The Fantastic Pavilion presents a weekly recap with the most relevant news about the world of genre cinema.
News
Alpha (2025) – Julia Ducournau’s first film since the Palme d’Or winner Titane (2021) – has gotten a U.S. trailer as well as three character posters, ahead of its theatrical debut on March 27.
Synopsis: “Alpha (Mélissa Boros), a troubled 13-year-old lives with her single mom (Golshifteh Farahani). Their world collapses the day she returns from school with a tattoo on her arm.”
Universal released the first teaser for Disclosure Day (2026), Steven Spielberg’s upcoming science fiction picture starring Emily Blunt and Josh O’Connor.
Disclosure Day deals with the theme of extraterrestrial life, previously tackled by Spielberg in movies like Close Encounters of the Third Kind (1977), E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial (1982), and War of the Worlds (2005). Disclosure Day hits cinemas on June 12.
The teaser trailer for Ben Wheatley’s Normal (2025) promises an action-packed extravaganza set in a supposedly quiet town. Normal was written by Derek Kolstad (John Wick, Nobody) and stars Bob Odenkirk. It opens in U.S. theaters on April 17, thanks to Magnolia Pictures.
Full synopsis: “For Sheriff Ulysses (Odenkirk), his provisional posting to the quaint Midwestern American town of Normal was meant to be a welcome respite from both his marital woes and recent moral injuries in the line of duty. But when a botched bank robbery interrupts the municipality’s tranquil pace, a sordid secret is inadvertently exposed and Ulysses learns that the town is anything but its namesake. Suddenly everyone is trying to shoot the sheriff, even his own deputies, and our put-upon policeman must rely on his affable mettle and some motley crooks if he is to survive the night. And that’s all before the Yakuza show up.”
Festivals
Adrián García Bogliano’s Talking to a Stranger (Hablando con extraños, 2026) is having its world premiere at the 2026 International Film Festival Rotterdam (January 29-February 8). According to the festival’s program, Talking to a Stranger is about “a grieving mother (played by Gigi Saul Guerrero),” who is “confronted by an uncanny presence that wears the face of her lost child.”
The Mexican folk horror flick Tekenchu: The Rite of the Nahuales (Tekenchu: El ritual de los nahuales, 2026), the Brazilian “surreal horror feature” Bowels of Hell (Privadas de suas vidas, 2026), and the “dark Basque fairy tale” Gaua (2025) are also set to screen at the IFFR.
The EFM Frontières Focus presented its 2026 lineup, via Variety. The five projects that will be showcased at the European Film Market (February 12-18) in Berlin are:
Nadine Pick up the Phone (Director: Vanessa Magic). “Nadine, grief-stricken, listless, 40, answers a strange help-wanted ad to share her lucid dreams. She meets a mysterious young man whose connection to her dream world unlocks long-buried family secrets.”
Oriental Snatch (Director: Chris Tex). “The outrageous true story of the enigmatic air pirate, D.B. Cooper and his infamous 1971 plane heist.”
Split Rock (Director: Ryan Glover). “In the Saskatchewan badlands, unearthing an unusual boulder of highly magnetic stone, geologist Lauren’s body suffers terrifying transformations as her mind is eroded by an ancient force of destruction.”
Touch Me (Director: Rioghnach Ní Ghrioghair). “Marianne, an exquisite florist, suffers a fear of skin-to-skin contact, until a serial killer’s murders ignites her darkest desires.”
With Blessings on Your Way (Director: Kan Muftic). “Deep in the Bosnian mountains, a reclusive war survivor named Tarik is believed to have awakened malignant supernatural forces and is cast out into the forest. Embraced by hornets, he returns transformed, an otherworldly presence that haunts his wife and blurs the line between reality and buried trauma.”
Home video
Second Sight Films announced a 4K UHD and Blu-ray limited edition set of Emilie Blichfeldt’s The Ugly Stepsister (Den stygge stesøsteren, 2025), which was named Best Feature Film at the Sitges Film Festival. The set is available to pre-order.