By George & Josh Bate
One of the most prominent and passionate genre festivals in the world returns to Austin, Texas next week when Fantastic Fest returns for its 21st edition from September 17 to September 24, 2026.
Held at the Alamo Drafthouse South Lamar in Austin, Texas, Fantastic Fest is the largest genre film festival in the United States, offering films in the horror, fantasy, thriller, sci-fi, action, and cult genres from around the world each year. The fun, anarchic, campy spirit of the festival contrasts the overly serious and stiff atmosphere of many film festivals, making the Austin event one of our most anticipated festivals to attend each year.
This year’s lineup has no shortage of heavy-hitters, ranging from high-profile studio genre titles to boundary-pushing independent and micro-budget films. You can check out predictions for the two Secret Screenings here and the full Fantastic Fest 2026 line-up here, but below you will find our top 15 most anticipated movies of the festival – the films that, no matter what, we think you should seek out if you’re one of the lucky attendees in Austin.
Resident Evil
From the brilliant mind of Barbarian and Weapons filmmaker Zach Cregger comes a reinvention of the Resident Evil franchise after so many poor cinematic outings. The movie follows Bryan (Austin Abrams), a medical courier who becomes caught in the middle of a horrifying outbreak and is forced into a fight for survival over the course of one chaotic night. Cregger co-wrote the screenplay with Shay Hatten, while the cast also includes Zach Cherry, Kali Reis, and Paul Walter Hauser. Rather than continuing the previous film series, this Resident Evil is designed as a new take on Capcom’s enormously popular survival-horror video game franchise.
There are few filmmakers better positioned to make an exciting new Resident Evil movie than Cregger. In addition to masterminding two of the best horror movies in recent years, Cregger has repeatedly expressed his love for the Resident Evil franchise and talked about embracing the resource-management elements of the games, including making ammunition and health meaningful parts of the protagonist’s survival. That commitment to the actual experience of playing Resident Evil makes this one of the biggest reasons to be excited about the film’s screening at Fantastic Fest 2026.
Beware Boiúna
Opening Fantastic Fest 2026, Beware Boiúna is a giant-snake survival horror movie from Mike P. Nelson, the director of Wrong Turn and last year’s excellent reimagining of Silent Night, Deadly Night. The film follows a team of medical workers who travel into the Amazon on a local mission, only to attract the attention of the Boiúna, a colossal ancient predator that regards the jungle as its domain. Logan Marshall-Green, Jessica Rothe, and Kiana Madeira lead the cast, with Jackson Bews, Will Close, and Juan Pablo Shuk also appearing.
A giant snake movie is already a pretty easy sell at Fantastic Fest, but Beware Boiúna looks particularly promising because it combines that straightforward creature-feature hook with an imposing Amazon setting. The film is also the world premiere and opening-night movie, giving it the opportunity to immediately establish the tone of this year’s festival. Nelson previously brought Silent Night, Deadly Night to Fantastic Fest last year as one of its Secret Screenings, and the combination of practical creature work, jungle survival, and a cast led by genre veterans makes Beware Boiúna an ideal movie to kick off the festival.
River
A departure from the larger studio productions elsewhere on the lineup, River is the feature debut of Joshua Giuliano. The film follows three embittered siblings who reunite after the death of their father and head to a remote river to scatter his ashes. Their attempt to reconnect quickly turns into a nightmare when they realize a masked killer is stalking them. Jane Levy, Jessica Rothe, Max Mattern, and Dane DiLiegro star, with Giuliano also writing and directing.
There is something enduringly appealing about the slasher genre. The fact that a slasher is coming from Giuliano, who impressed with his work in the genre in his recent short, suggests River may be a worthwhile watch. Having Don’t Breathe‘s Jane Levy and Happy Death Day‘s Jessica Rothe at the center of the film only makes the prospect of a different take on a slasher movie more exciting.
Godmother
John Veron’s Godmother centers on Theo (Paige Evans) and her boyfriend Colby (Cameron Cuffe), who travel to the High Desert for what is supposed to be a romantic getaway. Their plans change when they encounter two seemingly friendly retirees whose intentions toward Theo are anything but innocent. Riley Dandy, Bruce Davison, and horror icon Dee Wallace round out the cast, while Veron co-wrote the screenplay with Alanah Pearce.
The premise of Godmother suggests the kind of intimate, character-driven horror that works particularly well with the Austin crowd. The isolated desert setting gives the movie an inherently unsettling atmosphere, while the presence of Dee Wallace and Bruce Davison immediately gives it some old-school genre credibility. Godmother has all the trappings of the sort of under-the-radar horror discovery that Fantastic Fest specializes in.
