Fantasia Film Festival Capsule Reviews: Key Favorites Are Featured at the Fantastic Fest in Austin

AGNES

InAgnes, the latest from prolific filmmaker Mickey Reece (Climate of the Hunter), a dissident priest and a bright-eyed neophyte are sent to investigate rumours of demonic possession at a convent. Both will be met with temptation as the strange goings-on test their faith, as well as that of one specific nun in residence. This structurally daring film tests the narrow-minded restrictions of (self) narrative and memory, as well as those of institutional religion. Starring Hayley McFarland (The Conjuring), Jake Horowitz (The Vast of Night), and Ben Hall (Minari), and featuring Sean Gunn, Rachel True, Chris Browning, and Molly C. Quinn.

This is a film you don’t want to miss. I suggest not to dismiss this feature as just another possession film. If you see it at the first screening, you may want to watch it again!

It is scheduled for two screenings at Fantastic Fest.

BEYOND THE INFINITE 2 MINUTES

Born out of an acting workshop and shot on an iPhone, the charmingly inventive Beyond the Infinite Two Minutes focuses on a small group of friends trying to make sense of a time loop that gives them a two-minute insight into the immediate future. A directorial debut from newcomer Junta Yamaguchi, the film plays like One Cut From The Dead meets Tenet and uses meager resources to create a hilarious and crowd-pleasing film that’s already wowed audiences and won awards at BIFFF and Fantaspoa.

How can you not admire a film shot on an iPhone that looks great with a group of friends who get intrigued by a time loop? Oh the things one might be able to do with this two minute window! Check the Fantastic Fest schedule for the screening schedule!                                                                                                                                        

King Car

Since birth, Uno (Luciano Pedro Jr.), the son of a taxi man, has had the peculiar ability of talking to cars. Together with his unhinged uncle, he sets out to modernize his father’s fleet for a new conscientious age. Enter Carro Rei, the sentient car of the future…. and an apt emblem for its undoing. Casting a critical light on Brazil’s ongoing populist nightmare and the limits of progressivism in a machine-driven, late-capitalist framework, Renata Pinheiro’s King Car takes place in an ominous junkyard universe. A film of the moment, wherein our machine fetish becomes a self-fulfilling tragedy.

This Brazilian feature will have you considering what would happen if you talked to your car? Find out during a screening at Fantastic Fest!

SWEETIE, YOU WON’T BELIEVE IT

Seasoned Kazakh comedy director Yernar Nurgaliyev plunges into horror-comedy for the first time, serving us a fresh, dynamic mix of genres while spicing it with Kazakh flair in this award-winning film. Imagine Texas Chainsaw Massacre meets The Hangover.

I certainly don’t want to provide any spoilers, but this director is certainly one to keep an eye on for horror – comedy. I can’t express how great it is to see it available to the Fantastic Fest audience and other film fans during the upcoming days until September 30th.

Source: Fantasia Film Festival and Fantastic Fest

Leave a comment