Big Break – Movie Review | Fantasia (4/5)

BIG BREAK is world-premiering at Fantasia 2026. It’s a horror-comedy that will probably feel very recognizable in at least some ways. I enjoyed it till the very end – including the beginning of the end credits. Read our full Big Break movie review here!

BIG BREAK is a horror-comedy that gets its world premiere at Fantasia 2026. This is a great film festival movie, and it feels only appropriate that it will premiere there. It has few characters, but they should feel familiar to most people. As should the core plot in some way.

Of course, I hope (and, frankly, assume) the many very violent deaths will not be familiar. And no, that’s not a spoiler as much as a selling point for this movie. After all, this is a horror-comedy with a serial killer, which means we’re also getting a thriller element. All of it works, so I highly recommend watching it when you can.

Continue reading our Big Break movie review below.

Looking for a teeny tiny favor…

Big Break is the story of a sketch comedy collective reuniting years after it was disbanded. The collective was called “Simple Town”, and while three of them have gone on to live ordinary lives, one of them made it big.

The four old friends and former sketch collective members have a lot to talk about. There’s Will (Will Niedmann), Caroline (Caro Yost), Felipe (Felipe Di Poi Tamargo), and their estranged ex-collaborator Sam (Samuel Lanier).

Oh yeah, the estranged one, Sam, is the only one of them to have become successful in Hollywood. He made the box office hit The Gummy Bears Movie. Now, he’s working on a sequel, and his three college friends are all desperate to get cast in the upcoming sequel.

On the way there, the three friends are trying to come up with a plan for how to go about asking for this favor. The conversation in the car shows that their improv and sketch talent may not be as impressive as they think. However, it’s fun for us outsiders to watch them “hard at work”.

Surviving Simple Town

Unbeknownst to the three friends, they will need to worry more about just surviving the reunion; A serial killer is on the loose and roaming the woods around Sam’s remote second home. Yes, while they are struggling, he has a mansion as a vacation home.

Anyway, it all begins as a wonderfully nostalgic weekend, where Sam tells them all how much he has missed them. He’s struggling with the sequel screenplay, and everyone around him is putting too much pressure on him.

In other words, it’s so good to have real friends around who will not do the same.

This whole spiel puts a real stick in their proverbial wheel. Soon, terrible secrets and necessary truths come out, and the washed-up comedians are about to learn what it means to “kill it”.

Big Break is getting its World Premiere at Fantasia 2026

The movie comes from director Ian Faria, while the screenplay was written by Samuel Lanier, who also stars as Sam. Oh yeah, the one who made it big. If you like the weird and slightly (or very) off-brand of comedy that Mark Duplass wields so well, you will also love Simple Town.

Their “absurdist situational comedy” fits perfectly in the horror-comedy hybrid genre.

Producers of Big Break read like an indie all-star team, including Richie Doyle (If I Had Legs I’d Kick You), Conor Hannon, Graham Mason (editor of Teenage Sex and Death Camp at Miasma), Ani Schroeter (BUNNYLOVR), and Sarah Wilson (Dad & Step-Dad)

Big Break features the talents of the real-life Simple Town comedy collective. They are already famed for being New York’s cult comedy darlings, and now Simple Town is making the jump to the big screen. Very efficiently and wonderfully so, I should add. Remember to pay attention to the end credits, as well.

BIG BREAK is world-premiering at Fantasia 2026. We’ll update this review with information on a wider release when we have it.

Details

Director: Ian Faria
Writer: Samuel Lanier
Cast: Felipe Di Poi, Sam Lanier, Will Niedmann, Caro Yost, Jefferson White