The 32nd edition of Gérardmer's International Fantastic Film Festival took place in a strange sweetness from Wednesday 29 January to Sunday 02 February 2025. Covered by KillerS7ven and the celest wolf, the event was worth the trip once again since the good-child atmosphere (Ahouuu !!!), the mountain decor, the encounters in queues of waits, the good food (the Tofaille, the Munster and the dishes of the terroir), the discussions between the cinéphages and the evening ends (more or less watered) at the bar of the Grand Hotel were arranged in the massif des Vosges.
Charged in emotions and haunted by ghosts, this 2025 edition irrigated by the legacy of David Lynch allowed the relay between Pierre Sachot and Anne Villemin for the presidency of the association Fantastic. Five days that celebrated the vitality of the genre where strong women (like the 31st Gérardmer Festival) and horrific variation have rhythmed one of the strongest selections in recent years. We will come back in 2026 with a surprise, since the festival will not start on Wednesday, but on Tuesday! An extra day that should delight horror lovers, ever more numerous.
Before several other articles and the distribution of interviews (Ti West, Pedro Martín-Calero, Carolyn Bracken, Emma Benestan and Galder Gaztelu-Urrutia), and after revealing some of the critical videos (Companion, Grafted, In a Violent Nature and Azrael), this is the post-meeting of our canis lupus of the Pyrenees. Follow the autumn leaves...
Contents
Companion
The death of a billionaire triggers a series of events for Iris and his friends during a weekend in his property by the lake.
Even if too programmatic, this horrific comedy pulp plays with the expectations of spectators to dynamit the romcom pink candy and address frontally toxic relationships... So as a worthy heir to the Stepford Women, this series B « high concept » Malignant and gentle sneeze takes violently sexism. The staging cleans up its effects, the killings are crazy, the narration is perfectly calculated and casting ensures serious.
Gérardometer: 🍂🍂🍂🍂
Grafted
Wei, a brilliant young Chinese woman, but with a physical disability, is studying at a prestigious university in New Zealand. Combining to make friends, she continues the research of her father, a deceased scientist, to create a beauty serum and thus become beautiful and popular.
Without the Freudian trauma but in the game, this punk decline of Eyes without face is a horror body in flower that closes at the age of the slasher once emancipation towards the body swap engaged. More superficial than The Substance as on the side of series B, this Lolita despite me which, within a company creating its own monsters, changes its face in its insatiable search for beauty, is dreadful efficiency despite its dry skin hydrated to the J-horror.
Gérardometer: 🍂🍂🍂
She Loved Blossoms More
Three brothers built a time machine to bring their dead mother back to life. When their father enters the stage, the experiences go wrong and they sink into a psychedelic hell where the past and present merge.
Between Mandico and Jeunet, this Greek rereading arty Naked feast from Cronenberg is a sensory experience wrapped in hot lights at the edge of the grotesque. A fantastic hallucinatory dreaming with ultra textured vapor photography and superb practical effects, where the descent into the underworld of drugs serves to transform everyday life by refusing to accept the reality of the loss of a loved one. The narrative is nevertheless very uncomfortable.
Gérardometer: 🍂🍂
Oddity
Darcy, a young blind woman working in a curiosity store, is convinced that she can communicate with the beyond. After the murder of her twin sister, she seeks to expose the murderer using a disturbing wooden model from a collection of cursed objects.
If she does not in any way renew the genre, this modest ghost story with a dreadful insidious atmosphere reserves her lot of thrills and sensations. A closed-door with discreet efficiency where narrative (in gigogne dolls) rigorous, well-tangled tension, persuasive interpretations (cf. the double performance of Carolyn Bracken) and beautiful composition of the frame, haunt a cabinet of curiosities held by a terrifying wooden golem condemning femicide and social reprobation.
Gérardometer: 🍂🍂🍂
In a Violent Nature
After stealing a precious artifact, a gift from his mother, a serial killer takes out of his grave to start a revengeful quest. He's gonna track down a group of young people telling their stories.
If he turns a little in circles over the duration, this slasher « at the Gus Van Sant » renews the genre (where most productions seem interchangeable) by making a refreshing change of perspective. Because sticking to the Basques of his mutic boogeyman (the protagonist), the victims (the extras) only exist to get charmed during his hike. Participating in the tension felt, this malinous narrative is well-fitted with contemplation that stains.
Gérardometer: 🍂🍂🍂🍂
Rumours
Gathered in a castle in Germany for their annual summit, the leaders of the G7 countries settled on the edge of a forest to prepare their declaration. Suddenly, the group found that the staff around them had disappeared. In trying to find them, the seven politicians sink deeper into a forest that turns out to be full of perils and mysteries.
While the strange and the absurd are inviting to the discussions of an atonal meeting of the G7, the political satire soaks in the folk horror, the zombie flick and the post-apo drama. The actors have fun (Denis Ménochet, Cate Blanchett, Charles Dance) and the dialogues are tasty, but the caricature lacks as much ferocity as rhythm. Because in addition to being visually grotesque, this real OFNI pulls on the rope. The incompetence of our elites hardly deserved more than a short!
