Acclaimed genre filmmaker and Fantasia alumna Alice Maio Mackay returns to the festival with the Canadian premiere of her sixth feature, The Serpent’s Skin, screening July 23 and 25, 2025 as part of the Fantasia International Film Festival. Known for her fearless, genre-bending horror with a punk spirit and trans lens, with The Serpent’s Skin Mackay delivers her boldest, most emotionally resonant work yet.
Produced by Dark Star Pictures, who will also distribute the film in 2026, The Serpent’s Skin continues the company’s successful collaboration with Mackay, following Satranic Panic, T Blockers, Bad Girl Boogey, and Carnage for Christmas. The Serpent’s Skin is a supernatural romance fused with visceral horror, vibrant aesthetics, and a deeply personal core. With nods to The Craft, Buffy the Vampire Slayer, and Charmed, Mackay updates nostalgic millennial teen horror for a Gen-Z world grappling with identity, community, and survival.
The film follows Anna after she escapes from her small, transphobic town, and the romantic relationship she develops with another young woman, a goth tattoo artist named Gen. After unwittingly unleashing a demon that begins feeding on their friends, the pair need to face their insecurities in order to defeat evil. Mackay’s sixth film stars Alexandra McVicker (VICE PRINCIPALS), Scott Major (HEARTBREAK HIGH), Charlotte Chimes (NEIGHBOURS), and Jordan Dulieu (BEFORE DAWN), with cameos from other Fantasia alumni Avalon Fast (HONEYCOMB), Joe Lynch (SUITABLE FLESH), and Betsey Brown (ASSHOLES). Emmy-nominated filmmaker Vera Drew also returns as the film’s editor, after first collaborating with Mackay on CARNAGE FOR CHRISTMAS, with CASTRATION MOVIE’s Louise Weard joining in as a producer.
The Serpent’s Skin had its world premiere at this year’s Frameline and is also set to screen at FrightFest this August.
