This year’s gathering of fantasy and horror cinema was dominated by recurring themes of domestic pets turning deadly, visceral bodily reactions, and expertly choreographed combat. The festival’s lineup showcased a surprising number of films featuring canine antagonists, from the economic-crisis backdrop of an Argentine drama where dogs deliver a brutal climax, to a Chilean period piece where German shepherds guard dark family secrets. The trend reached its most symbolic expression in a Balearic Islands-set fable where working-class youths find themselves trapped by aggressive guard dogs while wealthy partiers remain oblivious to an approaching wildfire.
Not all canine portrayals were negative. One ghost story unfolded entirely from the perspective of a loyal retriever who detects supernatural threats in his new home that his human companion cannot perceive. The theme of household pets turning dangerous extended to felines as well, with a French remake featuring a miniature protagonist menaced by the family cat, employing impressive practical effects alongside modern conventions like on-screen vomiting.
Indeed, nausea became another festival motif, appearing across diverse productions from a Spanish vampire series to a Scottish period adventure about stolen gold. Another undead offering presented an intriguing zombie premise set in Tasmania, though its execution reportedly faltered in the final act. Meanwhile, primate peril emerged in a Hawaiian thriller where teenagers face off against a jaw-ripping chimpanzee, each gruesome moment met with enthusiastic audience approval.
The festival’s most rapturous responses were reserved for action cinema. A Rome-set mafia story delivered a spectacular kitchen brawl that would make martial arts legends proud, with creative use of culinary implements. Even more impressive was a pan-Asian production whose thin kidnapping plot was more than compensated for by breathtaking fight sequences that rival the genre’s best, featuring a remarkable flip-flop-clad chase scene.
The standout film, however, was a Japanese anti-conformist allegory that begins with a schoolyard human pyramid and escalates into increasingly bizarre and disturbing imagery, channeling the surreal horror of manga masters while delivering a powerful message about individuality and resistance to fascist tendencies.
