New York City’s Tribeca Film Festival is renowned for showcasing incredible films from around the world, created by established filmmakers and new voices alike. Horror and related genre fare are always in strong supply at the fest, as evidenced by its presentation of two of my absolute favorite films of last year, The Seeding and You’ll Never Find Me, along with many other great features and short films.
This year’s edition, which runs June 5–16, promises more incredible cinema of the fearful and the fantastic. I was privileged to get an early look at the following chillers and thrillers before the fest, and though I can’t publish reviews until after the films make their Tribeca premieres — watch for my thoughts here on Horror Fuel soon after that — I can, at this time, highly recommend them to fright-fare aficionados as must-see viewing! Read on for press release descriptions for each film — in alphabetical order, by genre — with links to Tribeca information following.
Horror
#AMFAD: All My Friends Are Dead (U.S.; directed by Marcus Dunstan)
Photo courtesy of Cineverse
A group of college friends rent an Airbnb for the biggest music festival of the year. A weekend of partying quickly takes a turn, as the group is murdered one by one, according to their sin.
https://tribecafilm.com/films/amfad-all-my-friends-are-dead-2024
The Damned (UK, Iceland, Ireland, Belgium; directed by Thordur Palsson)
The Damned is by Icelandic director Thordur Palsson (Netflix’s The Valhalla Murders) and stars Odessa Young (The Staircase, Assasination Nation) and Joe Cole (Peaky Blinders, Gangs of London). A tense psychological horror, The Damned follows Eva, a 19th-century widow who is tasked with making an impossible choice when, in the middle of an especially cruel winter, a ship sinks off the coast of her isolated fishing outpost. With provisions running low, Eva and her crew must choose between rescuing the shipwrecked and prioritizing their own survival. Facing the consequences of their choice and tormented by their guilt, the inhabitants wrestle with a mounting sense of dread and begin to believe they are all being punished for their choices . . .
https://tribecafilm.com/films/damned-2024
The Devil’s Bath (Austria/Germany; directed by Veronika Franz and Severin Fiala)
In 1750 Austria, a deeply religious woman named Agnes has just married her beloved, but her mind and heart soon grow heavy as her life becomes a long list of chores and expectations. Day after day, she is increasingly trapped in a murky and lonely path leading to evil thoughts, until the possibility of committing a shocking act of violence seems like the only way out of her inner prison. Giving a voice to the invisible and unheard women of the rural past; THE DEVIL’S BATH is based on historical court records about a shocking, hitherto unexplored chapter of European history.
https://tribecafilm.com/films/devil-s-bath-2024
The Weekend (Nigeria; Directed by Daniel Oriahi)
Photographer: Kagho Idhebor
This gripping Nigerian thriller drama will keep you guessing until the very last moment with its unique take on the age-old question: what’s wrong with the in-laws?
https://tribecafilm.com/films/weekend-2024
Thrillers
Hunters on a White Field (Jakt, Sweden; directed by Sarah Gyllenstierna)
Three men go on an extended weekend hunting trip on a remote wooded property. An initial spell of hunting success sharpens their instincts and stirs a sense of rivalry. Then one day they awake to find that all of the animals have vanished and the forest is eerily quiet. The men become obsessed with the idea that the hunt must continue, no matter how dangerous or absurd the consequences.
https://tribecafilm.com/films/hunters-on-a-white-field-2024
Restless (U.K.; directed by Jed Hart)
The quiet life of an empty nester is turned upside down in the blink of an eye when hard-partying — and potentially dangerous — new neighbors move in next door.
https://tribecafilm.com/films/restless-2024
The Wasp (U.K.; directed by Guillem Morales)
In this tense, twist-filled psychological thriller, Naomie Harris and Natalie Dormer deliver captivating performances as two estranged friends who reunite over tea, only to unveil a dangerous and deceptive plot that will irrevocably alter their lives.
https://tribecafilm.com/films/wasp-2024
Documentaries
They’re Here (U.S.; directed by Pacho Velez and Daniel Claridge)
Gently offbeat and surprising, THEY’RE HERE follows characters who are part of upstate New York’s robust UFO scene: Cookie Stringfellow, an elderly former abductee who runs a monthly paranormal meet-up group; Steve Falcone, a metalworker who turns to hypnosis in order to recover “blocked” memories of his alien encounters; Twon Wood, a rising comic who transforms his sighting into material for his stand-up routine; and Dave Rivera, a gas station attendant who tries to prove that his mysterious video captures more than an errant weather balloon. By following these true believers’ struggle to understand the deeper significance of their UFO encounters, the film illuminates the longing for transcendent experience in the modern world.
https://tribecafilm.com/films/they-re-here-2024
Tim Burton Docuseries (U.S.; directed by Tara Wood)
Follow Tim Burton’s dream journey into the themes and relationships that shape his work, from the Misunderstood Monster to the dichotomy of dark vs light, and the magic of collaboration with fellow “outsiders” Johnny Depp, Winona Ryder, Helena Bonham Carter, and more.
[NOTE: I haven’t seen this one yet but it is high on my watch list. — JP]
Shorts
A Family Guide to Hunting (U.S.; directed by Zao Wang)
When Eva, a doomsday prepper, takes her uptight Korean-American parents and all-American boyfriend on a bonding hunting trip, things go from bad to grisly.
https://tribecafilm.com/films/family-guide-to-hunting-2024
The HongFu Hotel (U.S.; directed by Tian Xu)
A son reunites with his father on the eve of their family hotel’s demolition and is asked to bid farewell to the lingering spirits of the hotel’s past guests. The film combines Chinese mythology and religion with modern-day New York City. Telling an immigrant story through the lens of horror.
https://tribecafilm.com/films/hongfu-hotel-2024
