Here are 10 films to see at Fantasia

This year we will be treated to bloodthirsty zombies, sadistic murderers, strange creatures, evil specters, colorful queer works, gripping investigations and many, many unclassifiable genre-defying films.

Here are 10 films to see at Fantasia

This year we will be treated to bloodthirsty zombies, sadistic murderers, strange creatures, evil specters, colorful queer works, gripping investigations and many, many unclassifiable genre-defying films. And this is precisely what makes the beauty of the Fantasia Festival, which will unpack its 26th edition on Thursday evening. But what to see? Where to start? The Journal offers you its 10 favorites of the program.

A bunch of young friques. A secluded mansion. A party in the middle of a hurricane. What could go wrong? Pretty much everything, of course! And that's exactly why we're dying to discover this new offering from Dutch filmmaker Halina Reijn, starring Pete Davidson, Lee Pace and Amandla Stenberg.

Romain Duris faces zombies in this horror comedy that made the Cannes Film Festival laugh and shudder last spring. In front of the camera of Michel Hazanavicius, the French actor becomes a filmmaker seeing the shooting of his film disrupted by a horde of the living dead, thirsty for flesh and blood.

A disgraced content creator tries by all means to replenish his bank of subscribers. And he takes drastic measures to achieve this, choosing to spend the night in a haunted house and to broadcast live, on the web, the events that follow. At first glance, Deadstream reminds us of the excellent Hell House LLC trilogy, but with the twist of humor from the Evil Dead saga. In short, we certainly do not want to miss it.

The horror is more subtle, more pernicious in Hypochondriac, a film where a man remains haunted by the demons of his youth and the violence experienced at the hands of his bipolar mother. American filmmaker Addison Heimann uses his most recent feature film to free himself from his past, while taking a queer and engaged look at horror.

Georges Simenon's thriller is jumping from the page to the screen this summer. Here, Gérard Depardieu slips into the shoes of detective Jules Maigret for the time to elucidate the mystery of a young woman found dead on Place Vintimille, in the 9th arrondissement of Paris. It is also in the company of the director and co-screenwriter Patrice Leconte that we will be able to discover Maigret, the French filmmaker being expected for the North American premiere, in Montreal.

Suze and Arthur are married. Happy. Comfortable. But a sordid murder, committed by a band of crooks, will destabilize their daily lives. Pent-up emotions will suddenly come to the surface, forcing the couple to question their relationship and their sexuality.

The post-apocalyptic thriller Polaris transports us to the heart of the Yukon, where a young girl and her adoptive mother – a polar bear, no less! – are separated by a horde of nomadic warriors. The images so far unveiled suggest a snowy Mad Max and, moreover, led by an all-female cast. That should get the festivities off to a good start, as this film has been chosen for Thursday's opening night.

A year after The Night House, Rebecca Hall returns to horror thanks to Resurrection. The British actress plays a single mother who sees her tidy life rocked by a man who has come to revive the torments of her past. And the most beautiful in all of this: it is the excellent Tim Roth who will embody this catalyst. It was enough to pique our curiosity.

After rocking Sundance earlier this year, it's Fantasia's turn to uncover the mysterious Speak No Evil. We will witness a weekend in the Dutch countryside that will slowly (but surely!) turn into a nightmare when a couple discovers the true nature of their hosts. If we trust the trailer, chills are guaranteed.

We are promised with Swallowed a queer, transgressive and cheeky horror thriller. And knowing the track record of American filmmaker Carter Smith (which includes, among others, the excellent The Ruins and Jamie Marks is Dead), we know that he will fulfill each of these promises.

The Fantasia festival will take place from July 14 to August 3. For the complete program: fantasiafestival.com

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