West Coast Premieres at Screamfest
The first public screening of the film on the West Coast.
Film Category
NINE
Meet the Filmmaker
Synopsis
Melanie and her friends return to the family home for one final weekend.
A place steeped in memories and unspoken truths, it soon becomes the reflection of a fractured mind.
What begins as a simple reunion turns into a psychological descent, where each of them is forced to confront their own shadows.
Within these walls, Melanie’s psyche slowly reveals itself — her fears, her defenses, her shifting identities.
Nine is a psychological thriller that plunges into the heart of a mind at war — an intimate and universal experience about the courage to fully exist.
A place steeped in memories and unspoken truths, it soon becomes the reflection of a fractured mind.
What begins as a simple reunion turns into a psychological descent, where each of them is forced to confront their own shadows.
Within these walls, Melanie’s psyche slowly reveals itself — her fears, her defenses, her shifting identities.
Nine is a psychological thriller that plunges into the heart of a mind at war — an intimate and universal experience about the courage to fully exist.
Film Category
Sunshine
Meet the Filmmaker
Synopsis
A young man, Pip, has been sheltered and coddled throughout his adolescence and adulthood by his overprotective mother, stunting his personal growth. However, his life takes a turn when he meets his neighbor, Quinn, who quickly becomes his closest and only friend. As their friendship blossoms, Mother becomes increasingly threatened by Quinn's influence and decides to take drastic measures to separate them permanently. Now, Pip must decide: continue living under his mother's oppressive control or stand up for his independence and fight for his freedom.
Film Category
Gravidarum
Meet the Filmmaker
Synopsis
Ana is nine months pregnant, bedridden, violently sick, and cared for around the clock by Jim, her husband. The country house they've retreated to should feel safe. It doesn't. Something watches from the corner of every room. And the sicker Ana gets, the more certain she becomes: something in that house wants to hurt her and her unborn child. GRAVIDARUM is a slow-burn horror about a woman who has to die before she can survive.
Film Category
Astray ("DWAALSPOOR")
Meet the Filmmaker
Synopsis
Officers Kim van Beveren and Jeroen Koonings have been working together in the police force for over five years. Kim is a true professional who stands out from many of her colleagues. She lives for her work, unlike Jeroen. He is much more pragmatic and sees his job as nothing more than work.
After a long day of meaningless reports, which nevertheless kept them busy, the duo is tired and wants nothing more than to go home. At the last minute, they are sent to a report from an elderly couple, Bert and Clarissa van Zittaert.
Upon arrival, they find a tense Bert, who tells them about strange noises around the house. These noises started after an accident that left Clarissa in a wheelchair, to which she has been confined ever since. Although Kim suspects that there is more going on with the elderly couple, there are no clues to warrant further investigation. The report seems like a standard end to an exhausting shift.
But what starts as a routine report quickly turns into a nightmare when Kim and Jeroen are confronted with a discovery that tests not only their fears, but also their beliefs.
After a long day of meaningless reports, which nevertheless kept them busy, the duo is tired and wants nothing more than to go home. At the last minute, they are sent to a report from an elderly couple, Bert and Clarissa van Zittaert.
Upon arrival, they find a tense Bert, who tells them about strange noises around the house. These noises started after an accident that left Clarissa in a wheelchair, to which she has been confined ever since. Although Kim suspects that there is more going on with the elderly couple, there are no clues to warrant further investigation. The report seems like a standard end to an exhausting shift.
But what starts as a routine report quickly turns into a nightmare when Kim and Jeroen are confronted with a discovery that tests not only their fears, but also their beliefs.
Film Category
FLAPJAX
Meet the Filmmaker
Synopsis
An over-eager fast-food manager is tasked with reviving a highly addictive menu item called “FLAPJAX” to save his fast-food company from bankruptcy. He pulls his estranged mother, a faded pop-star known as Popo, out of retirement to promote the item. However, he soon becomes ensnared by the company’s true intentions and his deeply rooted mommy issues.
Film Category
Earworm
Meet the Filmmaker
Synopsis
YOU CAN’T UNHEAR THIS. After spending all day in bed doomscrolling, Reed stumbles upon a video of a mother ‘unaliving’ her baby… while humming the same 4 notes over and over and over. Now every sound that Reed hears in his everyday life morphs into those 4 notes– and with each note, the bloody Mother draws closer.
Film Category
Rotura
Meet the Filmmaker
Synopsis
In a polluted near future, people replace their organs to survive and elongate their lifespans. Beneath New York City, underground surgeons known as Rippers harvest bodies for rich clients aided by neuro-unlocking, the practice of assuaging people in their last dying dreams. When two Rippers unknowingly operate on a zealous serial killer, their routine job becomes an exorcism, with the body on the table harvesting them right back.
Film Category
The Bogeyman
Meet the Filmmaker
Synopsis
A night of thrills turns into a blood-soaked nightmare when a group of teenagers trespass into a condemned miniature golf course and discover the violent legends surrounding the property are all too real.
Film Category
CARROÑA
Meet the Filmmaker
Synopsis
Peddling off-putting wares and stories in their no-name town, a trio of street dwellers are shown nothing but the door until a nighttime apparition leads Andrés, an eager boy, to opportunity– the obscure operations of a calculating butcher and his faithful dog.
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Mexican folklore, magical realism elements, and mischievous humor immerse us in the context of our characters, exploring themes grounded in the real world. At its core, "Carroña" delves into the early and forceful letting go of innocence in a world that won't look after the vulnerable.
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Mexican folklore, magical realism elements, and mischievous humor immerse us in the context of our characters, exploring themes grounded in the real world. At its core, "Carroña" delves into the early and forceful letting go of innocence in a world that won't look after the vulnerable.
Film Category
Darkroom
Meet the Filmmaker
Synopsis
In his home darkroom, a crime scene photographer develops pictures of a gruesome murder. He discovers a disturbing blur on the images, distorting the victim's face. Each new print he makes comes out more unsettling than the last. Bizarre events start happening around his house, frightening his young daughter, and leaving him to wonder if something supernatural was captured on his film.