Ancestral Beasts – Movie Review | Fantasia (3/5)

ANCESTRAL BEASTS is a psychological horror movie with a folklore twist. It’s a Canadian movie screening at Fantasia 2026. While this is certainly a good genre movie, it could have been better with a few adjustments. That’s my opinion, anyway. Read our full Ancestral Beasts movie review here!

ANCESTRAL BEASTS is a horror movie from Canada. Very appropriately, it’s now screening at Fantasia 2026. However, it was selected as part of the Frontières Platform at Cannes’ Marché du Film in 2025. Back then, it was at a Proof of Concept stage and was then acquired by genre label Vorteks.

After this, it went on to the Canadian distributor Mongrel, and now it’s screening at Fantasia 2026. This psychological horror movie features an Indigenous-led ensemble, which seems only accurate with its core premise. We’re in indigenous folklore, and you’ll see a very unique creature in this one.

Continue reading our Ancestral Beasts movie review below.

Stress, depression, and a curse

Ancestral Beasts starts with a violent death, and then we jump a few years into the future. Here, we meet Elyse (Morgan Holmstrom), right as she decides she needs some time to find herself. She’s dealing with stress and depression in the aftermath of her mom’s passing.

Now, she cuts ties with her toxic sister and heads out to the rural ancestral home of her family.

It’s a house in dire need of some repairs, which somehow suits Elyse’s state of mind. She is also in desperate need to rebuild her mental health.

Unfortunately, there are quite a lot of challenges in her way before this happens.

A very odd-looking creature

Especially as it turns out, a grotesque, odd-looking, and centipede-like creature begins to stalk her. This is, in essence, a physical manifestation of buried trauma. Now, it’s feeding Elyse’s emotional turmoil, which means she cannot escape confronting her past if she wants to move on.

Or even survive!

And yes, I must admit that the creature did throw me for a loop. Its visual presentation is so strange that it distracted me from the storyline at times. Don’t worry, it’s not that this creature takes up that much screen time. Well, until the ending, and I was not a fan of it.

That’s on me, I know, but I found it more intriguing and almost comical than scary, which I’m sure was not the intention.

Regardless of the look of this physical manifestation, I did like the premise. Also, it doesn’t hurt to then learn that Ancestral Beasts was developed in cooperation with Indigenous Elders, knowledge keepers, and trauma-informed experts.

There are so many stories and so much important knowledge that we can learn from. I hope to see many more stories based on Indigenous folklore and legends. Fortunately, it seems many directors with Indigenous backgrounds are finally able to get these movies made.

Ancestral Beasts world-premieres at Fantasia 2026

This new Canadian psychological horror feature comes from Métis writer and director Tim Riedel. His own mother was a Sixties Scoop survivor and diagnosed with Borderline Personality Disorder. In that sense, this movie is also based on the actual lived experiences of the filmmaker.

As an executive producer, we have Edmon Rotea, who also produced the hit indie horror film Skinamarink.

Alongside Morgan Holmstrom (Outlander, Shadow of the Rougarou) in the all-important lead role, we also have Darla Contois (Little Bird), Gail Maurice (Aberdeen), and Asivak Koostachin (HBO’s Duster). A strong cast that sells the story well. Even if that creature didn’t work particularly well for me personally.

Ancestral Beasts is reviewed as part of our Fantasia 2026 coverage.

Details

Director: Tim Riedel
Writer: Tim Riedel
Stars: Morgan Holmstrom, Shannon Baker, Darla Contois, Victoria Gwendoline, Asivak Koostachin, Gail Maurice, Jesse Nobess, Jess Salgueiro, Josh Strait