to be surprisingly endearing and organic. Although the slasher elements may be a bit tame for the post-Terrifier era, Nelson still knows how to have fun with his movie, which especially comes through in a crazy, sprawling, on-the-nose kill sequence in the middle of the film. A subplot involving a second serial killer remains too peripheral for much of the film and resolves far too predictably, but an ambitious swing to introduce added lore to the story pays off. Silent Night, Deadly Night takes the barebones of the 1984 holiday slasher and puts a clever spin on it, one that sees the film subvert expectations as a more dramatic character study than run-of-the-mill slasher. Read our full review here.
How/when can I watch it? Silent Night, Deadly Night is in theaters December 12, 2025.
Primate
What’s it about? From director and co-writer Johannes Roberts (47 Meters Down, Resident Evil: Welcome to Raccoon City), Primate follows Lucy (played by Dexter: New Blood’s Johnny Sequoyah), a college student who returns to her family home in Hawaii after a period away. While home, Lucy and her friends are able to reconvene with Lucy’s deaf father Adam (Troy Kotsur) and the family’s pet chimp Ben. Things go from peaceful to painful, however, when Ben contracts rabies and turns violent, forcing Lucy, her sister Erin, and her friends to devise creative ways to survive the clever, vicious chimp.
What did we think of it? Primate is an unabashedly fun, old-school nature-gone-wrong creature feature destined to thrill audiences. Although far from the first film of its type, director Johanne Roberts puts a variety of clever spins on the horror subgenre, including moral questions about having to fight your beloved pet and containing its characters to a pool to prevent a rabid hydrophobic chimp from killing them. Primate’s greatest strength, however, is its deft balancing of high-stakes tension and morbid humor. High-stakes and gnarly kills that will satisfy the most bloodthirsty of horror fanatics are maintained throughout, while Ben the chimp generates plenty of laugh out loud moments that never undercut the tension. Unlike the villainously playful Ben, the human characters may be thinly developed, but a natural performance from Johnny Sequoyah and innovative inclusion of a deaf actor in Troy Kotsur give audiences just enough to care about what’s happening to them. Elevating the drama, scares, and old-school thrills is a haunting, synth, John Carpenter-inspired score that ranks among our favorite horror movie scores in recent years. Primate is not scheduled to hit theaters until January 9, 2025, a remarkable four months after its debut at Fantastic Fest. It’s clear that Paramount have confidence in their new film, and rightfully so. Going ape shit has never been more fun. Read our full review here.
How/when can I watch it? Primate is in theaters on January 9, 2026.
Appofeniacs
What’s it about? Appofeniacs parallels Pulp Fiction and Magnolia in focusing on an array of characters that enter and exit the story in occasionally non-linear fashion. Uniting all the characters is a tale of powerful technology in the wrong hands. Over the course of the film, various characters see their lives upended by a young man obsessed with creating deepfake videos and determined to find new ways to exploit the technology.
What did we think of it? Marking a confident, ambitious feature directorial debut from Chris Marrs Piliero, the new Fantastic Fest premiere Appofeniacs feeds on the anxieties many have about AI and deepfake technology to craft what is arguably the year’s most disturbingly relevant movie. Weaving together various stories and characters in a manner similar to Pulp Fiction and Magnolia, Piliero tells a fascinating, cascading tale that sees one domino fall after another following a young man’s exploitation of deepfake technology. Although the film takes a bit to get going and reveal its true identity, it picks up steam along the way and genuinely gets under your skin regarding what could easily happen to any of us with AI readily available today. Eventually, the falling dominos culminate in a bombastic finale that loses the preceding film’s more grounded approach and sees the film lose some of its unsettling nature in favor of more overt thrills. Regardless of one’s opinion on this finale, it is undoubted that Piliero announces himself to the world here with a self-assured debut feature. As our world sits on the precipice of technology that can prove truly dangerous in the wrong hands, Appofeniacs may not just be recommended viewing – it may be required viewing as we still try to wrap our heads around the implications AI has on our future. Read our full review here.