Posthumous
Josh Tanner’s Posthumous follows Zoe, a woman who returns home to her estranged father after the death of her mother. Looking for comfort, she turns to a series of VHS birthday recordings her mother left behind, only to uncover an occult ritual that completely changes what she thought she knew about her mother’s death. Sophie Lowe stars as Zoe alongside David Roberts, Doris Younane, Remy Hii, Christopher James Baker, and Kira-Che Heelan. Tanner co-wrote the film with Jade van der Lei.
The combination of family trauma, old VHS recordings, and an occult mystery makes Posthumous sound like a particularly effective piece of modern supernatural horror. The use of recorded birthday messages is especially promising because it gives the story a personal connection to its central mystery while also providing the opportunity for the movie to play with analog-horror aesthetics. With Tanner building the film around grief and buried family secrets, Posthumous could be one of the more emotionally resonant horror movies at this year’s festival.
The Heretiks
Gregg Bishop’s The Heretiks follows a disaffected teenage girl who must team up with a renegade witch to protect her younger sister from a murderous coven intent on using the girl as a human sacrifice as part of an apocalyptic ritual taking place on Halloween night. Ava Mae Seidensticker stars as Mabel, with Josie Juliette Wert as Ada and Luke Speakman as Wesley, while Bishop directs from a screenplay by Ben Collins and Luke Piotrowski.
The Heretiks has one of those wonderfully direct horror premises that immediately communicates what kind of movie audiences are in for. Witches, human sacrifice, an apocalypse, and Halloween give Bishop a wealth of genre ingredients to work with, while the relationship between two sisters should give the movie an emotional center beyond its supernatural spectacle.
The Face of Horror
Adapting the Japanese ghost story Yotsuya Kaidan, Anna Biller’s The Face of Horror transplants the story into 14th-century England. The film follows Edward (Jonah Hauer-King), a knight whose violent and selfish behavior includes killing a farmer, forcing the man’s daughter Eleanor (Kristine Froseth) into marriage, and pursuing the wealthy Isabel (Bella Heathcote). Ellie Bamber, Leo Suter, and Ben Radcliffe also star, with Biller serving as writer and director.
Biller’s involvement is perhaps the biggest reason to anticipate The Face of Horror. Her previous film, The Love Witch, demonstrated an extraordinary commitment to period aesthetics, color, design, and the visual language of vintage genre cinema. The Face of Horror appears to take that even further, presenting a gory medieval ghost story with the heightened look of a classic Technicolor horror picture. For audiences who want something more visually distinctive than conventional supernatural horror, this could be one of Fantastic Fest’s more memorable films.
What Happened to Doris?
Nick Simon’s What Happened to Doris? tells the true story of Doris Bither, a single mother living in suburban Los Angeles in 1974 who reported increasingly violent attacks by an invisible entity. When nobody believes her, she turns to paranormal investigators, ultimately becoming the subject of one of America’s most notorious alleged supernatural cases. Heather Graham stars alongside Mimi Rogers, Morgan Peter Brown, and Kevin Keppy, with Thomas Fenton writing the screenplay.
The story behind What Happened to Doris? is compelling precisely because audiences already know that it is connected to the case that inspired the 1978 book and 1982 horror movie The Entity. That gives Simon the opportunity to approach familiar haunted-house territory from the perspective of the woman who experienced it rather than simply using the paranormal activity as a conventional horror gimmick. The film’s basis in a documented case, combined with Heather Graham’s leading performance and Simon’s previous genre work, makes this one of the more intriguing supernatural offerings in the Fantastic Fest lineup.
Death of a Yellow Bird
Cody Calahan’s Death of a Yellow Bird follows a dying man who returns to his childhood home to record a series of messages for his son. While trying to leave something behind for his family, he discovers a supernatural presence haunting the isolated cabin. Ari Millen stars, with Calahan writing and directing the film. The movie will make its world premiere at Fantastic Fest.
The premise suggests that Death of a Yellow Bird could be a much more intimate ghost story than the larger-scale supernatural movies elsewhere in the lineup. The idea of a dying father trying to communicate with his son while confronting a supernatural presence creates an obvious emotional dimension, giving Calahan an opportunity to make the horror inseparable from grief and mortality. Calahan recently triumphed as producer on Undertone and this time steps into the director’s chair.
Pathetic Fallacy
From Daniel Isn’t Real filmmaker Adam Egypt Mortimer comes Pathetic Fallacy, a psychedelic supernatural thriller about a young widower who travels to a new-age mountain town looking for healing and cosmic answers after losing his wife. Instead, he encounters a murderer and demonic forest spirits who offer him the ability to cheat death, albeit at a terrible price. Scott “Kid Cudi” Mescudi stars alongside Jessica Rothe, Travis Fimmel, and Natasha Lyonne, while Mortimer directs from a screenplay by Andrew Barrer and Gabriel Ferrari.
The movie sounds like exactly the kind of strange, ambitious horror that Fantastic Fest is built to showcase. Mortimer has already demonstrated a willingness to blend psychological horror with surreal imagery, and Pathetic Fallacy appears to take that sensibility into much more emotionally charged territory. The fact that it was shot on 35mm, features original music from Kid Cudi, and has a score from Johnny Jewel makes the film even more intriguing.
