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10 Movies To Keep An Eye On From Fantasia 2022

Fantasia 2022 is set to go underway soon, and here are 10 films that you absolutely should keep an eye on.

Fantasia 2022

10 Movies To Keep An Eye On From Fantasia 2022

Fantasia Film Festival always offers some of the most unique and entertaining movies of the year, and 2022 is looking to be no different. With Fantasia 2022 ready to get underway, here are the top 10 movies we are most excited for, and that you should definitely keep your eye on, too.

resurrection sundance review

Resurrection

Margaret (Rebecca Hall), a pharmaceutical executive raising her teenage daughter Abbie (Grace Kaufman) alone, seems to have a well-ordered life. Then one day, the mere sight of a familiar face causes her to freak out. David (Tim Roth) doesn’t do anything overtly menacing—he simply shows up at the places she goes, throwing her sense of safety completely out of whack.

Clearly, David had a damaging, destabilizing role in Margaret’s past, and as it is revealed, he worms his way into Margaret’s headspace all over again—preying particularly on her motherly instincts in truly disturbing ways. Her life is no longer her own, and her downward spiral will lead Margaret to the darkest depths a human soul can go.

next exit

Next Exit

One day in a future so near it may well be next Wednesday, everything about the ways that we relate to death changes. Research Scientist Dr. Stevenson (Karen Gillan, OCULUS, GUARDIANS OF THE GALAXY) has discovered that “ghosts” are demonstrably real, in that existence continues beyond the end of physical life. Through her groundbreaking technology, deceased persons can now be identified and tracked in the afterlife. A call goes out for volunteers to further her research.

Two strangers, Rose (Katie Parker, ABSENTIA, THE HAUNTING OF HILL HOUSE) and Teddy (Rahul Kohli, THE HAUNTING OF BLY MANOR, MIDNIGHT MASS), each struggling with personal demons, choose to sign up into the unknown. They will exit their earthly lives to become a part of history and to maybe, possibly, find something closer to happiness in wherever their afterlives may bring them. Fate has them splitting a car rental, and they embark on a drive across America to meet their destinies.

house of darkness

House of Darkness

Neil Labute, once considered America’s most controversial filmmaker, is back in familiar territory with his latest, HOUSE OF DARKNESS. Hap (Justin Long) can’t believe his luck after meeting a beautiful woman (Kate Bosworth) who invites him back to her place, a castle-like mansion in the middle of nowhere. As they arrive under a cloak of darkness, they realize the power is out. Their playful banter continues with more drinks, a cozy fire, and rising sexual tensions.

Their superficial discussion becomes increasingly strained with the uncertainties of the space. Hap becomes paranoid that someone else is in the house, and the homeowner pushes him on his habit of “fibbing.” Transfixed by her beauty and unable to give up an opportunity for sex, Hap ignores his better instincts and finds himself drawn into a dark, twisted fairy tale.

sharp stick review

Sharp Stick

In SHARP STICK, the naive Sarah Jo (an electric Kristine Froseth) undertakes a journey of sexual exploration and perversion in the hopes of catching up on years of lost time. As the film opens, she’s a virginal 26-year-old babysitter living at home with her mother (Jennifer Jason Leigh) and influencer sister, Treina (Taylour Paige, from ZOLA).

As bold and open as her family is, Sarah Jo remains repressed, almost child-like in her approach to life and relationships, until she meets the father of the child she’s taking care of, a brutishly sexy Jon Bernthal. As they strike up an intense sexual relationship, her life takes an awkwardly deranged turn for the worse.

swallowed 2022

Swallowed

Set in a remote township on the border of Maine and Canada, Benjamin (Cooper Koch) and his Dom (Jose Colon) are headed for the lights and promises of the city of angels, with the dream of Ben becoming a professional porn performer. Though Dom proclaims he is straight, their friendship is delicately intertwined with sexual tension and a deep emotional bond. Attempting to earn some quick cash, they meet up with Alice (Jena Malone).

Smuggling drugs across the borders is no easy task. One does not become a mule overnight… though our two friends are “persuaded” by Alice to swallow up those little bags, and boy, that’s only the beginning of their troubles.

bodies bodies bodies

Bodies Bodies Bodies

It’s not the end of the world as we know it, just a violent storm approaching, and at first, Sophie (Amandla Stenberg) and her friends are feeling fine. They’re taking a break (though not really) from lives lived online to gather for a sex-drugs-and-rock-’n’-roll “hurricane party” at a middle-of-nowhere mansion owned by the father of the debauched David (Pete Davidson). Sophie has brought along her new girlfriend Bee (Maria Bakalova), whose apparent innocence makes her out of place in this nest of kidding-but-maybe-not-really toxicity.

Then a game of Bodies Bodies Bodies gives way to an actual body count, and amidst the gory demises, the question becomes whether the survivors can let go of their animosity, determine who the real villain is, and make it through the night alive.

the artifice girl

The Artifice Girl

“Hey, Siri. How do you know if you’re doing the right thing?” A question that spearheads Franklin Ritch’s sci-fi feature film directorial debut, THE ARTIFICE GIRL, into a tense spiral of moral complexity within the world of technology and crime prevention.

When Special Agents Dena Helms (Sinda Nichols) and Amos McCullough (David Girard) enlist the help of vigilante tech wizard Garreth (Franklin Ritch), their lives take a sharp turn into the future of digital technologies once his unusual method of catching child predators comes to light.

glorius

Glorious

When you gotta go, you gotta go. Exactly where you’re going is another matter. That’s definitely the case for the heartbroken Wes (Ryan Kwanten), who has pulled over at a roadside rest stop to figure out his next move in life. A night of solo drunken revelry leaves Wes with a massive hangover and a serious need to puke, so into the scuzzy restroom he goes before he hits the road.

But whoever’s in the next stall (J.K. Simmons!) has a few questions for Wes. And very few answers. But what they do tell Wes is that he’s about to become someone very important, but he can’t leave this bathroom and he’s going to have to make a big, big sacrifice. Glorious? Maybe not.

Hypochondriac

Hypochondriac

Back when Will was 12, his mentally ill mother (Marlene Forte) tried to kill him and was subsequently put away. Eighteen years later, Will (Zach Villa) says he has cured himself of any past traumas and has a happy life with boyfriend Luke (Devon Graye). Then packages begin showing up from his mom, containing disturbing and paranoid tape-recorded messages, and Will begins seeing things and feeling sick.

Doctors keep telling him he’s physically fine, just stressed out, but as his mind continues to deteriorate, he fears he’s following in his mother’s footsteps and becoming a danger to others. Fleeing from one potential haven to another, Will may not be able to escape the familial demon grabbing an ever stronger hold of his psyche.

deadstream movie review sxsw 2022

Deadstream

It’s been six months since Shawn Ruddy (Joseph Winter) pulled a stunt on his “Wrath of Shawn” livestream that got him in legal trouble and cost him his sponsors. Now he’s aiming to make a comeback by outfitting himself with all manner of camera and computer gear, and locking himself in the haunted Pratt House for a night.

The place has a tragic history involving suicide and murder, and we watch through his assorted lenses as he makes his way through the spooky rooms, waiting for something ghostly to occur. But he’s not prepared for what will happen when he finds out he’s not alone in the old place, and the house’s awful past comes back to torment him.

Be sure to come back here for reviews of the movies we check out at Fantasia 2022. 

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