COYOTES (U.S., 2025)
Official synopsis: Trapped in their Hollywood Hills home, a family (Justin Long, Kate Bosworth, Mila Harris) must fight for survival as a pack of savage coyotes closes in.
Aficionados of “When animals attack!” movies and horror comedies are certain to find much to be delighted about with Coyotes. It’s not easy to get a near-perfect balance of fear fare and humor in a horror comedy, but here director/editor Colin Minihan does an outstanding job, working from a terrific screenplay by Tad Daggerhart, Daniel Meersand, and Nick Simon. The visual effects are striking, especially so with the killer coyotes and the gruesome displays of damage to their victims. Along with the chills and chuckles — and there are plenty of each — are some well-earned and well-performed emotional scenes that heighten the family drama as well as the survivors’ sometimes absurd attempts to escape their situation. Long, Bosworth, and Harris do fine work as the leads, with terrific performances from supporting players such as Brittany Allen — who also composed the score — as “lady of the night” Julie and Norbert Leo Butz as the family’s off-the-wall neighbor. I had a blast with Coyotes, which I can see being a big crowd pleaser and which is a strong candidate for my list of the top 10 horror films of the year.
Coyotes opens theatrically nationwide on October 3, 2025.
OPEN WIDE (2025)
Official synopsis: Phoebe, a pious young woman questioning her faith, matches with a charming couple on a flirty dating app and discovers that her curiosity has lured her into a threesome from hell.
Open Wide is director Sam Fox’s latest short film, and it’s a corker. Imagine creepy family vibes a la The Texas Chainsaw Massacre in a suburban home setting and you’re on your way to an idea of what the film has in store for you, and for protagonist Phoebe (Lara Repko, who cowrote the screenplay with Fox), who is looking to try something new in the way of a threesome. Married couple Vera (Ashley Smith, coming off another impressive performance in last year’s chilling A Desert) and Ron (Ethan Daniel Corbett) are more than willing to oblige, but when another family member makes their presence known, things get crazy quickly. The performances are all great, as reserved or as unhinged as each character requires. Open Wide focuses more on the bizarre than the bloody, and it works swimmingly. Like Fox’s previous short Fck’n Nuts (reviewed here), bonkers and battiness with a retro flair are the order of the day, and off-the-wall humor wonderfully compliments the horror elements. I’d like to see more of this decidedly unusual family in the way of a feature film. Fox certainly has the chops to helm one, and here’s hoping she has the opportunity to do so soon.
You can view the trailer here.
Coyotes and Open Wide screen as part of Fantastic Fest, which runs September 18-25, 2025 in Austin, Texas.