Wild Horse Nine
Few filmmakers have as distinctive a handle on dark comedy as Martin McDonagh, whose previous movies include In Bruges, Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri, and The Banshees of Inisherin. His latest film, Wild Horse Nine, stars John Malkovich and Sam Rockwell as CIA agents Chris and Lee, who are dispatched to Easter Island shortly before the 1973 Chilean coup.
McDonagh putting Malkovich and Rockwell together as bickering CIA agents already sounds like an irresistible proposition. The filmmaker’s talent for combining caustic comedy with violence, tragedy, and existential themes makes Wild Horse Nine particularly promising, while the historical setting gives him an opportunity to explore America’s complicated political legacy without abandoning his trademark humor. The film’s acclaimed Venice premiere, including a 13-minute standing ovation, only adds to the anticipation surrounding its Fantastic Fest screening.
The Cycle
Jordan Downey’s The Cycle follows Meg (Deborah Ann Woll), a woman who becomes obsessed with uncovering her father’s dark past after his body, missing for 36 years, is discovered at a horrific crime scene. Jeffrey Donovan and Gretchen Corbett also star, with Downey directing from a screenplay he co-wrote with Kevin Stewart. The film is set to premiere at Fantastic Fest before its Shudder release.
There is already a major reason to be excited about The Cycle: Stephen King has publicly endorsed it, calling the movie “special” and encouraging horror fans to seek it out. King’s endorsement is notable given how selective he is about recommending horror movies, but the film also has a strong genre pedigree through Downey, whose previous work includes V/H/S/Beyond. The combination of a decades-old mystery, a gruesome crime scene, and a protagonist determined to uncover the truth gives The Cycle the ingredients for a compelling horror mystery.
Victorian Psycho
Zachary Wigon’s Victorian Psycho takes place in 1858, when eccentric governess Winifred Notty (Maika Monroe) arrives at the remote gothic manor Ensor House. As Winifred settles into her new position, members of the household staff begin disappearing, causing the estate’s owners to question whether their new governess is exactly who she claims to be. Thomasin McKenzie, Jason Isaacs, Ruth Wilson, and Evie Templeton also star, while Virginia Feito wrote the screenplay from her own novel.
Maika Monroe starring in a gothic horror movie is already enough to put Victorian Psycho high on the list of genre fans’ most anticipated movies. Monroe has become one of modern horror’s most recognizable performers through It Follows and Longlegs, and Wigon’s previous film Sanctuary demonstrated a strong interest in psychologically charged character pieces. The combination of Monroe, Thomasin McKenzie, Jason Isaacs, and Ruth Wilson inside a remote Victorian manor promises a stylish period horror movie with plenty of opportunity for both psychological tension and bloody spectacle.
Full Phil
Quentin Dupieux’s Full Phil centers on Philip Doom (Woody Harrelson), a wealthy American industrialist attempting to reconnect with his estranged daughter Madeleine (Kristen Stewart) during an extravagant trip to Paris. Their plans are disrupted by French cuisine, a 1950s horror movie, and an intrusive hotel employee. Charlotte Le Bon, Tim Heidecker, Eric Wareheim, and Emma Mackey round out the cast, with Dupieux serving as writer, director, cinematographer, and editor.
There are few filmmakers working today who can make something as simple as a family vacation sound completely insane, which is precisely why Full Phil is so appealing. Dupieux has built a career out of surreal, absurdist genre films, and the combination of Woody Harrelson and Kristen Stewart gives him two performers capable of committing fully to his strange sensibility. The film also incorporates a movie-within-the-movie featuring Tim Heidecker and Eric Wareheim as scientists who reanimate a swamp creature. Anything with TIm and Eric in, we will be first in line for.
The Swallow
Closing Fantastic Fest 2026, The Swallow comes from Kevin Kölsch and Dennis Widmyer, the filmmaking duo behind Starry Eyes and the 2019 remake of Pet Sematary. The movie follows Ziggy (Grace Van Dien) and four friends who go camping in a picturesque remote forest. After trespassing into an off-limits area, they awaken a terrifying presence beneath the ground, and soon the earth itself begins swallowing everything in its path. The cast also includes Tayler Buck, Jack Wright, Kalama Epstein, and Kayla DiVenere.
The premise of The Swallow is tailor-made for a Fantastic Fest closing-night movie. Rather than relying on another conventional masked killer or supernatural monster, the film turns the ground itself into the threat, creating a survival-horror concept that could produce some spectacular and genuinely unnerving set pieces. Kölsch and Widmyer’s history with Starry Eyes suggests a strong understanding of visceral genre filmmaking, while the film’s practical-effects pedigree makes The Swallow an especially exciting way to end Fantastic Fest 2026.