Our Standout Picks from This Year’s Calgary Underground Film Festival

We had another fantastic run at the Calgary Underground Film Festival this year. As we look back on the films that stuck with us, we’re already counting down the days to when we get back to the Globe again for CUFF.DOCS this November. Here are a few of our festival picks that we can’t wait for more viewers to see!

BLACK ZOMBIE

As someone who is an enjoyer of horror, specifically anything zombie, Black Zombie directed by Maya Annik Bedward was a rich and expansive (maybe too expansive) dive that allowed me to see the genre stripped back to its origins. Showcasing the cultural history of Haitian voodoo, spiritual control and colonial exploitation, it sheds light on how zombies were born out of real human fear, oppression and loss of autonomy. Bedward effectively weaves together history, folklore and modern pop culture through interviews with a strong cast of experts in a way that deepened my appreciation for the undead far beyond the screen and leaves me with more reading of my own to do. — Dianne Miranda

The Fox

The Fox is so deeply absurd it makes you fall in love with it. I mean, a world where talking animals are just considered normal is pretty wild if you think about it. Truly the greatest strength of the film was never taking itself too seriously, instead you’re hit with a barrage of hilarious moments that make you want to jump in your seat and (or) spit your popcorn because you just saw two foxes get freaky. Not a single moment went by when I wasn’t gasping. — Daman Singh

ThE Killing Cell

Think of the typical horror found footage movie: shaky cameras, questionable decisions made, dim lighting and this creeping sense of dread. James Bessey and Karsen Schovajsa’s first feature film, The Killing Cell delivers all of this and then some. The film first sets up an atmosphere of fun before leaning into tension through its raw, suffocating setting, making the viewer feel trapped alongside its complicated characters. For a debut feature, it may not reinvent the genre, but for fans who live for that feeling that will have you clutching your seat, it shows real promise and will certainly satisfy fans of the genre. — Dianne Miranda

Lucid

If you’ve been in art school, you’ve probably felt like ripping apart your couch with craft scissors because your instructor said something along the lines of ‘dig deeper’ and to make something with your heart. And if you haven’t, don’t worry Lucid does an absolutely wonderful job showing you. The film follows Mia, an art student who is on the verge of expulsion due to her creative block, when she turns to a lucid‑dreaming experimental drug in a desperate attempt to break through it (who here hasn’t done that?). The film’s greatest strength is how visually stunning it is, it’s truly an art film for art students. — Daman Singh

Obsession

Curry Barker is on an ascent the likes we haven’t seen since previous sketch-comedy-turned-horror-filmmakers Jordan Peele and Zach Cregger. On the week that it was announced Barker was writing and directing a Texas Chainsaw Massacre movie for A24 and Focus Features officially boarded Barker’s just-wrapped-filming-in-Vancouver original feature Anything But Ghosts, starring Barker, Cooper Tomlinson and Aaron Paul, the Globe Cinema was abuzz Saturday night to see the film that started the ball rolling, Obsession. Awarded first runner-up at the Toronto International Film Festival’s Midnight Madness competition last year (runner-up to Nirvanna the Band the Show the Movie, no less! I think even Citizen Kane would rank runner-up to beloved Toronto love letter NtBtStM, so nothing to be ashamed of for Obsession) and scoring a $15 million deal with Focus Features (the biggest sale of last year’s TIFF), the buzz was seriously warranted in this Monkey’ Paw spin on a relationship comedy. Inde Navarrette as Nikki (but don’t call her Freaky Nikki) gives one of the best film performances you will see all year, committing at a very high level. In a just world, especially one after Amy Madigan won a (deserved!) Academy Award for playing Aunt Gladys in Weapons, Navarrette should be in a similar level of conversation, as she is the reason the film works to the level that it does. Do not miss your chance to see this one in theaters on May 15th, but for those who were at the CUFF screening, it is certainly a night that we won’t forget, as Barker’s star continues to rise. — Ben Goodman

Saccharine

Natalie Erika James’ Saccharine is an ambitious “body” horror film that bites off more than it can chew and I’ll leave it at that. As someone who is fat and queer, this film had a lot to answer for and it only half delivers. The film never quite reckons with what it aimed to talk about. Where it does earn its keep is in Hana’s (Mildori Francis) queerness: tender in some ways, understated and quietly aching. I think that this movie could have reached something far more powerful had it not settled for shock over substance. — Dianne Miranda