Films

Carly and Angela are daughter and mother who are not exactly on speaking terms. When Carly gets a call from the hospital where Angela lies in a coma with scars on her arms, she reluctantly agrees to an experiment: with the help of a computer simulation, she can talk to her mother. Unfortunately, by doing so, she wakes up demonic forces that will prove hard to stop. Neill Blomkamp’s newest film promises an intense combination of ghost horror and suspenseful sci-fi thriller. The renowned director will personally introduce Demonic at the Future Gate festival – and that’s not all. Blomkamp will also introduce a couple of his previous films, including the now legendary District 9.

Zait is working under the daily surveillance of primitive technology. To fit in the system means to survive. Something happens one day that forces Zait to start to slowly doubt the system. He certainly won’t like the things he will discover – the question is, what can one single man standing against oppressive machinery do? The Turkish feature film In the Shadows, starring amazing Numan Acar, is a post-apocalyptic bite-sized snack that poses as a metaphor for clinical depression and as a criticism of capitalism.

In a parallel present, deliveryman Ray tries to make a living and financially support his sick brother. After a series of unsuccessful scams, Ray picks up a new job in a novelty, strange field of the gig economy: he installs kilometres of cables in secluded woods and hills alongside other workers. The cables are supposed to connect huge metal cubes that, put together, create a new Quantum market. When Ray gets deeper into the zone, he’s met with growing animosity and the threat of robotic cable layers, and has to make a decision – either to help his coworkers or get rich and get out. Lapsis is a clever and entertaining story of exploitation on which technological companies often rely to uphold their shiny facades.

Humankind has a problem. The climatic change has struck Earth with full force. The majority of wild animals has gone extinct, the reserves of oil, coal and gas have run dry. Worse still, a red moon appeared in the sky that keeps getting dangerously closer and poses a collision threat. A mysterious astronaut Paul W.R. (Hugo Becker) is sent on a rescue mission with the goal to destroy the celestial body. But Paul literally vanishes into thin air just a few hours prior to the launch. Where did he go? But most importantly – why? The ambitious, visually captivating debut of director and screenwriter Romain Quirot will make you ponder death and redemption, and proves that the French can really make great sci-fi.

Mums were always telling us not to talk to strangers. Let alone invite them into our homes. Don’t do it because things might end up awry. So far, director Chino Moya has mostly dedicated his talent to shooting music videos; he is behind, for example, clips for Years & Years or singer/songwriter St. Vincent. His feature film debut, Undergods, is a sombre mosaic of several human fates that will lead the viewer through various corners of dystopian Europe. The film comes across as a confused, almost uncomfortably realistic dream from which you can’t wake up. Its stiflingly familiar and, in many aspects, authentic atmosphere will pull you in.