Sarah and I are well into the 30th edition of the Fantasia International Film Festival in Montreal. The fest runs until August 2nd, and we’re doing our best to catch as many films as possible while keeping these chats spoiler-light and pretty honest.

This time around we covered three very different movies. Sarah still refers to them as “the baby one,” “the black and white one,” and “the indigenous one,” which somehow works.

First up is Nightborn (Finnish title Yön lapsi), directed by Hanna Bergholm and starring Rupert Grint. A young couple moves into her grandmother’s old cottage in the Finnish countryside, hoping to start a family. Things get tense fast. It’s a folklore-flavored take on the “is the baby evil or is the mother losing it” setup, full of constant baby crying that acts like its own soundtrack. Super effective, really stressful, and a solid cozy-horror watch if you’re into that vibe. Easy recommend, especially once it hits Shudder.

Next is Godhead from Mark H. Rapaport (who brought HIPPO to Fantasia before). This one’s a striking black-and-white film about two eccentric twins who show up claiming to be prophets and put a priest in a brutal moral bind. The cinematography is gorgeous — every frame looks intentional. Sarah watched this one solo and had mixed feelings. She liked the setup and the look, but the dialogue and performances felt a bit theatrical and didn’t fully land for her. It’s interesting, just not a slam dunk.

Finally we get to Ancestral Beasts, the world premiere from Tim Riddell. An Indigenous woman leaves the city for her auntie’s rural cabin, looking for some peace after a family trauma. What starts as a quiet character piece slowly builds into something much more unsettling. Think generational trauma and grief given a horror twist, with strong practical effects and a slow-burn “is this real or is this her mind?” tension that pays off really well. Solid Canadian horror with a clear point of view. Worth seeking out.

We’re keeping the conversations casual — second takes, dog interruptions, and all. If you’re at Fantasia, come say hi between screenings. If you’re listening from elsewhere, throw the episode on while you plan your next watch.

More movies coming soon. Go see some Fantasia.

The Fantasia International Film Festival runs from July 16th to August 2nd 2026 at Concordia University.

The song during our intro and outro is “Until I Sleep” by Henry Homesweet and is licensed under a Attribution 2.0 UK: England License.

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It's once again time for Go Plug Yourself and our Osheaga podcast series to have what has become their annual crossover episode!

We asked Pat (among many other things): Where are the best fries and pizza in Montreal? That question was asked by Abby Stonehouse & Dawn McSweeney back in episode 349.

Patrick Guay from evenko returns to talk about all the ins and outs of booking festivals like Osheaga, Lasso and Ile Soniq. It's a great chat where we talk about some memorable concerts, the changing landscape of live music and so much more. It's a must-listen if you're a music fan in Montreal, sit back, relax, go plug yourself and see you at Osheaga on July 31st.

Osheaga runs from July 31st to August 2nd at Parc Jean Drapeau. Check out osheaga.com for more info and tickets.

All audio clips are copyright of their respective owners and used solely with the intention of promoting and editorial previewing Osheaga.

Our intro song is Paradise Engineering (instrumental) by YACHT and is licensed under a Attribution-Noncommercial-Share Alike 3.0 United States License.

Keith does all sorts of things here on 9to5.cc, he works with the other founders on 9to5 (illustrated), co-hosts our two podcasts: The 9to5 Entertainment System and Go Plug Yourself and blogs here as The Perspicacious Geek.

Sarah is somehow still @femalewalter on Instagram. Follow her for pictures of our dogs and sometimes she remembers to post about all the arts and entertainment we take in all year long.

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Sarah and I are still deep in the 30th edition of the Fantasia International Film Festival here in Montreal.

It's time for the second episode of 9to5.cc Goes to Fantasia. As usual, we’re keeping it loose, chatting about the movies we’ve seen, and trying not to spoil anything big. Our dog Clementine made us do a few extra takes again, but we got there.

In this one we talk about two very different Canadian premieres. First up is After School (also known as Straf), a Dutch dark comedy directed by Merijn Scholte Albers and Tobias Smeets. It follows Edwin (Rutger de Bekker), a music teacher who’s a total pushover and gets himself into deeper and deeper trouble after a bad decision with a nightmare student. It’s super tense, cringe-inducing in the best way, and genuinely one of the funniest straight comedies we’ve seen in a while. There's a second screening on July 25th so you still have a chance to see it at Fantasia.

Then we get into Dance Freak, from Alan Resnick and Robby Rackleff. This one’s a lot weirder — high-contrast black-and-white surreal absurdity with a ton of practical effects. Underground internet comedy vibes from the 2010s turned into a feature length film. If you’re into the wild late-night Adult Swim shorts (think Unedited Footage of a Bear, Too Many Cooks, etc), Mike Diva stuff, or Sarah Sherman’s SNL sketches, this might be your jam. I was cracking up; Sarah was mostly just staring at me wondering what the hell I was laughing at. It’s definitely not for everybody, but I had a great time with its pure absurdity.

We’ve got more screenings coming up and more episodes on the way. If you’re at Fantasia, come say hi. If not, throw this on while you’re figuring out your schedule.

Go see some Fantasia films kids.

The Fantasia International Film Festival runs from July 16th to August 2nd 2026 at Concordia University.

The song during our intro and outro is “Until I Sleep” by Henry Homesweet and is licensed under a Attribution 2.0 UK: England License.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.