GBV Previews: Fantasia 2025 Comedy Recommendations

by Joseph Perry

Fantasia International Film Festival kicks off in mere days, running from July 16–August 3 in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. The fest is renowned for its wide array of quality genre films, from horror to science fiction to animation and beyond. One genre that sometimes doesn’t get quite the buzz that the scare-fare and related films do is comedy. Here The Good, the Bad, and the Verdict previews eight of the highly promising cinematic laugh-fests slated for this year’s edition of Fantasia. The following film descriptions are from Fantasia’s official website and related press information.

For more information, visit https://fantasiafestival.com/en.

BUFFET INFINITY BECOMES A COSMIC ALL-YOU-CAN-EAT DESCENT INTO HILARIOUS WORLD DOMINATION!

First-time feature director and award-winning comedian Simon Glassman comes to Fantasia with the cosmic horror, BUFFET INFINITY! Picking from hundreds of hours of original, low-budget TV ads, Glassman tells the sinister tale of two restaurants battling it out in the town of Westridge County. Insurance ads, used car rivals, and plugs for a local religious scholar and recording artist, Langdon P. Hershey, all converge to tell the story of an expanding sinkhole, a cult, and an ever-growing restaurant that becomes unsettlingly sentient. But don’t be fooled because that sinister vibe is drowned in a special sauce that brings laughs at lightning speed, and those who love absurdist comedy like the Canadian classic SCTV or TIM AND ERIC AWESOME SHOW, GREAT JOB! will definitely ask for seconds of this sure-to-be fan favorite! Septentrion Shadows Section. World Premiere

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EVERY HEAVY THING FINDS MICKEY REECE AT HIS MOST VISIONARY, BLENDING LO-FI AESTHETICS WITH HIGH-CONCEPT SATIRE IN THE HEART OF OKLAHOMA

Mickey Reece, the inspired maverick behind such singular cult favorites as COUNTRY GOLD, CLIMATE OF THE HUNTER, and AGNES, returns to Fantasia with EVERY HEAVY THING, a pitch-black comedy about an ordinary man thrust into extraordinary circumstances. Set against the unsettling backdrop of a string of disappearances, the film follows Joe (Josh Fadem, BETTER CALL SAUL), an unassuming office worker at an online periodical who becomes entangled in a conspiracy after witnessing a murder. As a colleague begins to investigate, Joe struggles to conceal the truth as his carefully constructed life falls apart. With his signature blend of lo-fi aesthetics and sharp, high-concept wit, Reece delivers another visionary exploration of Oklahoma and a darkly comic meditation on the fractured American soul. Featuring an eclectic cast including Vera Drew (THE PEOPLE’S JOKER), Tipper Newton (THE MINDY PROJECT), John Ennis (RATS!), and genre icon Barbara Crampton (RE-ANIMATOR). World Premiere.

A DEFIANT ODE TO THE WORKING CLASS IN CARDBOARD CITY

In Longueuil, a poet (Jean-Marc Desgent) stubbornly refuses to sell his house to a predatory, if not slightly unhinged, real estate developer (Pierre Curzi, THE DECLINE OF THE AMERICAN EMPIRE). But the fight isn’t new: In 1969, Longueuil absorbed the much larger, and poorer, city of Jacques-Cartier, where many people had constructed their homes with the materials available to them. Standing strong against the threat to his neighborhood, Desgent tells the stories of these women and men who built his city. In CARDBOARD CITY (VILLE JACQUES CARTON), Jean-Marc E. Roy (BLEU TONNERRE, CRÈME DE MENTHE) and André Forcier (ABABOUINÉ, AU CLAIR DE LA LUNE) join forces to create an oddball film where reality and fiction blend on a backdrop of poetry. Here, family photographs and archival footage share the spotlight with stellar performances from some of Quebec’s most beloved actors, including Gaston Lepage, France Castel, Sandrine Bisson, Charlotte Aubin, and Michèle Deslauriers. It’s funny, beautiful, and touching, but above all, it’s an ode to our people, our history, and our resilience. Les Fantastiques Week-Ends du Cinéma Québécois Section. World Premiere.

TRANSCENDING DIMENSIONS (Japan) – dir. Toshiaki Toyoda

A nihilistic hitman in search of a missing monk confronts a sadistic sorcerer in this potent blend of film noir, sci-fi, supernatural combat, deadpan comedy, and existential weirdness. A gleefully offbeat brain-twister peppered with mysticism and mayhem from the director of BLUE SPRING and 9 SOULS. Official selection: Rotterdam International Film Festival 2025, Golden Horse Fantastic Film Festival 2025 Canadian Premiere.

