Fantastic Fest 2025: ‘Dolly,’ ’13 Days Until Summer,’ & ‘A Woman Called Mother’

All films played at Fantastic Fest 2025

Dolly

Rod Blackhurst’s Dolly lives in the realm of ’70s sleaze. When a couple, Maci (Fabianne Therese) and Chase (Seann William Scott), venture out into the woods on a hike, they get more than they bargained for after discovering a shrine of baby dolls. A killer (Max the Impaler) wearing a baby mask attacks and captures Maci to add her to their collection. Paying homage to classic films like The Texas Chain Saw Massacre, Dolly features some seriously gnarly violence and practical effects that’ll make you cringe and gag. Blackhurst, who co-wrote the script with Brandon Weavil, works with Justin Derry to make the story feel gritty and cursed. While the film could certainly have pushed the envelope a bit more, it smothers the camera with a good amount of the deranged.

13 Days Until Summer

Co-writer and director Bartosz M. Kowalski mixes home invasion with a pinch of slasher elements for a story about a Friday night party that gets crashed by masked intruders. 13 Days Until Summer follows a sister and her brother when she invites a few friends over for a party. What begins as typical teenage antics quickly unravels when people wearing upside-down face masks break into the high-tech home and proceed to brutally torture and kill the group. With co-writers Thor Magnusson and Mirella Zaradkiewicz, Kowalski produces the gooey goods with plenty of violence and gushing blood. The film (mostly) delivers, but the ending may leave viewers frustrated and disappointed.

A Woman Called Mother

Single mother Yanti (Randolph Zaini) has never recovered from her husband abandoning the family. After moving to a rural neighborhood with her two children, Vira (Aurora Ribero) and Dino (Ali Fikry), she hopes for a fresh start and opens a salon. But something sinister attaches itself to Yanti and changes her personality, leading to strange occurrences around the property. Vira and Dino, who film scary videos for their plans to launch a YouTube channel, are caught in a spider-like web and must figure out the truth before Yanti turns her attention to them. A Woman Called Mother, based on a story by JeroPoint, makes great use of empty space and shadow, offering some of the year’s creepiest moments. Possession movies are a dime a dozen, but co-writer and director Randolph Zaini injects some life into a tired genre through great attention to mood and atmosphere.