How/when can I watch it? TBD
One Battle After Another
What’s it about? From writer/director Paul Thomas Anderson, One Battle After Another follows a revolutionary group known as the French 75, who employ destructive and even violent measures to combat the corruption and tyranny of imperial America. Years after his wife and key French 75 member Perfidia Beverly Hills (Teyana Taylor) is apprehended by the unsettling Colonel Steven J. Lockjaw (Sean Penn), Leonardio DiCaprio’s Bob Ferguson returns to action and re-teams with his fellow revolutionaries when he and Perifida’s daughter Willia (Chase Infiniti) becomes Lockjaw’s new target.
What did we think of it? One Battle After Another is Paul Thomas Anderson at his most crowd-pleasing, absurdly funny, and timely. The acclaimed filmmaker crafts a propulsive epic that never ceases to entertain, unfolding much like a fast-paced action comedy. The parallels to contemporary America may be a tad surface-level, but there is undoubtedly something powerful and disturbing that comes from PTA’s examination of abuse of power and corruption. DiCaprio is a great dramatic actor, but, as evidenced by this performance, he may very well be an even better comedic actor. Sean Penn has arguably never been better as he crafts a deeply unnerving and toxically masculine antagonist, while Chase Infiniti announces herself with a bang, delivering a performance that brings heart to the film. One Battle After Another is easily PTA’s best film since The Master and a demonstration that, even after 30 years of filmmaking, the acclaimed director still has new tricks up his sleeve. Read our full review here.
How/when can I watch it? One Battle After Another is now in theaters.
Sirāt
What’s it about? Sirāt follows a father named Luis (Sergi López) and his son Esteban (Bruno Núñez Arjona) as they try to find their missing daughter and sister Mar at a rave in the deserts of southern Morocco. When the initial investigation proves unfruitful, Luis and Esteban decide to journey with a subgroup of ravers on their way to another party that they hope to find Mar at.
What did we think of it? Grueling and unforgettable, Sirāt will leave no viewers unscathed. The Spanish film from director/co-writer Óliver Laxe compels from the very beginning with assured direction, exquisite shot composition, and ominous sound design. Unfolding much like George Miller’s Mad Max Fury Road, Laxe’s film sees a group of characters journey in cars and trucks across a barren desert as they face a range of threats. However, unlike the War Boys of Fury Road, the threats here are more environmental and, eventually, psychological. Although attempts to add a sociopolitical backdrop to the film fall flat and despite its slow, deliberate pacing, Sirāt never ceases to engage the audience as an undercurrent of palpable dread runs strong throughout. The dread culminates in various narrative advancements that startle and disturb in equal measure, even if the ultimate destination of this journey feels a tad underwhelming. Sirāt is the feel bad movie of 2025, but, thanks to phenomenal filmmaking in all regards, is absolutely necessary viewing. Read our full review here.
How/when can I watch it? Sirāt is in limited theaters on November 14, 2025.
Bugonia
What’s it about? A remake of the 2003 South Korean film Save the Green Planet! by Jang Joon-hwan, Bugonia follows Teddy (Jesse Plemons), a young man and recreational beekeeper obsessed with conspiracy theories. In an effort to save the world from imminent destruction, Teddy teams up with his cousin Don (Aidan Delbis) to kidnap Michelle Fuller (Emma Stone), a prominent CEO who Teddy believes is secretly an alien.