Gérardometer: 🍂🍂
Azrael
In a world where no one is speaking, Azrael must be sacrificed to appease an ancient evil that resides in the heart of the surrounding nature. Escaped from her captivity, the young woman will not retreat from anything to ensure her survival.
When Aboriginal people Village (Shyamalan) find themselves in the earthly hell of The Last of Us to the carnivorous creatures of The Descent, the angel of death played by a Samara Weaving (the very expressive daughter of Agent Smith) avengeness leaves his wrath unobstructed. A silent survival in black and red (blood) that brutally attacks religious extremism, and where frontal graphic violence comes alongside a nightmare sound design.
Gérardometer: 🍂🍂🍂🍂
In Vitro (2024)
In the near future, Layla and her husband Jack are experimenting with biotechnology techniques in the hope of saving their livestock farm on the brink of bankruptcy. When a series of strange events occur, Layla suspects her husband to make scientific experiments that might well threaten her...
Presenting itself as an ecological SF thriller before revealing (rapidly) his true face (the beast that is around is not the one that is believed), this modest drama that sounds the alarm about domestic violence is more cowardly than courageous. A predictable and totally underdeveloped Archi despite an interesting concept and a scene full of promises (never invited to enter), he is not interested in the state of the environment in the world and is only discreetly threatening.
Gérardometer: 🍂
The Wailing
Brice Bouteau Did you know? Wolves upset because born fish, the TV caught my parents from maternity. I can't decide between cowboys or Chinese sword movies, although the specialists of the wu xia pian claim that it's the western of China, I was forced, but not really forced, to become good public and stuff me. Wild by nature, I don't go to the movies much. So he invited himself to my den. With technological advances, from VHS to 4K Ultra HD and LaserDisc, my nights consist of drawing discs to get them into the plate. Nyctalope like Riddick and with a very good hearing, I am ready to jump on physical editions and SVOD platforms. You know what? #WeLovePhysicalMedia Favourite films Mulholland Drive, The Shawshank Redemption, Interstellar The Great Blue, The Bride with White Hair (1993), The Crow (1994) Top 20 directors Baz Luhrmann, Christopher Nolan, David Fincher, David Lynch, Denis Villeneuve, Edgar Wright, Guillermo del Toro, James Cameron, John Carpenter, John Woo, Martin Scorsese, Michael Bay, Michael Mann, Paul Verhoeven, Quentin Tarantino, Tony Scott, Tsui Hark, Wachowski, Wong Kar-wai and Zack Snyder. Cinema is an art, live cinema! Cloud Atlas Interstellar New York 1997 Ex machina Mulholland Drive Alien Test Equipment QD-OLED TV: Sony Bravia XR-65A95L Universal Player: Oppo UDP-203 Audiocom Reference Media Player: R_volution PlayerPro 8K Signature Edition Pack
Something haunts Andrea, but no one, not even her, can see him naked. Twenty years ago, ten thousand kilometers away, the same presence terrorized Mary. Camila was the only one who could understand what was happening to him, but nobody believed them. Faced with this oppressive threat, all three hear the same overwhelming sound: a cry. It Follow-upIn a world that is blind and deaf to the tears and cries of women who are victims of patriarchal oppression, the Spanish scare comes back to us with a meticulously constructed story (in three parts) about an elusive threat where the shadow of
. The staging is millimetres, the oppressive atmosphere, the exceptional female trio, the skin-flowering emotion and the tropes of the genre diverted by exploitation « well seen » technology.
Gérardometer: 🍂🍂🍂🍂🍂
Last Stop: Rocafort Station
Laura got a job in the Barcelona metro: she was awarded the old and quiet Rocafort station. Everything seems perfect in her new life until she discovers that the resort is home to an urban legend: many people died there in strange circumstances and nobody seems to want to know the truth. Laura then starts investigating and will soon be caught up in the curse...
Gérardometer: 🍂🍂🍂
In this supernatural polar that explores the urban legend of Barcelona's most strange metro station, tunnels hide a terrifying past... Even if too classical in its unfolding and gnawing with dusty jumpscares, this urban horror effectively formatted for the general public rises in a row with strong sensations where the claustrophobic atmosphere is tense and the investigation holds in breath until the end. Are you going down to that stop?
Exhuma
Two young shamans have been hired by a rich family who fear that a danger will hover on their newborn. A dark curse seems to be weighing on the family. The shamans use a geomanic and a croque-mort in order to find the tomb of the ancestor at the origin of this evil... Going crescendo towards horror and making the part beautiful to the suggestion (before a last part openly bis to the), this thrilling esoteric thriller split into two large segments embraces threats, folklore, rituals, mysteries and religions to better surprise spectators. And while the ghosts of the past lie right next to the hidden traumas of history (the annexation of Korea by Japan), Jang Jae-hyun comes to distill a deaf tension.
Gérardometer: 🍂🍂🍂🍂
Else
Anx just met Cass when the epidemic broke out: everywhere, people merge with things. Locked in his apartment, the couple must face this monstrous threat.
