Bowels of Hell – Movie Review | Fantasia (3/5)

BOWELS OF HELL is a horror-comedy from Brazil getting its North American premiere at Fantasia. It’s a wild ride about killer toilets. Or specifically, an entire apartment building is being targeted by their toilets. Yes, really! Read our full Bowels of Hell movie review here!

BOWELS OF HELL is enjoying its North American premiere at Fantasia 2026. To me, a horror-comedy like this is exactly the kind that can thrive at a genre film festival. It’s not for everyone, as everything that goes into toilets will also come out of them… and people (and their pets) will get sucked into them.

This is a genre-hybrid from Brazil, and while it also gets dark, it is mostly a lot of fun and toilet humor. You will be spending a lot of time in various toilets, getting to know people intimately. I find that sort of thing funny, but it obviously is not for everyone. Fans of practical effects, however, should really enjoy this one!

Continue reading our Bowels of Hell movie review below.

A fear of toilets?

In Bowels of Hell, we meet Malu (Martha Nowill) on the worst day of her life. She loses one of her children (she has twins) in a freak accident involving a toilet bowl. They may be sturdy, but they can’t quite handle what her son exposes this particular toilet to.

Then there’s a time jump, and Malu has developed quite a serious fear of toilets. Of course, this doesn’t stop the body from needing to release its waste. Going number one can be solved via the use of a smart little gadget, but number two is a real struggle.

As a result, she is fiercely constipated.

Desperately so.

So, while doing her best to get her event-planning business back on track, dealing with her other child, the fierce and rebellious Genesis (Benjamín Damini), she is also in a constant battle with her own body.

Unapologetically gross, funny, and wild

Now, her business seems to be getting a break; An influencer neighbour has hired her for a potentially lucrative gender-reveal livestream. Malu’s nonbinary child despises the idea, so she keeps it a secret from them. What she cannot fight back against is her own body. And her bowels have had just about enough of her shit.

The timing could not be worse, as the entire São Paolo apartment complex has toilets that have become possessed. Now, having to go means you will never come back. It will all culminate when the gender-reveal party happens, but plenty of creative disappearances will have taken place before we get that far.

And yes, you will see it all go down in Bowels of Hell.

Enjoy the extremely creative kills

Bowels of Hell is from Brazil and is getting its North American premiere at Fantasia. The runtime of 111 minutes is fairly long for a horror-comedy, but it can get away with it. After all, there’s one story to set it all in motion, and then the mystery of the apartment complex toilets seemingly fighting back.

Directors Gurcius Gewdner and Gustavo Vinagre have clearly had a blast making this movie. They also wrote the screenplay, so this is very much their brainchild. Apart from extremely creative kills, we also get some fierce commentary on influencers, particularly those going after the “mom” segment. It’s eerily spot-on.

The cast featuring Benjamín, Chandelly Braz, Otávio Muller, and Martha Nowill is amazing. You will get to know several of them in ways that feel very intimate. Of course, that’s the nature of the plot, and razor-sharp comedy makes it all come together.

The movie is produced by Rodrigo Teixeira. Yes, the Oscar-nominated producer of The Witch, I’m Still Here, Call Me By Your Name, and The Lighthouse. If you can handle the glorious and wild mix of a family drama, poop jokes, extremely gross horror, and delicious social satire, then please give this one a shot.

Bowels of Hell is getting reviewed as part of our Fantasia 2026.

Details

Directors: Gurcius Gewdner, Gustavo Vinagre
Writers: Gurcius Gewdner, Gustavo Vinagre
Cast: Benjamín, Chandelly Braz, Otávio Muller, Martha Nowill