FrightFest has presented the best in global genre short film since 2004, and this year’s selection of provocative tales highlights a record-breaking year of entries as the festival programmes four Short Film Showcases, all offering their own terrifying twists and turns.
This year’s selection, screened at the Odeon LUXE West End, unleashes the latest genre gems from across the world. There are twenty-nine world premieres, with nine countries represented, spanning four continents.
Here’s the full line-up details:
FRIDAY 22 AUGUST – SHORT FILM SHOWCASE 1
ODEON LUXE WEST END SCREEN TWO from 3.45pm
A bad day can be the root of the problem in DEAD TOOTH. OBEY! asks if every dog has its day, and will you have the rug pulled from under you in TAPESTRY? A high with nature may have its comedowns in FLOWERS, and a family man is seduced by technology in PANDORA. INC. It’s definitely not Santa coming down the chimney in VӒSEN and a frustrated Ava just can’t find the right words in VOWELS. Some doors are meant to stay closed in FIVE STAR, and pets can be more dangerous than you think in MURDERBIRD
DEAD TOOTH (London Premiere)
Director: Romane Eilahtan. With: Tara Lindström. France 2024. 20 min.
Tara has a dental appointment to fix a dead tooth. But one unexpected event after another turns this endless day into hell. Will Tara find a way to smile again and at what cost?
OBEY! (International Premiere)
Director: Jordan Wippell. With: Paige Phillips, OpieQ. US 2025. 11 min.
After the tragic death of her viral dog, Max, a pet influencer is confronted by a vengeful spirit demanding an apology for a life of exploitation.
TAPESTRY (World Premiere)
Director: Jason Sheedy. With: Erin Ownbey, Sam Jenkins, Clay Randel. US 2025. 7 min.
A desperate mother performs an occult ritual to resurrect her lost child.
FLOWERS (World Premiere)
Director: Nic McRobbie. With: Mia Fitzgerald, Alex Henderson, David Vikman. Australia 2025. 5 min.
A backyard experiment with a mind-altering tea made from Flowers results in a whole lot more than expected…
PANDORA, INC. (International Premiere)
Director: Joe Lueben. With: Jacob A. Ware. US 2025. 12 min.
While his wife and kids are out of town, a stressed-out illustrator risks losing everything when DAWN – an alluring A.I. creation -mysteriously arrives at his home and begins to seduce him.
VASEN (World Premiere)
Director: Kristofer Vishnu Kiggs Carlsson. With: Johanna Smitz, Juliette Mayson, Natanael Horner. Sweden 2025. 8 min.
In a cold 18th century Sweden, two sisters fight for their survival as they find themselves trapped in a farmhouse by the maleficent Gårdstomten and his army of man-eating Mylings.
VOWELS (International Premiere)
Director: Rafael De Leon. With: Alexa Smith, Sunny Makwana, Chelsea Carpenter. US 2025. 5 min.
Ava needs to record a self-tape, but her speech impediment keeps getting in the way.
FIVE STAR (International Premiere)
Director: Kai Hamada Hasson. With: Paul Sun-Hyung Lee, Tate Hanyok. US 2025. 14 min.
When late-night locksmith Soung Kang is asked to lock a door forever, he discovers a dark secret that pushes him to extraordinary lengths to secure his five-star Yelp review.
MURDERBIRD (World Premiere)
Director: Barrett Lesly Shuler. With: Sophie Isbell, Adam Raickovich, Elly Kouri, Donovan Edelstein. US 2025.16 min.
In an attempt to save his relationship a man buys his girlfriend a rare exotic bird. After the couple develops a deep emotional bond with the bird, its true colours begin to emerge.
SATURDAY 23 AUGUST – SHORT FILM SHOWCASE 2
ODEON LUXE WEST END SCREEN ONE from 10.40am
There’s something dark happening down at the farm in NEEDLETEETH and in THE MAN THAT I WAVE AT you can’t always rely on the kindness of strangers. Hosting can be a tricky menu to navigate in MY BEST FRIENDS, and you should never leave home without your repellent in BLOODBUZZ. Every party has finger food in NO ONE IS COMING TO RESCUE YOU and GILDA asks what’s more frightening than after-school activities? Is the glass half empty or half ‘ghoul’ in INEBRIATED and will they or won’t they in YOU LOOK SO BEAUTIFUL?
NEEDLETEETH (World Premiere)
Director: Daniel Lewis Martin. With: Aidan Rivers, Owen Mulhall. UK 2025. 16 min.
