Fantasia Fest 2021: 12 Movies We Can’t Wait to See | Festivals & Awards

“Glasshouse”

This South African film is compared to “The Beguiled” and “Teorema” in its program description, and that should be all you need to know. A woman lives with her three daughters in a glass building that has been sealed off from a toxin that is destroying the air called The Shred. One day, one of the girls lets an injured stranger into their world, changing everything. Premieres 8/16. Get your ticket here.

“The Great Yokai War – Guardians”

It wouldn’t be Fantasia Fest without a Takashi Miike film (or two or three). His 2006 fantasy “The Great Yokai War” premiered at Fantasia back in 2006, and he returns with a follow-up 15 years later. This is the story of Kei, a boy who is visited by a strange creature, one that opens a portal to the world of Yokai, a land of unforgettable demons. When his journey results in his brother’s disappearance, Kei has to be a true hero. Miike is always must-see, and this sounds like one his most ambitious projects of the last few years. Premieres 8/25. Get your ticket here.

“Junk Head”

A passion project of adult stop-motion animation, this Japanese work by Takahide Hori has been legendary in the right circles for years. It started life as a short film in 2013 before a screening in 2017 of a theatrical version that then basically disappeared. Hori went back and recut and tightened and improved on that version, which will premiere this year before a wider release. A thoroughly original vision of the future, Guillermo del Toro has called this film “A one-man band work of deranged brilliance!” On Demand Premiere. Get your ticket here.

“King Knight”

Richard Bates Jr. has been an interesting voice in genre cinema for years now with his films “Excision,” “Trash Fire,” and “Tone-Dead.” He brings one of the more high-profile projects to Fantasia this year with this dissection of counter-culture that’s being described as a “Pagan comedy” that includes a hell of a cast. Matthew Gray Gubler (“Criminal Minds”) and Angela Sarafyan (“Westworld”) anchor the piece but a great supporting cast has also come to play with Bates, including Barbara Crampton, Ray Wise, Kate Comer, Emily Chang, and the voices of Aubrey Plaza and AnnaLynne McCord. Premieres 8/8. Get your ticket here.

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