TERRESTRIAL REVEALS A DIFFERENT SHADE OF (STEVE) PINK

As director of the HOT TUB TIME MACHINE films, ACCEPTED, and ABOUT LAST NIGHT, and the co-writer of HIGH FIDELITY and GROSSE POINT BLANK, Steve Pink has made a distinctive name for himself with individualistic comedy works that ooze personality. Now, he’s exploring darker edges of his sensibilities with TERRESTRIAL, a provocative thriller with unconventional comedy and sci-fi elements, still rooted in character and behavior, but filtered through paranoia and fear. A reunion weekend spirals out of control for four college friends when the host (Jermaine Fowler, SORRY TO BOTHER YOU) a science fiction writer on the verge of newfound success, fights to maintain his sense of reality in the face of sudden, uncanny dangers. Fowler is brilliant here and is flanked by a cast that includes James Morosini (I LOVE MY DAD), Pauline Chalamet (SEX LIFE OF COLLEGE GIRLS), Edy Modica (JURY DUTY), with Rob Yang (SUCCESSION) and Brendan Hunt (TED LASSO). World Premiere.

I FELL IN LOVE WITH A Z-GRADE DIRECTOR IN BROOKLYN IS A HEARTFELT LOVE LETTER TO INDIE HORROR FILMMAKING AND UNDERGROUND CULTURE

Screen star Shina Mizuhara has lost her passion for filmmaking and is now a rude and cynical mean machine. She decides to travel to New York with her perfect boyfriend who dumps her on arrival, leaving Shina without her wallet and cellphone. Speaking only Japanese, she meets Jack, a passionate z-grade director. He and his crew will convince her to star in their next film. Prolific producer/writer/director/MacGyver Kenichi Ugana (THE GESUIDOUZ) shares his love for Independent horror filmmaking and underground culture in the smart, hilarious, and deeply touching romantic comedy I FELL IN LOVE WITH A Z-GRADE DIRECTOR IN BROOKLYN. Actress Ui Mihara (LESSON IN MURDER) delivers a glorious performance as Shina, conveying her journey to regain lost passion with moving honesty and precision. Estevan Muñoz perfectly embodies the spontaneity and charm of Jack. Fans of Jim Jarmusch, Kevin Smith, and obscure horror gems alike will adore this soulful and somehow quite bloody rom-com! World Premiere.

BUCKLE IN AND HOLD THE FORT

A HOA turns out to be more troublesome than usual in this wildly amusing, FX-heavy freak-out about newly minted suburbanites unexpectedly forced to take part in a struggle against monstrous forces. Narratives about motley groups of ill-equipped characters battling forces of evil are a staple of the modern horror/comedy world, but HOLD THE FORT, from writer/director William Bagley, is many yuks above the norm. With very funny dialogue, outrageous circumstances, and plenty of stylish splatstick as both the human and inhuman are dispatched in gruesome, sometimes giggle-worthy ways, with heaps of spurting, splashing gore and a nonstop parade of practically-created creatures and zombies. Starring Chris Mayers (OZARK), Haley Leary, sketch comic YouTube creator Julian Smith, and Tordy Clark (GLORIOUS), and featuring a charismatic turn from veteran stunt performer Hamid-Reza Benjamin Thompson (BLACK PANTHER, AVENGERS: ENDGAME). World Premiere.

STRANGE STUDENTS WITH STRANGER TALENTS KEEP WATCH IN HONEKO AKABANE’S BODYGUARDS

Despite her popularity, charm, kindness, and sense of justice, schoolgirl Honeko Akabane has hordes of assassins after her, although she doesn’t know it. Her biological father, whom she never met, hires a loud-mouthed young brawler to protect her without her knowledge, because Honeko’s purity and innocence must be maintained. Fortunately, he’s not alone. Winner of Best Director at the Fantasporto film festival, director Jun Ishikawa pulls out all the stops with this exhilarating and hilarious adaptation that perfectly captures the sweet madness of Masamitsu Nigatsu’s manga, brilliantly adapted by scriptwriter Hiroyuki Yatsu (Takashi Miike’s AS THE GODS WILL). The panoply of eccentric characters with formidable and sometimes disturbing talents are played marvelously by an excellent cast of young actors who maintain the light-hearted tone of this hilarious and electrifying action-comedy. North American Premiere.