Bloody Tennis (2026) | Fantastic Fest 2026 | REVIEW

An image from Nikias Chryssos' BLOODY TENNIS. Courtesy of Shudder. A Shudder Release.
An image from Nikias Chryssos’ BLOODY TENNIS. Courtesy of Shudder. A Shudder Release.

Directed by Nikias Chryssos – Screenplay by Nikias Chryssos.

Ahead of its streaming release on Shudder in the US this Friday, September 25th, Nikias Chryssos’ Bloody Tennis had its North American premiere at Fantastic Fest in recent days. It went quite well for Chryssos, as he won the festival’s Best Director prize in the horror category. For my remote coverage of the festival, I also had the opportunity to check out Chryssos’ picture. I was quite intrigued by this film given its cast, which includes a Danish lead actor and a supporting role for a beloved Croatian-Danish character actor. Chryssos’ film shows a lot of ambition, but it is a little bit of a mixed bag. Despite certain shortcomings, I had a pretty solid time with the film, and I thought many of its horror images worked quite well.

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Adult Supervision (2026) | Fantastic Fest 2026 | REVIEW

Linus Wahlgren, Fares Fares, and Gustaf Skarsgård in Alex Schulman’s ADULT SUPERVISION. Image provided by Fantastic Fest. Courtesy of Heretic.
Linus Wahlgren, Fares Fares, and Gustaf Skarsgård in Alex Schulman’s ADULT SUPERVISION. Image provided by Fantastic Fest. Courtesy of Heretic.

Directed by Alex Schulman – Screenplay by Alex Schulman.

These are exciting times for writer-director Alex Schulman. Earlier this month, Alex Schulman’s debut feature, Adult Supervision (known as Arkipelag in Sweden), was announced as Sweden’s official submission for the upcoming Academy Awards’ Best International Feature category. Just last weekend, a few days ago, it had its world premiere at Fantastic Fest in Austin, Texas, and its theatrical release in Sweden is set to kick off on October 9th. Swedes and audiences around the world have something great to look forward to. Adult Supervision is a well-cast, thought-provoking, and sometimes even disturbing film that takes a closer look at modern parenting and troubling modern social dynamics in school classes. 

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The Squirrel (2026) | Fantastic Fest 2026 | REVIEW

Pasi (Miro Lopperi) admiring the titular creature in Markus Lehmusruusu’s THE SQUIRREL. Image provided by Fantastic Fest. Courtesy of Cinematic Red PR.
Pasi (Miro Lopperi) admiring the titular creature in Markus Lehmusruusu’s THE SQUIRREL. Image provided by Fantastic Fest. Courtesy of Cinematic Red PR.

Directed by Markus Lehmusruusu – Screenplay by Markus Lehmusruusu.

Hot on the heels of this month’s announcement that it is Finland’s official submission for the Best International Feature category at the upcoming Academy Awards, Markus Lehmusruusu’s The Squirrel just had its international premiere at Fantastic Fest in Austin, Texas. The feature – an international co-production between Finland, Germany, the Netherlands, and Sweden – had its world premiere in Finland earlier this year, and it marks the second feature film from Lehmusruusu. It is also relatively unique as it is a Finnish science-fiction film. I had the chance to see the film, and I can say that I think it works quite well despite some pacing issues.

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No Rest for the Wicked (2026) | Fantastic Fest 2026 | REVIEW

Pilou Asbæk biting Egor Venned’s chest in Kasper Kalle’s NO REST FOR THE WICKED. Image provided by Fantastic Fest. Courtesy of SF Studios / Obscured Pictures.
Pilou Asbæk biting Egor Venned’s chest in Kasper Kalle’s NO REST FOR THE WICKED. Image provided by Fantastic Fest. Courtesy of SF Studios / Obscured Pictures.

Directed by Kasper Kalle – Screenplay by Rasmus Birch.

Following its world premiere at the Fantasia International Film Festival earlier this year, at which it won two awards for directing and acting, Kasper Kalle’s No Rest for the Wicked just had its US premiere at this year’s Fantastic Fest. It is a remarkable horror-romance film that I found to be deeply moving and often outright stunning. 

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A Prayer for the Dying (2026) | Fantastic Fest 2026 | REVIEW

John C. Reilly and Johnny Flynn in Dara Van Dusen’s A PRAYER FOR THE DYING. Image provided by Fantastic Fest. Courtesy of Quiver Distribution.

Directed by Dara Van Dusen – Screenplay by Dara Van Dusen.

Following its world premiere at this year’s Berlinale, the western-adjacent drama, A Prayer for the Dying, from debut feature filmmaker Dara Van Dusen, just had its North American premiere at Fantastic Fest 2026. As part of my remote coverage of the latter festival, I got the opportunity to watch this ambitious debut. Dusen’s Western-adjacent debut, which is being prepared for a post-festival US theatrical release on October 9th, contains fascinating surreal imagery, pitch-black dark character predicaments, and a challenging role for its competent leading man. Although it has some blemishes, I thought it was mostly quite effective.

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Fantastic Fest 2026 | Preview

Festival logo — Image provided by Fantastic Fest.

Later this month — from September 17th to September 24th — the 21st edition of Fantastic Fest takes place at the Alamo Drafthouse South Lamar in Austin, TX. Over the years, the beloved film festival all about genre film has featured world premieres of such films as There Will Be Blood, Zombieland, and Apostle, as well as the U.S. premiere of Obsession, which now, just a year later, has taken the world by storm following its theatrical release. Now, while I won’t be in Austin, I have been approved for remote coverage of the festival. Thus, I plan to post standalone reviews of select films over the course of the week of the festival, which I am very much looking forward to.

In this preview, I’ll highlight some of the major premieres, screenings, and titles. But this article also dives deeper into Fantastic Fest‘s fascinating line-up, as I have prepared a list of ten films that have caught my eye based on intriguing loglines, the creative team involved, or, in certain cases, the cast that appears in the film. Although it is unlikely that I’ll get to see all of them during my remote coverage, these are some of the films that I think you should seek out if you are going to be in Austin, TX this month.

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