9. THE GALACTIC GHOUL

For director Simon Harrison to achieve a space opera homage like The Galactic Ghoul on what had to have been a shoestring budget is commendable, particularly with its practical effects and even the dual performance from star Vincent Hoss-Desmarias. Unfortunately, the film’s low-fi charms came few and far between for me. It isn’t funny enough to work as a tongue-in-cheek parody, nor is it zippy or exciting enough to work as the real thing. I’m sure it’ll find an audience that is more attuned to what it’s doing, but I can’t consider myself part of it.

8. ATTACK ON PARADISE

Attack on Paradise was one of my most anticipated titles at Fantasia, especially given its The Raid-like premise. Of course, I wasn’t expecting it to be at the level of that modern classic, but unfortunately, Paradise doesn’t even deliver on being decently entertaining. The action simply fails to excite with how unimaginatively captured and edited the sequences are, one cool camera tilt during a bathroom fight notwithstanding. This only makes the film’s lack of substance and utterly predictable story beats stand out even more. I do admire the film’s efforts regarding its representation, but otherwise, it’s a disappointment.

7. THE PERIL AT PINCER POINT

The Peril at Pincer Point’s beautiful monochrome style, foreboding score, and remarkable sound design — very much the film’s defining strengths — certainly grabbed me from the jump. Plus, directors Jake Kuhn and Noah Stratton-Twine do an admirable job contrasting all of that with some biting industry satire and delightfully bizarre moments. So, it’s a shame that, as it goes on, it doesn’t build towards much, which makes its pacing more of a grind than it should be, even at just 83 minutes. It doesn’t help that the tone becomes decidedly more uneven in the back half. It’s ultimately a film I wish I liked more than I actually did.

6. AFTER SCHOOL

In some respects, After School (Straf) feels like the Netherlands’ answer to the darkly comedic works that Jody Hill and Danny McBride have created over the years, particularly their great HBO series Vice Principals. It definitely isn’t as biting or anarchic as that two-season wonder, but credit to directors Merijn Scholte Albers and Tobias Smeets, as well as the cast they’ve assembled, because they manage to get some cringe-inducing fun out of its “teacher vs. student” premise. There are plenty of broadly silly musings on school bullying, differing types of masculinity, single parenting, and self-respect to go around. It’s a bit disposable, but it’s entertaining enough.

5. DANCE FREAK

If you threw the distinctively surreal styles of David Lynch, Guy Maddin, and Tim & Eric in a blender, you’d get something along the lines of directors Alan Resnick and Robby Rackleff’s Dance Freak. Playing like one of their Wham City shorts expanded to feature length, the film, with its grimy black-and-white aesthetic and the efforts of its alt-comic friendly cast, explores male depression and rage in the most nonsensical and sinister ways possible. Though it can drag here and there, I still came away admiring its utter insanity, making it as compelling as it is confounding.

4. I LOVE PARIS

If you loved What We Do in the Shadows and Popstar: Never Stop Never Stopping…and wondered what would happen if you mashed them together…I Love Paris could serve as an answer to that. A mockumentary hybrid of comedy, horror, and musical, it draws a connection between literal vampirism and the attention economy in ways that are funnier and bleaker than you’d think. I don’t quite know if it justifies its two-hour runtime (the improvisational style has its limits), but it maintains a wild energy throughout, and lead star Aminata Thiboult carries the whole film effortlessly. It’s worth a watch, regardless.

3. YOU ARE THE FILM

You Are the Film serves as my introduction to writer-director Makoto Ueda and his knack for pulling off very high concepts on low budgets. By all means, it was a good one. Revolving around parallel films interacting with one another, this 67(!)-minute venture not only plays as a cleverly inventive ode to multiverses, but also as a whimsical treatise on the inherent voyeurism of cinema as an artform. It does get a bit too busy for its own good towards the final act (in ways I won’t spoil), but it is infectious and breezy enough to make that forgivable. Overall, it’s a fun time.

2. HER PRIVATE HELL

Since achieving mainstream success with 2011’s Drive, director Nicolas Winding Refn has spent more than a decade specializing in neon-drenched nightmares to the point of increasing divisiveness. With its glacial pacing, bisexual lighting, extreme violence, psychosexual situations, and emphasis on mood over narrative, Her Private Hell sees him picking up right where he left off. It’s Refn at his most unrestrained, and I loved nearly every minute of it. Could I understand everything? No. But the images are beautiful, the vibes are immaculate, and composer Pino Donaggio’s score is award-worthy stuff. That might be hell to some, but not for me.

1. TEENAGE SEX AND DEATH AT CAMP MIASMA

With their previous two features, We’re All Going to the World’s Fair and I Saw the TV Glow, I’ve admired how writer-director Jane Schoenbrun can nail a Lynchian vibe whilst still carving out their own distinct style. With their latest feature, Teenage Sex and Death at Camp Miasma, I feel like I’ve fully embraced it. It’s a surprisingly playful and deeply poignant deconstruction of the slasher and the sort of impact it can have on one’s identity. Boosted by terrific central performances from Hannah Einbinder and Gillian Anderson, a great score from Alex G, and some outstanding needle drops, I’m a big fan.