In rural Ireland, a reserved farm boy lives under the stern watch of his father. When their sheep are found brutally slaughtered, a creeping suspicion grows alongside a strange hunger…
THE MAN THAT I WAVE AT (London Premiere)
Director: Ben Stephen Hyland. With: Sam Pamphilon, Marek Larwood, Rebecca Shorrocks. UK 2025. 11 min.
After a gentle ribbing from his wife, a man experiences an existential crisis trying to work out the identity of the man that he waves at.
MY BEST FRIENDS (World Premiere)
Director: William Willoughby. With: Paul Ginns. UK 2025. 13 min.
An apparent act of kindness – Alex brings home take-away food for his best friends – has horrifying repercussions.
BLOODBUZZ (World Premiere)
Director: Daisy Bata. With: Beth Taylor, Johnny Vivash, Ed Hartland. UK 2025. 15 min.
Amid a bug-infested heatwave driven by climate breakdown, a troubled, conspiracy-obsessed teen on the run is taken by a reclusive farmer. But when her manipulative stepbrother arrives, it’s not just the mosquitoes she will have to survive.
NO ONE IS COMING TO RESCUE YOU (World Premiere)
Director: Ruth Platt. With: Ema Cavolli, Arseniy Cassidy, Joseph Pollock, Jasper Jacob. UK 2025. 9 min.
Harry has brought his new girlfriend to meet his family on a beautiful summer’s day. Little does he know she harbours a long standing, dark revenge against his doctor father, whom he hero worships.
GILDA (World Premiere)
Director: Matty Ride-Smith. With: Kylie Ann Ford. UK 2025. 10 min.
An evening unfolds in real time as Gilda, a struggling performer to sets up a kid’s club, finds herself terrorised by an occult presence.
INEBRIATED (World Premiere)
Director: Max R. Lincoln. With: Bethan Cullinane, Sharon Small, Patrick Brennan, Mark Strepan. UK 2025. 12 min.
To rescue her possessed boyfriend, Van must confront her demons, beginning with her parents.
YOU LOOK SO BEAUTIFUL (Special Presentation)
Director: Mookie Ma. With: Brendan Howley, Tara-Marie Tigue. UK 2025. 12 min.
A lonely prowler of the night has a chance encounter with the girl of his dreams, but is she his redemption or his doom?
SUNDAY 24 AUGUST – SHORT FILM SHOWCASE 3
ODEON LUXE WEST END SCREEN ONE from 11.00am
There’s a prowling sense of fear in THE LEOPARD (WAAGH) and an uninvited house guest in WHITCH. The destruction of a relationship could be one CLICK away, and surviving DIY can be a sordid affair. Tattoos can be more than skin deep in THORNS, and out of towners should always beware of CRUZ (THE KOOK COOK). Puberty can be a vengeful creature in PIMPLE, whilst you can’t always see your closest admirers in IT LOVES ME SO. Is it always best to be a lover in PRAYING MANTIS, and be careful who you make a deal with in HAMMER.
THE LEOPARD / WAAGH (World Premiere)
Director: Mukti Krishan. With: Arjun Amedkar, Sagar Deshmukh, Sharvari Patankar. India 2025. 20 min.
When a leopard wanders into a redeveloped apartment complex in Mumbai — its natural habitat long since encroached upon — fear quickly spreads.
WHITCH (International Premiere)
Director: Hoku Uchiyama. With: Rosemary Hochschild, Alicia Blasingame, Nora Harriet. US 2024. 6 min.
After putting her daughter to bed, Aura discovers an intruder in her house: an elderly lady who acts strangely familiar, and who is hell-bent on performing a bloody ritual before midnight.
CLICK (European Premiere)
Director: Kyle Baughman. With: Jenna Luck, Holden McNeil. US 2024. 9 min.
A woman becomes increasingly troubled by the mysterious computer programme her boyfriend is developing.
DIY (European Premiere)
Director: Tony Gardiner ACS. With: Damon Herriman, Claire Lovering, Alexander England. Australia 2024. 12 min.
After a bizarre mishap hanging a picture frame, a young woman stumbles into her neighbour’s secret life, realising her only chance of survival is to commit to an outrageous lie.
THORNS (UK Premiere)
Director: Nir Paniry. With: Lestonja Diaz, Jesse Gallagher. US 2024. 7 min.
When a young college student checks on her married best friend, she unravels a mysterious paranoia that runs much more than skin deep.
CRUZ (The Kook Cook) (World Premiere)
Director: Cai O’Leary. With: Michael Olavson. US 2024. 7 min.
