What begins as an attempt to escape the pressures of everyday life quickly transforms into a disturbing confrontation with grief, family trauma, and something far more sinister hiding beneath the surface.
Written and directed by Tim Riedel, Ancestral Beasts roots its supernatural horror firmly in the emotional terrain of grief, mental health, and the particular exhaustion of being a person who is trying very hard to hold herself together while the people closest to her make that work considerably harder. The film blends psychological horror, supernatural suspense, and family drama into a story where the line between paranoia and reality becomes increasingly difficult to distinguish.
Morgan Holmstrom leads the film as Elyse, portraying a woman who is exhausted, overwhelmed, and desperate for answers. Her mental health struggles make her an interesting protagonist because her experiences influence how the people around her respond when she begins to suspect something is wrong. Elyse wants peace, but she also wants someone to believe her. Holmstrom captures the character’s growing paranoia while maintaining the vulnerability of someone who is genuinely trying to hold herself together. As the supernatural threat becomes increasingly difficult to ignore, Elyse is forced to trust her instincts and confront the possibility that the darkness surrounding her may be connected to something much deeper than she initially realized. Darla Contois plays Nikki with a sharp, precisely calibrated unpleasantness that makes every scene between the sisters crackle with a different kind of tension than the supernatural threat. Nikki wants to be seen as the responsible one, the concerned one, the good sister, and Contois plays the gap between that self-image and the reality of how she treats Elyse with a pointed and uncomfortable accuracy. She is the film’s most grounded antagonist precisely because she requires no mythology, no creature effects, no dark presence in the foundation. She is simply a person who mistakes control for care, and Contois makes that recognizable in ways that sting.
Ancestral Beasts embraces the isolation of its rural setting to create an atmosphere of unease. The house becomes an important part of the film’s horror, functioning as both a place of refuge and a source of danger. The confined spaces and darkness beneath the home create an effective backdrop for the story’s creepy imagery and jump scares. As Elyse becomes increasingly aware of the presence surrounding her, the film plays with the audience’s perception of what is real. We are placed in a similar position as Elyse, unsure of who can be trusted and whether every strange occurrence has a supernatural explanation.
The film’s strongest themes revolve around mental health and grief. Elyse is not simply running from a supernatural creature; she is attempting to escape years of unresolved emotions and complicated family relationships. Her meditation app becomes a small symbol of her attempts to maintain control, but as the situation around her becomes increasingly chaotic, those coping mechanisms can only do so much. The story raises interesting questions about how easily someone experiencing mental health difficulties can have their fears dismissed, particularly when the danger they are describing sounds impossible.
Ancestral Beasts is a thoughtful, unsettling horror film that respects both its genre and its protagonist, treating Elyse’s inner life as seriously as it treats the thing living under her floor. It ultimately asks what happens when the demons we have spent years trying to outrun are no longer just in our heads, and what it takes to finally turn around and face them.
Fantasia 2026 runs from July 16th to August 2nd, 2026