It’s been a couple of years since Fantastic Fest has managed to gather genre film fans together in one place. For obvious COVID-related reasons, the event – much like every other festival of any kind – had to socially distance so that life could slow down in its quest to transform into a horror movie. Now, however, Fantastic Fest is coming back to its full experience for the first time since 2019, and the colossal line-up reflects the excitement of being a full, in-person event. In its 17th year, the festival will once again celebrate genre films, with a focus on horror, fantasy, sci-fi, and action movies from all around the world.
This year’s edition of Fantastic Fest is set to feature no less than eighty-five titles, which includes twenty-one world premieres, fourteen North American premieres, and twenty-one U.S. premieres. These premieres include highly anticipated new titles like the Ralph Fiennes-led The Menu, the Colin Farrell starrer The Banshees of Inisherin, A24’s Medusa Deluxe, Shudder’s Blood Relatives, and Palm d’Or winner Triangle of Sadness.
As per tradition, Fantastic Fest will honor a legendary filmmaker in this new edition, and this year’s honoree is South Korean film director Park Chan-wook, whose unprecedented vision has given the world modern classics like Oldboy, intriguing sci-fi titles like Snowpiercer, and the plot-twist roller coaster ride that is The Handmaiden. Park’s new movie, Decision to Leave, is set to have its U.S. premiere during the Festival, which will also celebrate the award-winning director’s body of work.
Lisa Dreyer, the Fantastic Fest director, released an official statement in which she celebrated the in-person event and teased other movie-related events that will also take place during the course of the festival:
“It’s been far too long since we’ve all been able to gather together and celebrate film the Fantastic Fest way. We’ve really put our all into crafting an extraordinary week, from the exceptional programming that spans exciting discoveries to highly-anticipated features, to our signature events that will inject a much-needed dose of fun into 2022.”
These signature events include the return of the Fantastic Fest parties, this year’s featuring experiential sonic sorcerers Itchy-O with a special performance, cocktail-concocting robots from Roboexotica at the opening night party, live podcast recordings, as well as Fantastic Fest essentials like 100 Best Kills, the Fantastic Feud and the Fantastic Debates.
The hybrid format isn’t forgotten, though: If you can’t attend, the FF@Home will take place for the second year in a row, and the online programming will once again champion eccentric and obscure indie cinema. The complete virtual lineup is yet to be announced, but they will feature a selection of films from this year’s in-person event and will also include virtual exclusives.
Across its seventeen editions, Fantastic Fest has been the go-to location for the U.S. (and sometimes world) premieres of highly acclaimed movies like Parasite, John Wick, Zombieland, and Suspiria, just to name a few. Previous Festival guest attendees include Lily and Lana Wachowski, Ryan Reynolds, The RZA, Karyn Kusama, M. Night Shyamalan, Darren Aronofsky, and George A. Romero.
This year’s edition of Fantastic Fest takes place at Alamo Drafthouse South Lamar in Austin, Texas, from September 22 to September 29. You can purchase event badges and/or check out the colossal lineup at the Fantastic Fest website.