Fantastic Fest 2025: 7 Highly Anticipated Films to Watch
Fantastic Fest 2025 kicks off today in Austin, Texas, with another year of potentially great offerings. The festival is jam-packed with several great titles and early premieres. For example, the highly anticipated sequel to Scott Derrickson’s The Black Phone is expected to captivate the Austin community during the first weekend. The festival will also feature Chris Stuckmann’s long-awaited movie debut, Shelby Oaks, which is being distributed by the studio Neon and produced by the prestigious horror filmmaker Mike Flanagan.
The festival will also feature a diverse lineup of movies, including some action sequels, a martial arts drama, and four secret screenings. I will speculate at the end of this article about what they could be. But without further ado, here are our most highly anticipated movies at Fantastic Fest 2025!
The Forbidden City
The Forbidden City was garnering tremendous praise out of Fantasia over the summer. The movie is said to be a martial arts spectacle about a woman trying to rescue her sister from a sex-trafficking organization that hides behind a restaurant label known as The Forbidden City.
The film is described as a genre mashup of all the greatest martial arts styles, with the fusion of Italian cinema that combines action, drama, and romance equally. If the buzz is genuine, then this is an action movie worth keeping on your radar.
The Black Phone 2
The Black Phone was easily one of the biggest surprises for the horror genre a few years ago, combining supernatural elements with a story reminiscent of Stand by Me.
The sequel is drawing inspiration from A Nightmare on Elm Street, with Ethan Hawke returning as The Grabber in the dream world. Filmmaker Scott Derrickson is drawing inspiration from Freddy Krueger here, but this is the only instance where it feels organic and acceptable. And we are genuinely excited to see what they have in store.
Primate
Paramount will kick off the opening night with a movie driven by a wild animal phobia that will play on the fears of violent chimpanzees. The film is rumored to be a surprise blast with plenty of practical effects and incredibly entertaining gore.
From the sound of it, the premise seems very similar to Death of a Unicorn, only chimpanzees instead of magical horned creatures. The film is directed by 47 Meters Down filmmaker Johannes Roberts and stars Academy Award-winning actor Troy Kotsur.
Sisu: Road to Revenge
The filmmakers behind the action extravaganza Sisu have decided to bless the world with another round of Nazi-murdering mayhem. The first movie, produced by the John Wick creatives, tells the story of a mysterious man hunted by German soldiers after discovering a massive amount of gold. The first movie hinted at the main character’s backstory involving a plethora of Russian soldiers who tried to kill him in the past but failed. Stephen Lang steps into the role of the Russian leader who killed the Unstoppable Man’s family.
If this is anything like the first, it will undoubtedly entertain the Austin audiences.
Apofeniacs
One of the most intriguing promises in the Fantastic Fest lineup is a film about AI. More specifically, a suspense horror film centered on the concept of deep fakes, where violence is initiated. The movie stars such talents as Jermaine Fowler, who did a pretty solid performance in the Fantasia offering Terrestrial. The movie also features James Gunn’s brother, Sean Gunn, in a supporting role.
Bear in mind that it’s a festival, so everything is hit or miss. But the concept and the talent have a lot of promise.
If I Had Legs, I’d Kick You
There’s nothing like an excellent dramedy. The film, If I Had Legs, I’d Kick You, originally made its debut at Sundance. Unfortunately, we were not able to see the film due to remote accreditation. But thanks to the power of second chances, we will have the opportunity to watch it this weekend at Fantastic Fest.
The film is said to be a dark comedy starring Rose Byrne and Conan O’Brien in a very unlikely dramatic role. Additionally, the cast includes A$AP Rocky, who recently made his acting splash in Highest 2 Lowest.
Shelby Oaks
There is not much that can be said about Shelby Oaks that this reviewer has not said already. Chris Stuckmann is one of the most influential film critics in the medium, ranking alongside notable names like Roger Ebert. There are not many who can articulate cinematic language as effectively as Stuckmann does on his YouTube platform.
Needless to say, his movie debut is the most anticipated for many attendees this week. The movie has already been picked up by Neon and is produced by Mike Flanagan himself. No matter how one shakes it, Shelby Oaks is a movie we’ll all be paying close attention to this weekend.
Predictions for Secret Screenings at Fantastic Fest 2025
To give full transparency, no matter how much we try to predict what will happen, almost every time we are wrong. However, after attending for a few years, here is what we think might appear as one of the secret screenings.
The first guess is possibly The Smashing Machine. A24 is notable for utilizing the crowds at Fantastic Fest, and this would be an excellent opportunity to build awards momentum before release.
The second wild guess is The Running Man, directed by Edgar Wright. The biggest reason for this prediction is that Glen Powell is a Texas original.
The other possibility is Good Fortune starring Keanu Reeves and Aziz Ansari. It’s releasing next month and seems like a movie that would electrify the Austin crowd.
There is a wild Hail Mary chance Disney might unleash Tron: Ares at the festival. A few years ago, Disney screened the Marvel spin-off Werewolf by Night as one of its surprise secret screenings. However, don’t wager too much money on this prospect, given the controversy surrounding Jared Leto.
With all that said, the highest possibility is Good Boy, the horror movie centering around a canine that is receiving huge acclaim this month. What are your predictions? What do you think the secret screenings will be?
Also check out: Our past coverage of Fantastic Fest (2023-2024)