When economy (of means) rhymes with madness and genius, this (other) pandemic with increasing body horror quotes Cronenberg, Tsukamoto and even Hitchcock. And while the identifiable disappears gradually to give up to proto-philosophy (evolution, life and death) oozing from the walls of the genre, this creative fusion (cf. the avant-garde use of textures and sound) tells us the union of two beings that everything opposes (formidable Matthew Sampeur and Edith Proust).
Gérardometer: 🍂🍂🍂
Silver Fever
A strange disease decimates the richest and most influential people on the planet. The virus that seems to first affect only billionaires, quickly spreads to more modest fortunes, forcing everyone to get rid of any wealth and precipitating global economic equilibrium into chaos...
In this original catastrophe blockbuster where wealth brings death and pushes for reverse immigration, the reflection on class struggle, capitalism and human nature is adorned with alarming pessimism. A dystopic SF drama with biting cynicism and a hilarious rhythm that invests in the fact that money corrupts without making happiness or eating. Of all the plans, the criminally underestimated Mary Elizabeth Winstead dies the screen.
Gérardometer: 🍂🍂🍂🍂
Presence (2024)
A family moves into a new home, where a mysterious presence haunts the place.
Turning from the floating point of view of the supernatural entity (in subjective camera), this singular genre proposition observes a drama in camera on a dysfunctional family. Emotionally strong and screenwriterically malignant, the viewer being placed as a powerless witness, haunts social subjects (such as drugs and grip) to exorcise loneliness, mourning and even redemption in a memorable final. A strong Soderbergh!
Gérardometer: 🍂🍂🍂
The Moogai
Sarah and Fergus are a young Aboriginal couple who welcome their second child home. This typically playful event takes on a more sinister character the day Sarah begins to have hallucinations in which a malicious mind tries to take her baby.
Courageous in his exploration of transgenerational trauma related to the « stolen generation », this Aboriginal horror movie about a sinister Australian demon literally replays the abduction, forcefully, of indigenous children to their parents. A necessary duty of memory that uses the fantastic to send to the devil the policies of forced assimilation (between 1910 and 1970) of a nation for ever shameful. Little subtle in its allegory, this short become long remains obsessive and frightful.
Gérardometer: 🍂🍂🍂
The Legend of Ochi
In an isolated village in the North, young Yuri has learned not to go out after dark and to fear the creatures known as d When an ochi baby is abandoned by her pack, she embarks on a lifetime adventure to bring him back to her family.
Fine writing and vintage aesthetic beauty (rich of meaning) compose this family fantasy (a first for the production house A24) author whose initiatory narrative delivers a strong message about the environment and progressism. One E.T. eco-friendly and anti-mainstream with mischievous casting (Willem Dafoe, Helena Zengel, Finn Wolfhard, Emily Watson) and expressive puppets, for a hybrid adventure with a gentle nostalgia of the 80s.
Gérardometer: 🍂🍂🍂
Please don't feed the Children
An orphan gang is descending south in search of a new life as an epidemic decimates the adult population. They end up at the mercy of a psychotic woman hiding a dangerous secret.
If he lacks identity and is not really interested in this pandemic where children become the pestiferous adults, this dystopic thriller in near camera is well interpreted (a crazy Michelle Dockery to bind) and maintains a solid suspense. Between Massacre with chainsaw and The Last of Us, this 1st along Spielberg's daughter knocks at the door of an effective horrific entertainment with hints of Hansel and Gretel. Will you dare seek asylum?
Gérardometer: 🍂🍂🍂
The rankings
The jury of the 32nd edition of Gérardmer's International Fantastic Film Festival, chaired by Vimala Pons, surrounded by Vladimir Cauchemar, Jérémy Clapin, Clotilde Hesme, William Lebghil, Caroline Poggi & Jonathan Vinel awarded the following awards:
Grand Prix : In a Violent Nature
Jury Prize : Rumours and In this supernatural polar that explores the urban legend of Barcelona's most strange metro station, tunnels hide a terrifying past... Even if too classical in its unfolding and gnawing with dusty jumpscares, this urban horror effectively formatted for the general public rises in a row with strong sensations where the claustrophobic atmosphere is tense and the investigation holds in breath until the end. Are you going down to that stop?
Award for Criticism : The Curses (The Wailing)
Public Prize : Oddity
Young Jury Prize : The Curses (The Wailing)
The Jury Short Films of the 32nd edition of Gérardmer's International Fantastic Film Festival, chaired by Emma Benestan, composed of Olivier Afonso, Emma Chevalier, Théo Cholbi and Tiphaine Daviot, awarded the following prize:
Grand Prix du court film : Blood Links
[...] Russian novel by Mikhail Bulgakov (1891-1940) by Michael Lockshin. Presented out of competition at the Gérardmer festival, Le Maître et Marguerite spares neither of the two blocks through an incisive rereading [...]
That's a really cool report. We're not out of work!
Really next year! 🤩
Thanks for this review article that had strangely escaped. The Wailing looks great. Let you mention It Follows also revive my expectation of his continuation by the same director!
[...] at the Gérardmer festival, Oddity had a certain charm of the first films. A pleasant surprise of the 2025 edition, Oddity is now available in SVOD. We share our interview with Carolyn [...]