Night Visions is here again, and I’m deep into their catalog picking out the most interesting films to recommend. With a selection of 34 feature films over 60 screenings, Night Visions has once again cultivated a selection of exciting, weird, and downright baffling movies from around the world.

Here are some that I think deserve your attention.

Taklee Genesis X Worlds Collide

Taklee Genesis x Worlds Collide is so bad it's good and so bad it's bad all at once
Utterly baffling and wildly incoherent, this maximalist epic is so bizarre and packed with everything that it deserves to be seen on the big screen -- even if the mammoth runtime will test your patience.

Tickets to Taklee Genesis x Worlds Collide: https://www.nightvisions.info/wp/en/portfolio/taklee-genesis-x-worlds-collide/


Art Spiegelman: Disaster Is My Muse

Art Spiegelman: Disaster Is My Muse reveals the mind of a master
This portrait of Art Spiegelman, the legendary artist behind Maus, is both reassuring and revealing, if politely distant. In these times where fascism once again ravages the world, it's a more than important portrait of the power of art that should be cherished.

Tickets to Art Spiegelman: Disaster Is My Muse: https://www.nightvisions.info/wp/en/portfolio/art-spiegelman-disaster-is-my-muse/


Stranger

Stranger is an ambitious and interesting misfire
I have a lot of respect for first time directors who swing big. This Norwegian stone age epic is nothing but grandiose and ambitious, even if it doesn't quite work. The very definition of an impressive misstep.

Tickets to Stranger: https://www.nightvisions.info/wp/en/portfolio/stranger/


Night Call

Night Call is a breathless and brutally efficient debut feature
Someone once said you must always use coincidence to get your hero into trouble, never out of it. Night Call, the directorial debut from Michiel Blanchart, takes that to heart. It’s a breathless and intense thrill ride through Belgium over the course of a single, chaotic night.

Tickets to Night Call: https://www.nightvisions.info/wp/en/portfolio/night-call/


The Ugly Stepsister

The Ugly Stepsister gives the ultimate makeover the Brother's Grimm treatment
Blending together elements of May, Loisel’s Peter Pan, and Frankenstein, The Ugly Stepsister is at times both brutally horrific and unexpectedly tender. In short, it’s exactly like the fairy tales it emulates to tell a story about body dysphoria and the inhumane industry built around beauty.

Tickets to The Ugly Stepsister: https://www.nightvisions.info/wp/en/portfolio/the-ugly-stepsister/


U Are The Universe

U Are the Universe is a tender and smart sci-fi gem worth discovering
Filmed during the Russian invasion of Ukraine, U are the Universe is a tender, low-key beauty that stuns with its immense humanity and poignancy. For much of the runtime, it’s a two-man show, led by Volodymyr Kravchuk, who plays our hero, Andriy. Opposite to him is the disembodied voice of Leonid Popadko, playing Andriy’s snarky robot Maxim.

Tickets to U Are The Universe: https://www.nightvisions.info/wp/en/portfolio/u-are-the-universe/


Escape From The 21st Century

Escape From the 21st Century is a rambunctious celebration of youth
Here’s a wild take on the time travel genre that tiptoes the line between silly and sincere beautifully. In my notes, I compared it to Everything Everywhere All at Once as made by TikTokers, but even that feels reductive when the result is this heartfelt.

Tickets to Escape From the 21st Century: https://www.nightvisions.info/wp/en/portfolio/escape-from-the-21st-century/


Look out for more reviews as we near the festival and stay tuned for interviews with guests as well.

As always, send your questions and comments to joonatan@toisto.net, and don’t forget the site runs entirely ad-free thanks to support from our readers.