Fantastic Fest 2026: Our 8 Most Anticipated Films
At Fantastic Fest 2026, the amazing people at Alamo Drafthouse on South Lamar have curated a lineup full of titles with great potential. We’re anticipating so many films that it was difficult to fit everything that deserves to be on my list. Last year at the film festival was incredible to experience with films like Bugonia, Primate, and so much more, and this year could be even better.
Movies like Death of a Yellow Bird have intriguing premises and come from the producers behind Undertone. Stephen King also threw his endorsement behind a movie called The Cycle, which stars Daredevil’s Deborah Ann Woll. There has also been positive buzz from the Toronto International Film Festival about The Face of Horror. With so much to choose from, let’s not waste any more time. Here are our most highly anticipated films at Fantastic Fest 2026.
Resident Evil
We are starting with an obvious one, and it justifies itself. Zach Cregger is one of the best contemporary horror filmmakers working today. Both Barbarian and Weapons delivered inventive narratives with bonkers choices and disorienting screenplay structures that kept audiences continually off-kilter.
Cregger’s new take on Resident Evil is brimming with potential, combining ingredients from the horror game into a Mad Max: Fury Road-style chase. Austin Abrams returns to collaborate with Cregger, taking on the lead role as a medical courier trying to survive a violent pandemic. The film will have its red carpet gala at Fantastic Fest 2026.
Carrie
In Stephen King adaptations, filmmaker Mike Flanagan often draws inspiration from the author’s work. Last year, Flanagan dabbled on the tender side of King with Life of Chuck. This year, he brings a new vision to the classic tale Carrie in an 8-episode adaptation for Prime Video.
The new vision, which pivots to the modern world of cyberbullying, will debut at the festival, with the first two episodes shown to attendees. The new series casts Summer H. Howell as Carrie, a role originally made iconic by Sissy Spacek. Other performers, including Matthew Lillard (Scream) and Amber Midthunder (Prey), play key roles in the series.
Primetime
To Catch a Predator has experienced a strange second life in the past few years. The first cultural reentry was the documentary Predators, which interrogated whether the Chris Hansen program was doing the appropriate thing by demonizing its subjects while offering no compassionate solutions.
One moment in the documentary shows a subject genuinely begging for help and showing self-awareness about his behavior, while Hansen and other crew members seemingly ignore the pleas.
Lance Oppenheim’s film Primetime seems to continue mocking the program by presenting these realities on an exaggerated, stylized canvas. The film starring Robert Pattinson ignites the Fantastic Fest audience on September 20.
Kung Fu Deadly
One of the best aspects of a festival like Fantastic Fest is its ability to bring films that are completely outside the box of conventions. Kung Fu Deadly certainly might fit into that box of bonkers programming.
The film centers on two pest control workers who accidentally disrupt a vampire hunter’s mission. The incident leads to a team-up in which the exterminators join the hunt. Oh, and in case the concept was not baffling, apparently this is a martial arts action comedy.
Fergal Costello directs the film, with stunt choreographer Lee Huang of The Matrix Resurrections handling the action.
Beware Boiúna
Regardless of the quality or reception, the 1997 film Anaconda has been a lifelong guilty pleasure. Beware Boiúna unapologetically seems to be tackling the spirit of that film, except with far less cheese. If anything, it feels like Alexandre Aja directed his own snake movie.
The film sees Mike P. Nelson return to Fantastic Fest after last year’s Silent Night, Deadly Night. The film centers on a group of doctors attacked by a vicious snake in the rainforest and stars Logan Marshall-Green, Kiana Madeira, and Jessica Rothe.
Pathetic Fallacy
Like Kung Fu Deadly, the film Pathetic Fallacy is one of those titles that could only fit at an event like Fantastic Fest. The film sees Scott Mescudi, aka Kid Cudi, play Asher, a man who accidentally enters a cosmic universe of deadly inhabitants. Grief-stricken by the death of his soulmate, Iris (Jessica Rothe), he is offered a bargain to bring her back.
Directed by Adam Egypt Mortimer of Daniel Isn’t Real, the film also features a fascinating screenwriting duo, Andrew Barrer and Gabriel Ferrari, who previously scripted the criminally underrated Transformers One.
Fantastic Fest also hints that Pathetic Fallacy might be a musical, stating that both Rothe and Mescudi gave vocal performances for the soundtrack.
Wild Horse Nine
Martin McDonagh is one of the best playwrights and screenwriters working today. His directorial work on films like In Bruges and The Banshees of Inisherin are among the best at dissecting male relationships and the humorous insecurities within them.
His new film Wild Horse Nine seems to be following a similar pattern, focusing on two disgruntled CIA agents investigating a coup in Chile. The film has a tremendous cast, including Sam Rockwell and John Malkovich in the lead roles. And let’s be real here: anything with John Malkovich is guaranteed to be enjoyable. The man single-handedly made Opus watchable.
Fantastic Fest 2026 Secret Screenings #1 and #2
The Secret Screenings at Fantastic Fest are always exciting to attend, mainly because of the mystery and how it could potentially end up being anything. In years past, the Secret Screenings have showcased early Oscar contenders like Bugonia and completely out-of-left-field offerings like the Marvel Presentation, Werewolf by Night.
It’s hard to speculate because the secret could literally be anything. However, if we consider who is in attendance, Whalefall could be one of the titles since Austin Abrams will already be in town.
With Mike Flanagan premiering Carrie, it’s a 50/50 shot that Clayface might make an appearance. However, my money is on the Nathan Fielder buzzy Elizabeth Holmes documentary, You Can See Everything.
For more information about Fantastic Fest
This year’s Fantastic Fest takes place in Austin, Texas, from September 17th to 24th. For more information on the festival, what films are screening, and how to get tickets, visit the official website.
