Fantastic Fest 2025 has announced an epic lineup for its 20th anniversary. Here are our ten most anticipated films this year.
Fantastic Fest 2025 is growing closer and closer. This year marks the film festival’s 20th anniversary, so you know they have a lot of amazing movies in store for attendees. With no word on secret screenings yet, the lineup is still epic.
Fantastic Fest 2025 features 45 World Premieres, 15 International and North American Premieres, and 13 U.S. Premieres that are guaranteed to delight and surprise you. Celebrate at the legendary Alamo Drafthouse South Lamar in Austin, TX, from September 18th-25th, 2025.
10 Most Anticipated Fantastic Fest 2025 Films
In no particular order, here are ten of the movies playing at Fantastic Fest 2025 that caught our eye. Check back after the festival to see where they rank among all the films we watch.
BLACK PHONE 2
Four years ago, Finn killed his abductor and escaped, becoming the sole survivor of the Grabber. But true evil transcends death…As Gwen begins to receive calls in her dreams from the black phone and experience disturbing visions, her determination to solve the mystery will lead her and Finn to a snowed-in winter camp and a shattering discovery about the Grabber and their own family’s history.
THE STRANGERS – CHAPTER 2
The Strangers are back – more brutal and relentless than ever. When they learn that one of their victims, Maya (Madelaine Petsch), is still alive, they return to finish what they’ve started. With nowhere to run and no one to trust, Maya must survive another horrific chapter of terror as The Strangers – driven by a senseless, unceasing purpose – pursue her, more than willing to kill anyone who stands in their way.
WHISTLE
A misfit group of unwitting high school students stumble upon a cursed object, an ancient Aztec Death Whistle. They discover that blowing the whistle and the terrifying sound it emits will summon their future deaths to hunt them down. As the body count rises, the friends investigate the origins of the deadly artifact in a desperate effort to stop the horrifying chain of events that they have set in motion.
APPOFENIACS
The use of AI technology reaches its most violent and bloody conclusion after a series of deepfake videos are unleashed into the world.
COYOTES
A kinetic thriller with teeth led by real-life partners Justin Long and Kate Bosworth.
THE CURSE
A Japanese girl, Riko, travels to Taiwan to track down the motive behind a friend’s bizarre death, which seems linked to strange social media posts in this violent curse movie.
HAUNTED HEIST
Four dysfunctional ex-friends reunite at a shady Airbnb—only to learn one of them dragged the others there to help steal a hidden antique. Too bad the place is haunted by racist ghosts.
IF I HAD LEGS I’D KICK YOU
With her life crashing down around her, Linda (Rose Byrne) attempts to navigate her child’s mysterious illness, her absent husband, a missing person, and an increasingly hostile relationship with her therapist.
MEAT KILLS
The night takes a dark turn when a group of activists break into a pig farm to free mistreated animals and find themselves face-to-face with an extremely angry farmer.
SHELBY OAKS
A woman’s obsessive search for her missing sister leads her into a terrifying mystery at the hands of an unknown evil.
NEXT: Fantastic Fest 2025 Announces Epic 20th Anniversary Lineup
Tessa Smith is a Rotten Tomatoes Tomatometer-approved Film and TV Critic. On Camera personality and TV / Film Critic with 10+ years of experience in video editing, writing, editing, moderating, and hosting.