Utah’s FilmQuest Offers Unique Genre Film Fare

FilmQuest is a highly respected film festival that offers not only a cornucopia of horror, science fiction, thriller, dark comedy, and related fare, but also prides itself on being a destination for filmmakers and film fanatics alike. The festival celebrates its 11th annual edition from October 24–November 2, 2024 at Velour in Provo, Utah. 

This article lists some films that Joseph and Mike have previously reviewed, along with others with which aficionados of intriguing cinema should have a blast. Keep in mind that this is but a mere fraction of what’s on offer. For full details and ticket information, visit https://www.filmquestfest.com/.

Among the feature films scheduled for FilmQuest 2024 is writer/director/star Ryan Ward’s U.S./Canada coproduction Daughter of the Sun, a dramatic fantasy that has the official logline “A 12-year-old girl lives life on the run alongside her father who has Tourette Syndrome. Desperately seeking a normal family life, she befriends a group of outcasts who want to harness a volatile supernatural power her father is hiding.” Joseph reviewed the film for VideoScope magazine (https://videoscopemag.com/), writing “Ward invests his film with a 1970s aesthetic and spirit, along with a current maverick independent cinema sensibility. Daughter of the Sun feels like something more to experience than to merely watch.”


Breaking news: Daughter of the Sun has an upcoming November 29 TV and Digital Release (U.S.-wide on platforms including Fandango, Tubi, Pluto, Amazon, Cable TV, and more) through distributor Buffalo 8, and Canada-wide (Apple TV+, Telus, Bell, Tubi, Amazon, and more) through distributor Red Water.


The official logline for Canadian creature feature Scared Shitless is “A plumber and his germophobic son are forced to get their hands dirty to save the residents of an apartment building, when a genetically engineered, blood-thirsty creature escapes into the plumbing system.” In our review at https://www.gbvreviews.com/2024/08/scared-shitless-2024-pigeon-shrine.html, Mike said that the film “is full of sincere father-son bonding, great character development and interaction, fantastic practical effects, and is on par with any creature feature with a similar plot . . . Take one part of James Gunn’s Slither and put the creature in the uber-creative hands of Steven Kostanski, take one part of great casting including the underrated Steven Ogg, and one part heartfelt and funny script and you’ve got Vivieno Caldinelli’s masterful Scared Shitless.”

Science fiction comedy Tim Travers & the Time Travelers Paradox boasts the logline “A scientist creates a time machine and kills their younger self to see what would happen. And that self-obsessed, misanthrope, mad genius of a scientist is Tim Travers. And the universe was bad enough with only one of him.” Mike stated in our review at https://www.gbvreviews.com/2024/03/tim-travers-time-travelers-paradox-2024.html that “With a quality cast giving a 110%, production values that are not indicative of what I’m sure was a small budget, and a meaningful message of self-love and self-acceptance . . . this is a dark comedy with plenty of cerebral jargon involving theories of time travel and The Grandfather Paradox, along with a ton of blood and guts. While there are a ton of time-travel movies out there, having Tim Travers & The Time Traveler's Paradox among them makes us all a little luckier.”

The logline for director Ben Wong’s Ba reads, “A struggling father agrees to a dreadful deal to secure a better future for himself and his young daughter. However, he soon realizes that his new job comes with terrifying conditions in this dark fantasy thriller.” In Joseph’s VideoScope review, he called the film a “heartstrings-tugger dealing in the fantastical . . . Wong tackles the plights that can come with single parenthood through earned emotion, and the special effects and overall production values and look of Ba belie the shoestring budget on which it was made.”


As you can see, FilmQuest offers all manner of genre films. Besides fantastic features such as those listed above, a bevy of incredible short films are also on tap that we want to strongly recommend.  

The science fiction/horror short Universe 25 is a nominee for Best Sci-Fi Short Film. Logline: “A determined woman, trapped by a mysterious entity, is forced into a psychological experiment where she will never know anyone longer than 30 days.” Director David Tappan cowrote the screenplay with Kelly Tappan, who also stars in the film.  You can check out the trailer at https://www.level11films.co/.

Best Found Footage Short Film Nominee Treadmill is an immersive first-person horror experience that was shot entirely in the first-person with a helmet rig. Logline: “When a small team of indie programmers tests an experimental wellness app on themselves, a bug in the program entraps them in a hellish augmented reality from which they must escape.”


Director Grace Hanna crafts science fiction fantasy Lola, which the logline for states, “A thirteen-year-old science prodigy journeys into her grandmother's deteriorating mind to save one precious memory they have together.”

Writer/director J.C. McNaughton presents science fiction thriller Sweet Molly. Logline: “At 16, Molly, born and raised in the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints (FLDS) cult, makes a chilling discovery through her ability to astral project, leading to a life-altering event.”

Dutch filmmaker Victoria Warmerdam checks in with science fiction comedy I'm Not a Robot (Ik ben geen robot). The film’s logline is, “After several unsuccessful attempts to complete a Captcha, Lara sets out to answer the disturbing question of whether she's a robot.”

Director Mario DeAngelis offers up dramatic superhero short Origin. The logline reads, “A suicidal elderly man, after many attempts, tries to find purpose in life. Once he realizes he can't die, he decides to be a superhero.” 

These are just a few of the fine feature and short films from around the world that FilmQuest has scheduled. Be sure to check out the festival’s official website for more information.
 


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