Fantastic Film Festival Australia

Overview

If films that span the unconventional and provocative are what get you in front of the screen, the return of Fantastic Film Festival Australia (FFFA) is a must-see. Pushing boundaries again in 2026 with an audacious program, the festival is bringing its biggest and boldest experience yet, promising a kaleidoscopic showcase of genre, arthouse and alternative cinema that makes for three weeks of wild screenings.

Running from Thursday, April 23–Friday, May 15 across cinemas in Sydney and Melbourne, this year's program is stacked for your viewing pleasure. Spanning 37 feature-length films, expect six premiere local features, 14 new international features and 17 iconic classics and restorations. Plus, there are 22 short films ready to give visitors the inside word on the next generation of fearless storytellers.

Kicking things off is the Australian premiere of Hokum, a supernatural horror starring Adam Scott (Severance) from the mind of Caveat (2020) and Oddity (2024) director Damian McCarthy. For another Aussie premiere, Obsession is director Curry Baker's feature debut, where a cringe-inducing teen rom-com turns into a gore-fest. Bound to make headlines soon, Focus Features recently acquired the horror-thriller for $15 million.

On the local front, FFFA 2026 closes with Penny Lane is Dead, Mia'Kate Russell's rip-roaring punk-horror debut. Bringing a distinctly Australian twist to the slasher genre, expect a healthy dose of incisive social satire on internalised misogyny and toxic masculinity. For even more insight, catch Russell as part of a post-film Q&A. Meanwhile, FFFA 2026 also introduces its inaugural Fantastic Film Prize, with four local genre films —  Cruel Hands, Lenore, Squids, and Wolf Cat Fever — vying for a $10,000 cash prize. 

This year's festival also includes two retrospective strands. The first — FLESH//GHOST//MACHINE: Japanese Nightmares — delves into J-Horror's distinctive legacy, featuring defining cinematic moments from the 1960s to the millennium. Think 4K restorations of Ichi the Killer, Dark Water, and Demons. Yet if blood-sucking is more your vibe, the Vampire Weekend retrospective serves up cult films like Let the Right One In, The Lost Boys, and Nosferatu the Vampyre, Werner Herzog's 1979 homage to the silent film. 

Ready to dive in? In Sydney, the Fantastic Film Festival 2026 is happening at Ritz Cinemas, Randwick, while Melbourne cinema buffs can catch the flicks at Lido Cinemas in Hawthorn, Thornbury Picture House in Thornbury and Brunswick Picture House in Brunswick. Adult tickets are $25, with five- and ten-film festival passes available for $90 and $165, respectively. 

Like what you see? Subscribe to the Concrete Playground newsletter to get stories just like these straight to your inbox.