Fantastic Fest is an Austin cinephile's dream. Filmmakers, fans and journalists from across the nation come to the Violet Crown to experience a full week of film and take a peek at next year's most insane horror, action and science fiction films.
DAY ONE | Thursday, Sept. 21
- Rating: 4/5
- A pitch black dark comedy comes to Fantastic Fest in a thoroughly bizarre affair.
- Salyut-7
- Rating: 3.5/5
- A new film explores the age-old question: What if “The Martian” was in 1985 and was Russian?
DAY TWO | Friday, Sept. 22
- Rating: 3.5/5
- This film about the world’s best cheaters will keep you on the edge of your seat.
- Let the Corpses Tan
- Rating: 4/5
- Experience what it would feel like to be Clint Eastwood on drugs with this abstract French Western.
- Anna and the Apocalypse
- Rating: 4.5/5
- Humor, heart and hummable tunes abound in this wonderful film.
- The Killing of a Sacred Deer
- Rating: 4.5/5
- Director Yorgos Lanthimos takes inspiration from Greek mythology with a dark comedy that has a sinister twist.
DAY THREE | Saturday, Sept. 23
- Rating: 4/5
- Though it is full of jokes that never quite work, “Jailbreak” is a masterwork of action choreography and editing.
- Brawl in Cell Block 99
- Rating: 2.5/5
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Though a generally well-executed homage to grimy 70’s B-films, “Brawl” offers mindless brutality for its own sake.
- World of Tomorrow Episode 2
- Rating: 5/5
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Austin resident Don Hertzfeldt follows his first animated masterpiece with another.
DAY FOUR | Sunday, Sept. 24
- Rating: 4.5/5
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This foreign language Western is one of Fantastic Fest’s most vital, necessary films.
- Rating: 4.5/5
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Part mindbending science fiction and part occult horror flick, “The Endless” is a can’t-miss gem.
DAY FIVE | Monday, Sept. 25
Professor Marston and the Wonder Women
- Rating: 3.5/5
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A conventional story about an unconventional topic, “Professor Marston” weaves a surprisingly romantic tale about truth, sex and comic books.
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- Thelma
- Rating: 4/5
- This Norwegian film brings queer romance, freshman year awkwardness, and supernatural horror.
- The Death of Stalin (Secret Screening)
- Rating: 4/5
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Discomfort is the name of the game in Armando Iannucci’s gut-busting USSR comedy.
DAY SIX | Tuesday, Sept. 26
- Rating: 5/5
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Director Coralie Fargeat’s debut feature is a furious rebuke of a male-dominated society.
DAY SEVEN | Wednesday, Sept. 27
- Rating: 3.5/5
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Filmmaker Lisa Brühlmann makes her mark with this dark high school film with a plot that brings to mind … Disney Channel Original Movie “The Thirteenth Year”?
- Rating: 4.5/5
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The angriest, most hilarious movie of the year comes from the director of Taylor Swift music videos.