What did we think of it? Yorgos Lanthimos crafts a mesmerizing, absurdly hilarious, poignant, and relevant film with Bugonia. Despite its unusual story, the Focus Features release is probably Lanthimos’ most approachable and even mainstream film, largely deprived of the quirkiness in dialogue and style his recent efforts have been marked by. The psychological back-and-forth between Jesse Plemons’ conspiracy-obsessed kidnapper and Emma Stone’s calculated CEO makes Bugonia an enthralling watch that invites the audience into the debate at hand and mirrors real-life interactions with people unwavering in their extreme views. Although Lanthimos and screenwriter Will Tracy don’t seem particularly interested in making some profound message, their film holds a mirror up to conspiracy theory and online misinformation culture and, after some of the absurdist humor subsides, becomes quite unsettling. In what could have easily gone awry, Bugonia spectacularly sticks its bold landing. However, the relative lack of emotion in the story beyond the endearing bond between Plemons’ Teddy and his cousin Don renders the film somewhat unfeeling. Nonetheless, Bugonia marks yet another phenomenal achievement in the filmography of Yorgos Lanthimos and confirms that his partnership with Emma Stone is one of the great actor-director pairings in modern cinema. Read our full review here.
How/when can I watch it? Bugonia is in theaters on October 24, 2025.
The Creep Tapes Season 2
What’s it about? The Creep Tapes is a continuation of the found footage horror movies Creep and Creep 2. The series, now in its second season, stars Mark Duplass as PeachFuzz, a unique serial killer, who relishes in taking on fictional roles and playfully toying with his victims before eventually killing them and adding recordings of their ‘adventures’ together to his vast collection.
What did we think of it? The Creep Tapes Season 2 delivers the brand of weirdness, uncomfortable laughs, and kills we’ve come to expect from this franchise, while delightfully subverting its core concept. The first three episodes of the sophomore season avoid the concept from going stale with various clever spins that change up the formula just enough, while ensuring that they never lose sight of what makes this concept work as well as it does. Evidenced by these initial episodes, The Creep Tapes appears to increasingly lean into comedy over horror as it isn’t particularly frightening in any way. In place of scares, however, is a unique flavor of humor fostered by the audience being privy to star Mark Duplass’ murderous inclinations while his unsuspecting victim is not. Duplass once again shows that he was born to play this character, who, in our opinion, has soared to be among the great horror characters of all time. Retaining the minimalist filmmaking that makes this franchise so raw and unnerving, The Creep Tapes won’t convert detractors of the previous films and episodes, but the intended audience are given plenty to feast on. Duplass’ charming, likable, and decidedly weird serial killer certainly evokes discomfort (both in his eventual victims and the audience at times), and yet he strangely has become a comfort character for many, including ourselves. Creator Mark Duplass and Patrick Brice show mastery over a concept they have nailed down and, as long as they keep things fresh, have created a character that theoretically could be present on our television screens for years and years to come. Read our full review here.
How/when can I watch it? The Creep Tapes Season 2 premieres November 14 on Shudder.
Theater is Dead
What’s it about? From director and co-writer Katherine Dudas, Theater is Dead stars Decker Sadowski as Willow, an engineering student, who, after growing bored with her academics, pursues acting. Miraculously, Willow quickly secures a role in a play by big-shot theater director Matthew (Shane West). At first, Willow believes she’s finally found her passion in life, but, over time, she begins to realize she’s in the middle of a far darker situation.
What did we think of it? Theater is Dead is Glee meets The Devil’s Advocate. Katherine Dudas’ campy, heightened horror comedy uniquely plays with the idea of making a deal with the Devil in posing intriguing questions about fame, competition among friends, and, most fundamentally, what you’re willing to sacrifice to achieve your dreams. Decker Sadowski leads an ensemble clearly in tune with the kind of tone Dudas hopes to strike and capped off by a scene-stealing Shane West as an alluring, mysterious big-shot theater director. Anyone with any reverence for theater, the theater scene, and, in particular, theater kids, will appreciate what is essentially a horror-infused love letter to that entire world. Although the film intrigues in the build-up to its reveals, the ultimate explanation for what’s going on leaves a bit to be desired. Just as a number of novel elements are introduced into the mix, the movie quickly and prematurely wraps up. Regardless, Theater is Dead works surprisingly well in the two genres it occupies and will leave you wondering just what Hollywood A-listers made devilish deals to get where they are. Read our full review here.
How/when can I watch it? TBD