Asynchronous Media

One of the greatest found-footage films of all time, Noroi: The Curse remains one of Japan’s most enduring stamps on the horror genre. A film that was seen as a failure upon release in 2005, it has since become a cult classic in the found-footage horror subgenre. Disturbing and intricate, it weaves a tapestry of curses into an atmospheric nightmare that still holds up today.

Misogyny in video games and the uphill battle for women to prove they are just as good, if not better, at games than men is material that has surprisingly not been explored with the same bluntness as Sophie Yang and Veronica Bassetto’s directorial debut, Gamer Girls. As its title suggests, the film follows a group of women trying to make it in the world of gaming, but they face immense roadblocks along the way, from societal views of gaming to how the gaming community views women.

Dance Freak is packed with alternative comedians who have been quickly taking over the comedy landscape in the past few years. Sherman and Halkias are undeniably the bigger stars mentioned so far, but Conner O’Malley also gets a brief but iconic scene thanks to how easily his frenetic energy meshes with Rackleff and Resnick’s vision. Jamel Johnson’s role as Detective Gittit also instantly makes the procedural elements of the film work better.

The love triangle and relationship dynamics at play in Funky Freaky Freaks serve as an impetus for all the characters to descend into self-destructive behaviour. Woo-ju’s popularity online as an influencer and proven strength as a member of the National Judo Squad in South Korea create a potent cocktail of privilege and adoration that allows for a certain level of violence to go unchecked.

Few people have the ambition and restraint that Makoto Ueda has. The Japanese screenwriter and playwright has been cutting his teeth on trippy time travel narratives and excelling in the genre. In particular, his time-loop comedies directed by Junta Yamaguchi (Beyond the Infinite Two Minutes, River) have masterfully wrung every drop from their simplistic premises without stretching beyond 90 minutes.

However one feels about Christopher Nolan, there’s no saying that he rests on his laurels. Crafting cinematic achievements that have received widespread critical and audience acclaim, he’s not just one of cinema’s most dependable auteurs but also one of its most bankable. However, it’s his pursuit of increasingly ambitious material that has kept eyes on his work. None of his past projects, though, have come close to the daunting task of adapting Homer’s ancient Greek epic The Odyssey.

The relationship between food and love has given rise to some of cinema’s most beautiful depictions of culinary romance. There’s something about the way cooking a meal can express someone’s devotion while also opening them up in vulnerable ways. Even the most guarded individual might reveal something about themselves in how they prepare a simple dish or merely in choosing the right dish for the person they’re cooking for.

A zombie film is nothing without an endearing cast of characters, and while Colony has some notable standouts, it is not without its missteps. Much like Train to Busan, the film’s effectiveness as a survival thriller hinges on compelling emotional arcs among characters who face friction due to the circumstances threatening them.

Perhaps its most ambitious pursuit is just how long it tries to keep up the breakneck pace. The Deadites are given a reason to be so relentless in this film—pursuing a magical dagger located where the family resides that, if destroyed, might allow Hell to walk on Earth—which makes for a very simple premise featuring a lot of illogical actions. It’s understandable why everyone seems reckless: had the film addressed those actions, it would have been significantly shorter.

Fantasia’s love of Asian cinema is matched only by its love of the filmmaking process in genre films. Documentaries often center on exploring the artists who create beloved works of art that have transcended time and borders. There are actually a handful of movies that scratch this itch, but the mash-up of one of Japan’s greatest phenomena and how it came to be is easily the most enticing of the festival.