By Shelby Shaw
Magic is often the term attributed to what cannot be explained by natural laws or logical reasoning. But if seeing is believing, these short films and features will have you suspending disbelief as wondrous creatures, monstrous beasts, and events both awesome and terrifying are seemingly willed into existence in these tales across eras (and worlds).
Whether you’re interested in the supernatural or monsters or fantasy, this watchlist of magical varieties and inexplicable phenomena can help you to round out your Festival schedule, with many of these titles available to watch online from the comfort of home. Single Film Tickets for in-person and online screenings are available for purchase here.
SHORT FILMS
Em & Selma Go Griffin Hunting (Midnight Short Film Program) — In this mythical reimagining of 1930s America, writer-director Alexander Thompson shows a matriarchy where girls must hunt a fantastical creature chosen by their mother. While some beasts are far riskier than others, the familial shame of not completing the hunt is just as dangerous to contend with. Available to watch in person and online as part of the Midnight Short Film Program.
Luz Diabla (Animated Short Film Program) — Written and directed by the trio behind Ojo Raro’s queer animation studio, Gervasio Canda, Paula Boffo, and Patricio Plaza, this modern tale follows Martin (Gianluca Zonzini), a raver looking to have a good time, who gets into a car accident in the Argentine countryside. With psychedelic strobes and flashes, the distinction between the party drugs he’s taken and the pagan forces called up by the locals he asks for help begins to blur into a party-going nightmare. Available to watch in person and online as part of the Animated Short Film Program.
Platanero (Midnight Short Film Program) — For Haitian brothers Ti-Frè and Gran-Frè (played by Stanley and Irdens Exantus), living in the Dominican Republic means difficulty finding amid the prejudice of a shantytown. Struggling just to have enough to eat while not being deported, they band together under the decision to rob a plantation. But as their heist is under way, they come face to face with the truth about a rumored monster said to hunt among the banana trees in this thriller from Dominican director Juan Frank Hernandez, who filmed in the town he grew up in. Available to watch in person and online as part of the Midnight Short Film Program.
FEATURES
By Design (NEXT) — In this stylized feature from writer-director Amanda Kramer, Camille (Juliette Lewis) yearns to be as beautiful and desired as a chair she finds in an upscale store. When she can’t buy it, she wishes to become it, setting off a chain of darkly humorous events in which everyone around her can’t tell that she’s switched bodies with the chair. Available to watch in person and online.
Dead Lover (Midnight) — Grace Glowicki writes, directs, and stars in this theatrical, genre-bending story of a gravedigger who loses the man of her dreams when he suddenly drowns at sea. Intent on not letting him go for good, she goes to extreme lengths to bring him back, becoming a mad scientist with inexplicable results. Available to watch in person.
The Legend of Ochi (Family Matinee) — In music video director Isaiah Saxon’s feature film debut, young Yuri (Helena Zengel) grows up on a farm being taught by her enthusiastic father (Willem Dafoe) to avoid the dangerous creatures known as Ochi. But when Yuri comes across an abandoned wounded baby of the species, she decides to help it, embarking on a magical adventure through lands of fantastic creatures and wonders. Available to watch in person.
Rabbit Trap (Midnight) — Writer-director Bryn Chainey’s debut feature set in 1976 focuses on Daphne (Rosy McEwen), an obsessive musician experimenting with reel-to-reel tape, and her husband, Darcy (Dev Patel), who assists by recording natural sounds in the verdant Welsh countryside they’ve just moved to. But when their lives draw the attention of a young rabbit trapper (Jade Croot), it’s because ancient local folklore has been awoken. Available to watch in person.
Rains Over Babel (NEXT) — Babel, a bar frequented by mysterious entities in the form of everyday punks, is the chosen hangout spot for this city’s own Grim Reaper, a woman known as La Flaca (Saray Rebolledo). Weaving together a cast of characters who converge on Babel to seek their best lives (and cheat Death herself), writer-director Gala del Sol presents heaven and hell in the world of nightlife. Available to watch in person and online.
Together (Midnight) — In this horror feature debut from writer-director Michael Shanks, Dave Franco and Alison Brie play a couple working on their relationship by moving from the city to the isolated countryside. After recovering from falling into a hole, they experience progressively freakier and inescapable body horrors as their relationship codependency becomes enmeshed beyond being skin-deep. Available to watch in person.
The Virgin of the Quarry Lake (World Cinema Dramatic Competition) — It’s 2001, the age of early internet chat rooms before everyone had a mobile phone in their pocket, when three teenage girls fall in love with Diego (Agustín Sosa). He is undoubtedly closest to Natalia (Dolores Oliverio), the girls’ leader, but when an older woman (Fernanda Echevarría) shows up and steals Diego’s attention, Natalia’s emotional roller coaster begins to have deadly effects on their town outside of Buenos Aires in this new film from genre director Laura Casabé. Available to watch in person and online.
