FOREIGNER (Canada, 2025)
From the official Fantasia press synopsis: Yasamin (Rose Deghan), or Yasi, is an Iranian teenager who wants to fit in. She’s new to Canada and worries she won’t make any friends at her new high school. On her first day, she meets a trio of pastel-clad chirpy girls: “Queen Bee” Rachel (Chloë MacLeod) and her followers, Emily (Victoria Wadell) and Kristen (Talisa Mae Stewart). Their insidious racism pushes her to assimilate into white Canadian culture. When her fading Iranian identity awakens a dark force within, Yasi becomes defiant to her father Ali (Ashkan Nejati) and her grandmother Zoreh (Maryam Sadeghi), rejects her culture, and threatens to destroy her loved ones and the new life she’s building in Canada.
Writer/director Ava Maria Safai’s debut feature Foreigner nails both turn-of-the-21st-century teen horror aspects and social commentary on the immigrant experience in North America, in this case Canada. The color palette and early 2000s trapping such as the hairstyles and electronics on display give an authentic era feel. Deghan gives a fantastic performance as the emotionally torn Yasamin, with plenty of opportunities to show a wide range of feelings. MacLeod is also excellent as the lead mean girl, with her role played more humorously than that of Yasamin, but in a very nasty way. Safai’s sharp script boasts a dramatic look at the tension between letting go of one’s culture to try to fit into a new, highly different one. It also introduces viewers to a new type of supernatural entity, which I will leave as a surprise for first-time viewers. Foreigner won Fantasia’s Silver Award for Best Canadian Feature, and for good reason. I highly recommend the film for fear-fare aficionados of all stripes.
HEADCASE (Canada, 2025)
From the official Fantasia press synopsis: Headcase follows Karen, a wannabe influencer, who finds herself having to lurk in the shadows after a hit-and-run threatens to derail her coveted brand partnership. Karen finds herself driven down a grotesque and surreal path of murder and dismemberment in order to maintain her brand image.
Horror films skewering social media influencers and creators are a legitimate subgenre at this point, and director Spencer Zimmerman’s short Headcase is a terrific entry in that group. Zimmerman, who cowrote the screenplay with Pat Moonie, examines the lengths to which some people will go in search of internet fame and any sort of public recognition. Here the attention seeking wannabe celebrity is Karen (Siobhan Connors) who, on the verge of a brand breakthrough, is involved in a life-changing incident that sends her down a dark path. Connors gives a fine performance in the lead role of a complex personality, and Moonie and Gigi Saul Guerrero provide fine support. Headcase is a chilling cautionary tale for modern times.
Foreigner and Headcase screened as part of Fantasia 2025, which took place from July 16–August 3 in Montreal, Quebec, Canada.
