Beyond Fest Breakdown
Image Credit - Nirvanna The Band, The Furious, No Other Choice
A few weeks ago, I got to attend some screenings at the Beyond Fest film festival, and it was an awesome experience! I was able to see movies that had yet to be released (some were even premiering for the first time ever in the U.S.), and I got to see directors and actors participate in Q&As afterwards. In total, I saw six films, and this article will serve as my ranking of them from worst to best.
6. Shelby Oaks (2024), Directed by Chris Stuckmann
My Rating: ★★
My least favorite of the festival was Shelby Oaks, a horror film about a woman named Mia searching for her sister, Riley, who went missing years ago during a ghost hunting trip for her YouTube channel. This one is pretty rough. The first thirty minutes are really strong, mainly being in the style of a mockumentary. We get to see a bit of Riley’s YouTube channel and her final video, and it’s all really fun to watch! After that though, there’s a super jarring switch to a traditional narrative format that I don’t think works at all. The rest of the film is mostly Mia going to random locations connected to Riley’s disappearance until she happens to stumble onto a new clue that leads her to yet another location. It’s just not engaging. Its worst offense as a horror film, though, is that it just isn’t scary. The writing is dull and derivative, and overall, it feels more like a collection of ideas than a cohesive movie.
5. Primate (2025), directed By Johannes Roberts
My Rating: ★★★
Although it's lower on the list, I enjoyed my time with Primate. It follows Lucy, who’s returning home from college and reuniting with her family, which now includes one unusual member— a pet chimpanzee named Ben. Unfortunately for her, Ben contracts rabies during a pool party and turns aggressive. Lucy and her friends have to barricade themselves in the pool and figure out how to survive the vicious animal. This was a blast! It’s got some excellent practical effects and a cool John Carpenter-esque score. It succeeds in what it sets out to do, namely being a fun and gory slasher.
4. Frankenstein (2025), Directed by Guillermo del Toro
My Rating: ★★★
I really love a lot of Guillermo del Toro’s work, but Frankenstein didn’t really do too much for me. It looks really cool sometimes and has these amazing set pieces, but at other times it definitely reminded me that it was a Netflix movie. I think Del Toro used too many wide angles, and I personally find them to look really ugly. The performances were mostly unremarkable, except for Jacob Elordi as Frankenstein’s monster, who was excellent. The coolest part of the screening, though, was the surprise reveal. It was originally billed as a Pan’s Labyrinth screening, but then Guillermo del Toro came onstage and brought out Mia Goth and Jacob Elordi to announce that they were actually showing Frankenstein! They ended up playing Pan’s Labyrinth after Frankenstein, but I sadly didn’t stay for it because it was really late.
3. The Furious (2025), Directed by Kenji Tanigaki
My Rating: ★★★★½
Now we’re getting to the GOOD stuff. This was insane. A man named Konggu’s daughter gets kidnapped by traffickers. His only ally is Navin, a journalist with his own personal vendetta against the same criminals. Together, they fight their way through a sprawling network of gangs and traffickers. I had so much fun watching this in the theater, and seeing it with a crowd was a riot! The fight scenes are just so ridiculous, awesome, and tightly choreographed I couldn’t believe what I was seeing. I wholeheartedly recommend this to anyone who’s into action movies. It is truly fantastic!
2. No Other Choice (2025), Directed by Park Chan-wook
My Rating: ★★★★½
No Other Choice follows Yoo Man-su, a celebrated employee in the paper business who’s abruptly laid off after twenty-five years at the same company and goes to extreme lengths to eliminate the competition for the job he wants. I think this is genuinely a masterpiece and one of the best of the decade. The directing is incredible and some of the most exhilarating filmmaking I’ve seen from a modern movie in a long time. The thing I think about most from this, though, is just how stunning it looks with so many insane transitions and superimpositions that are unlike anything I’ve ever seen. More than once I caught myself whispering “wow!”
1. Nirvanna the Band the Show the Movie (2025), Directed by Matt Johnson
My Rating: ★★★★★
Finally, we’ve reached number one. I’ll preface this by saying that the screening I went to was not a first-time watch for me; I actually had seen this three times before this viewing on an early copy I had access to. Anyway, this is genuinely one of my favorite movies ever made. It follows Matt and Jay, members of the two-piece band Nirvanna The Band (no, not Nirvana), trying to get a show at a famous venue in Toronto called the Rivoli. What follows is an insane Back To the Future parody adventure with unique, impossible stunts. This was maybe the best screening I’ve ever attended. I got to meet the director, who’s one of my favorites, and seeing this with a full audience was unbelievably fun. This really was just an experience that I’m going to remember for a long time.
Overall, this festival was an incredible experience with screenings that are among the best I’ve ever been to. I implore anyone who has an interest in movies to try and go to festivals like this one because getting the opportunity to hear the filmmakers speak about their work is super insightful and really inspiring. Also, it just feels really cool and special to be able to see movies before their wide release.