By George & Josh Bate
Fantastic Fest 2026 begins next week, ushering in a week long’s worth of genre programming from around the world.
Each year, some of the best films out of the Austin, Texas come in the form of Secret Screenings, movies that lucky attendees show up for despite not having a clue what they’re in store for. Last year, Fantastic Fest’s four secret screenings were Silent Night, Deadly Night, Bugonia, One Battle After Another, and Good Luck Have Fun Don’t Die.
In the recently announced schedule for Fantastic Fest 2026, two Secret Screenings were announced, the first of which takes place on Friday, September 18 at 11:15pm CT and the second of which takes place on Monday, September 21 at 8:00pm CT.
Ahead our trip to Austin this year, during which we plan on publishing reviews and interviews throughout the week, we’re taking a look ahead at what movies may be this year’s Fantastic Fest Secret Screenings. Here are our 10 predictions of what they may be.
Other Mommy
Other Mommy feels like it’s tailor made for the Fantastic Fest crowd. The upcoming horror film from director Rob Savage and based on the novel “Incidents Around the House” by Josh Malerman hits theaters on October 9, meaning the film is likely complete by now and, if confident in what they got, Universal Pictures may wish to build some word-of-mouth around the movie.
Produced by James Wan, Other Mommy stars Jessica Chastain as a mother who tries to protect her daughter from a supernatural entity that looks and sounds just like her.
Clayface
The DCU takes a pivot into genre territory this October and Fantastic Fest may be the perfect place to course correct after the bomb that was Supergirl this past summer. The fact that the movie releases in late October and Warner Bros. showcased one of their films at FF last year as a Secret Screenings bodes well that Clayface may pop up in Austin next week.
Based on the Batman villain, Clayface is a gritty, R-rated horror movie about a rising actor in Gotham City, whose career is ruined when a mob boss attacks him and scars his face.
Whalefall
There is perhaps not a film on this list better suited for a Fantastic Fest Secret Screenings than Whalefall. Based on a special first look at CinemaCon 2026 and subsequent impressive promotional materials, the new film appears to feature the kind of jaw-dropping, wince-inducing, stomach-churning thrills FF is known for.
Whalefall is a survival thriller about a scuba diver who gets swallowed alive by an 80-foot, 60-ton sperm whale and has one hour of oxygen left to escape.
Wicker
A weird romantic fantasy comedy movie may just be the kind of strange film that will invigorate the Austin crowd in the upcoming weeks.
Wicker follows an ostracized fisherwoman (Olivia Colman) who commissions a local basket maker to weave her a husband out of wicker (Alexander Skarsgård).
Rogue Trooper
It’s been nine years since Duncan Jones released a movie and 15 years since he released a good movie. Rogue Trooper may just be a return to form for the director behind Moon and Source Code. After making its world premiere at TIFF, the animated sci-fi film may make its way to Austin the week after.
Rogue Trooper is based on the classic “2000 AD” comic strip and tells the story of 19, a ‘Genetic Infantryman,’ who finds himself the sole-survivor of an invasion force. Desperate to track down the traitor who sold him and his comrades out, the super soldier is accompanied by three killed-in-action squad mates, whose personalities have been stored in his gun, helmet and rucksack.
Bad Lieutenant: Tokyo
Bad Lieutenant: Tokyo may not be a horror movie, but it’s the kind of stylized genre fare that the crowd in Austin eats up. The film will first make its world premiere at Toronto International Film Festival and NEON may very well wish to spread the word about it at FF.
A standalone film separate from previous Bad Lieutenant movies, Bad Lieutenant: Tokyo follows corrupt and gambling-addicted Tokyo detective as spirals into a dark world of violence during a search to find a missing daughter of a powerful American family.
Fjord
Fjord won the prestigious Palme d’Or at this year’s Cannes Film Festival and will soon hit TIFF this week. NEON may wish to bring the film to another festival ahead of its October release date.
Fjord follows a conservative Romanian-Norwegian couple played by Sebastian Stan and Renate Reinsve, who move to a remote village in Norway and face backlash for the way in which they parent their children.
Your Mother Your Mother Your Mother
After making its world premiere at TIFF, Your Mother Your Mother Your Mother may kick some ass in Austin next week. Like some of the other entries on this list, the Mahershala Ali-led action movie may not be a horror movie, but it appears to pack their kind of thrills, style, and novelty FF is known for.
Your Mother Your Mother Your Mother stars two-time Academy Award winner Mahershala Ali as Latif, a devout Muslim and contract killer who follows a strict personal code to never use guns. After his wife passes away, Latif must protect his children while navigating a dangerous journey across Houston.
V/H/S/Mixtape
It’s a tradition for new V/H/S movies to premiere at Fantastic Fest, but, strangely, the newest installment of the found footage horror franchise was conspicuously absent from this year’s lineup. While it would be somewhat disappointing if the new V/H/S movie was indeed one of the Secret Screenings, it is certainly possible this may be one of them.
V/H/S/Mixtape centers on the theme of sound, rhythm, and audio becoming tools to haunt, possess, and destroy. The vignettes are directed by RZA, Flying Lotus, Ernest Dickerson, David Moreau, Renée Zhan, and Tobias Forge.
Werwulf
This last one may be a bit of a stretch, but let us be hopeful for a second. Robert Eggers’ latest Gothic period piece horror movie doesn’t hit theaters until December and is absent from surrounding festivals like TIFF, yet it may creep up as one of the Secret Screenings this year. Last FF, Focus Features brought Bugonia to Austin and, given the positive reception to that screening, may wish to offer a crowd destined to love an Eggers-directed werewolf movie a first look at the highly anticipated film.
Werwulf finds Eggers tell a classic werewolf story in 13th century England, with period-accurate dialogue and a screenplay he describes as his darkest yet.