The Fantastic Pavilion presents a weekly recap with the most relevant news about the world of genre cinema.
News
A24 shared the first teaser for Eddington (2025), Ari Aster’s highly anticipated film about the COVID-19 pandemic. Eddington, starring Joaquin Phoenix, Pedro Pascal, Emma Stone and Austin Butler, will celebrate its world premiere in Competition at the 2025 Cannes Film Festival. It’ll open theatrically in the U.S. on July 18.
Official synopsis: “In May of 2020, a standoff between a small-town sheriff (Phoenix) and mayor (Pascal) sparks a powder keg as neighbor is pitted against neighbor in Eddington, New Mexico.”
Mike Flanagan’s The Life of Chuck (2024) has gotten its full trailer, ahead of its U.S. theatrical release on June 6 (select cities) and June 13 (everywhere). Based on Stephen King’s novella of the same name, The Life of Chuck stars Tom Hiddleston and follows “the extraordinary story of an ordinary man, as he experiences the wonder of love, the heartbreak of loss, and the multitudes contained in all of us.”
The British folk horror movie The Severed Sun (2024) screened last year at Fantastic Fest and is now heading to cinemas and VOD in the U.S. on May 16 (via Dark Sky Films). Watch here its trailer.
Synopsis: “In an isolated religious community, Magpie kills her abusive husband, awakening a supernatural Beast. She becomes an outcast, and as the Beast unleashes bloody carnage, a brutal witch hunt begins, tearing the community apart.”
There’s a new trailer for the Australian horror film The Moogai (2024), which premiered at the 2024 Sundance Film Festival, as part of the Midnight section. Samuel Goldwyn Films will release it in U.S. theaters and on VOD on May 9.
Synopsis: “Sarah and Fergus, a hopeful young Aboriginal couple, give birth to their second baby. But what should be a joyous time of their lives becomes sinister when Sarah starts seeing a malevolent spirit she is convinced is trying to take her baby.”
Festivals
The Frontières Platform, co-presented by the Marché du Film and the Fantasia International Film Festival, revealed via Variety their official selection for Cannes 2025:
Proof of Concept (May 17, 10:00 hrs. at Palais K, Palais des Festivals)
Ancestral Beasts (Tim Riedel)
“A troubled Indigenous woman returns to her homeland to rid herself of the figurative monster sabotaging her life, only to unleash a real ancestral monster.”
Children of the Moor (Richard Raaphorst)
“A family moves to a rural farmhouse, its teen daughter discovering the land is haunted by the spirits of children murdered there long ago.”
Feed (Nancy Urich)
“A sore breast-feeding mother is offered a cream by an old lady, whose origins are horrific.”
Light Years (Vegard Dahle)
“An astronaut in space grasps at fractured memories, realizing he has a daughter he never knew existed.”
Skin Side Up (Robert Ten Eyck)
“Performing at an unsettling remote hen party, drag queen Bertha Woodhouse plays a game of affirmations with the just four party guests. She receives an anonymous note: I don’t know who these people are. HELP.”
Taste of Heaven (Marc Schießer)
“Aspiring chef Joline dreams of creating her culinary masterpiece at renowned fusion restaurant Heaven; desire and pleasure turn her strange relationship with boss Mrs. Su into psychosexual power play; Joline realizes too late she’s the final missing ingredient on the menu.”
Who Knows? (Carlo Padial)
“A recently separated illustrator furnishes his apartment buying second-hand pieces from an unsettling seller.”
Buyers Showcase (May 18, 16:15 hrs. at Palais K, Palais des Festivals)
Baran (Joel Soh)
“A haunting tale of familial reckoning, this Malaysian entry follows a son returning home to face the demon kept by his father.”
Bloodsucker (Kasper Juhl)
“Vampirism becomes a metaphor for loss of identity and control in this psychological descent into darkness.”
Henry’s Ebb (Thomas Mendolia)
“A boy’s imaginary friend turns sinister.”
Motherwitch (Minos Papas)
“A grieving painter and mother resurrects more than just memories in this folkloric nightmare, set in 1882 Cyprus.”
The Stolen Child (Seb McKinnon)
“An epic fantasy unfolding in war-torn realms and Faerie kingdoms.”
Turn It Up! (Sam Scott)
“This genre-bending, punk rock sci-fi comedy about a struggling band caught in a sonic conspiracy throws in mad scientists, exploding heads, and alternate dimensions for a heady hit of cinematic mayhem.”
The Overlook Film Fest announced its complete list of 2025 award winners. Addison Heimann’s Touch Me (2025) won the Grand Jury Prize for Best Feature Film, while Yuta Shimotsu’s Best Wishes to All (2023) got the Scariest Feature Film Award. Additionally, Emilie Blichfeldt’s The Ugly Stepsister (Den stygge stesøsteren, 2025) earned the Audience Award.
If you have a new feature or short that explores the “dark side of cinema,” you might want to submit it to the Ravenna Nightmare Film Fest (RNFF). The 23rd edition of this Italian festival will be held from October 20 to 26. Submission are open via FilmFreeway until June 10 (regular deadline).