Cruz is a disgruntled surfer who hails from Santa Cruz. He lives in the desert during the week and murderously hunts hipsters during the weekend.
PIMPLE (World Premiere)
Director: Fernando Alle. With: Tiago Rodrigues, António Chaves, João Miranda, Dinis Lima, João Vilas. Portugal 2025. 5 min.
A young boy’s pimple bursts, leading to a bloody disaster.
IT LOVES ME SO (International Premiere)
Director: Colin Dean Treneff. With: Jenna Moloney. US 2024. 11 min.
After a painful breakup, a woman’s heartbreak unwittingly attracts a love-deprived demonic entity determined to claim her soul for a terrifying eternal romance.
PRAYING MANTIS (International Premiere)
Director: Mack Breeden. With: Sam Straley, Mack Breeden, Story Slaughter. US 2024. 14 min.
On the run after abandoning his post, a Confederate soldier takes shelter in the isolated cabin of two women who now find themselves at his mercy.
HAMMER (English Premiere)
Directors: Alejandra Parody, Ben Sottak. With: Ajani Russell, Jessica Pimentel, Ray Acevedo, Magdalena Borlando. US 2024. 12 min.
1666, Cartagena, Colombia. An enslaved woman accused of witchcraft comes face to face with evil incarnate.
MONDAY 25 AUGUST – SHORT FILM SHOWCASE 4
ODEON LUXE WEST END SCREEN ONE from 10.50am
Making new friends can be dangerous in WATCH ME BURN, and in THE FAIRY MOON how long will it be until you are pushed over the edge? Those happy memories don’t always offer the perfect picture in FRAME and sating can be a haunting experience in OUIJA GOT OUT WITH ME? It’s those little noises that can drive you insane in UNDERTONE, and who has come home in the HOMECOMING? Plus, some things are best unseen in DON’T LOOK and remember to always try and respect your elders in GRANDMA IS THIRSTY.
WATCH ME BURN (World Premiere)
Director: Sofia Spotti. With: Lucy Griffiths. UK 2025. 21 min.
After an accident that left her mostly deaf, Rue moves to a remote village with her parents. Feeling isolated, she befriends a group of girls who convince her to go ahead with an act of cruelty.
THE FAIRY MOON (UK Premiere)
Director: Craig Williams. With: James Swanton, Johnny Vivash, Julia Davis. UK 2025. 12 min.
In a small English town, a man’s life unravels after a troubling roadside encounter with a sinister stranger.
FRAME (World Premiere)
Directors: Olivia Cordell, Libby Morris. With: Alison Rogers. UK 2025. 5 min.
When mysterious photos begin to appear on her digital picture frame, an isolated woman begins to suspect she’s not really alone.
OUIJA GO OUT WITH ME? (World Premiere)
Director: James Kennedy. With: Hatty Preston, Leah Brotherhead, Freddy Quinn. UK 2024. 16 min.
Since the death of her boyfriend, Harriet has been traversing the hell that is the online dating scene but to no avail. Then Harriet finds a Ouija board in the basement and an idea forms…
UNDERTONE (UK Premiere)
Director: Shaun Munro. With: Shaun Munro, Toby Norton, Eliza Chadwick. UK 2025. 12 min.
A sound recordist captures strange sonic phenomena underneath their house and things…escalate from there.
HOMECOMING (World Premiere)
Director: Troy Alexander. With: Maya-Nika Bewley, Troy Alexander. UK 2025. 9 min.
When Lucy returns from a camping trip, her cruel partner Mark is suspicious. She insists nothing happened, but sometimes coming home is the hardest part…
DON’T LOOK (UK Premiere)
Director: Danny Murphy. With: Olly Rhodes, Danny Murphy, Valor Grey, Morgan Colquhoun, Liam Robertson. UK 2024. 14 min.
A group of friends plays ‘Don’t Look,’ a game where opening your eyes summons deadly spirits. Their thrill turns to terror as they unleash supernatural forces and must confront their worst fears to survive.
GRANDMA IS THIRSTY (UK Premiere)
Director: Kris Carr. With: Harris Kiiza, Harrison Little, Jessie Johnson, Dean Kilby, Matt Swift. UK 2025. 15 min.
All George wants is to stop getting pushed around by the local bullies. So, when a pair of weird twins offer to introduce him to their grandma – who can “make him big & strong” – he jumps at the chance.
FrightFest 2025 runs from 21 – 25 August at Odeon LUXE Leicester Sq & Odeon LUXE West End.
For full programme details & tickets: http://www.frightfest.co.uk/
