\nThe Ugly Stepsister<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/hunterword.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/04\/pub-TheUglyStepsister_over-300x155.jpg\")
\nDirector: Emilie Blichfeldt
\nCast: Lea Myren, Thea Sofie Loch N\u00e6ss, Ane Dahl Torp, Flo Fagerli, Isac Calmroth, Malte G\u00e5rdinger
\nNorway, 2024
\nIn this warped, sinister spin on a Cinderella story, the lens shifts to plain-faced Elvira, who is willing to do whatever it takes to compete with her enchantingly beautiful stepsister Agnes, and win the prince\u2019s heart. No procedure is too gruesome, too bloody, or too painful to achieve her happily ever after, in this visceral body horror from Norway.<\/p>\n
Honorable Mention \u2014 Feature Film Winner \u2014 Short Film Honorable Mention \u2014 Short Film TOUCH ME.<\/p><\/div>\n Grand Jury Prize for Best Feature Film Honorable Mention for Best Feature Film<\/p>\n Redux Redux<\/em><\/strong> Scariest Feature Film Award<\/p>\n Best Wishes to All<\/em><\/strong> Honorable Mention for Scariest Feature Film<\/p>\n Good Boy<\/em><\/strong> Grand Jury Prize for Best Short Film Honorable Mention for Creature Design Scariest Short Film Award Honorable Mention for Production Design Haleigh Foutch<\/strong> Phil Nobile Jr.<\/strong> Alice Waddington<\/strong> She transitioned into narrative filmmaking with the high-fantasy short Disco Inferno<\/em> (2015), which screened at 74 festivals including Sitges and Fantastic Fest, where she won Best Director. Her debut feature, Paradise Hills <\/em>(2019), premiered at Sundance and was distributed globally by Netflix, screening at 25 additional festivals. Waddington lives in Los Angeles and is a vocal advocate for female solidarity in the arts, championing the visibility of women of color in directing roles. Her upcoming projects continue to explore horror, science fiction, and biopics as vehicles for emotional truth and sociopolitical critique.<\/p>\n Short Film Jury Deirdre Crimmins<\/strong> Addison Heimann<\/strong> To keep up to date with The Overlook Film Festival, visit overlookfilmfest.com<\/a>.<\/p>\n 2025 Overlook Film Festival partners include OFFICIAL SPONSORS Academy of Magical Arts, American Immersion Theater, IFC Films, Shudder PREMIERE SPONSORS Bywater Wonderland, MUBI; SIGNATURE SPONSORS Dark Sky Films, Film New Orleans, SAGIndie; PATRON SPONSORS Kodak, FANGORIA, Louisiana Office of Tourism, Magnolia Pictures, Vinegar Syndrome; EVENT SPONSORS Daily Dead, Welcome Villain, University of New Orleans; VENUE SPONSORS Prytania Theatres, Toulouse Theatre, Westin New Orleans; SIGNATURE HOTEL SPONSOR International Hotel House; MEDIA SPONSORS Antigravity, Gambit, Where Y\u2019At. Additional sponsors can be found on our website.<\/p>\n Follow us on Social Media<\/em> <\/p>\n Audience Awards Winner \u2014\u00a0Feature Film The Ugly Stepsister Director: Emilie Blichfeldt Cast: Lea Myren, Thea Sofie Loch N\u00e6ss, Ane Dahl Torp, Flo Fagerli, Isac Calmroth, Malte G\u00e5rdinger Norway, 2024 In this warped, sinister spin on a Cinderella story, the lens…<\/p>\n
\nIt Ends<\/em><\/strong>
\nDirector: Alexander Ullom
\nCast: Phinehas Yoon, Akira Jackson, Noah Toth, Mitchell Cole
\nUnited States, 2024
\nFour recent college grads, out for an innocent late night drive, find themselves trapped in a seemingly never-ending hellscape where they are being haunted by mysterious forces. Questions of friendship and existentialism are explored in director Alexander Ullom\u2019s genre-bending first feature, equal parts terrifying and thought-provoking.<\/p>\n
\nThe Traveler & The Troll<\/strong>, Dir. Adam Murray, United States, WORLD PREMIERE
\nA traveler stops to rest in a clearing of a haunted forest. Son, they learn they have stumbled upon the lair of a terrifying troll who demands gifts for passage.<\/p>\n
\nLast to Leave<\/strong>, Dir. Mary Elizabeth Ellis, United States, 2023
\nLast to Leave<\/em> addresses the pandemic of loneliness, our primal need as humans for connection, and a reckoning with the way we treat our home planet.<\/p>\nJuried Awards<\/strong><\/h2>\n
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/hunterword.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/04\/pub-overlook-TouchMe_01.jpg\")
\nTouch Me<\/em><\/strong>
\nDirectors: Addison Heimann
\nCast: Olivia Taylor Dudley, Lou Taylor Pucci, Jordan Gavaris, Marlene Forte, Paget Brewster
\nUnited States, 2024
\nIn Addison Heimann’s (Hypochondriac, Overlook \u201822) wild and absurd new feature, intergalactic polyamory and one very codependent friendship collide when stoner roommates Craig and Joey have to suddenly move out of their apartment and decide to shack up with Joey\u2019s toxic ex who happens to be a horny, narcissistic alien from outer space. Tale as old as time.<\/p>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/hunterword.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/04\/pub-ReduxRedux.jpg\")
<\/p>\n
\nDirector: Kevin McManus, Matthew McManus
\nCast: Michaela McManus, Stella Marcus, Jeremy Holm, Jim Cummings, Grace Van Dien, Taylor Misiak, Dendrie Taylor
\nUnited States, 2025
\nRevenge is hard. Doing it again and again is harder. Emmy nominated brothers Kevin and Matthew McManus (American Vandal, Cobra Kai) present a gritty sci-fi thriller that follows a mother on a warpath through parallel universes in a desperate attempt to quench her desire for vengeance.<\/p>\n
\nDirector: Y\u00fbta Shimotsu
\nCast: Kotone Furukawa
\nJapan, 2024
\nA young nursing student gets an unexpectedly twisted dose of reality when she visits her grandparents in the countryside, only to uncover the secrets to their exceedingly happy life. Director Y\u00fbta Shimotsu\u2019s unsettling debut draws from classics like Audition<\/em> and The Wicker Man<\/em> to create a wholly unique vision.<\/p>\n
\nDirector: Ben Leonberg
\nCast: Indy, Shane Jensen, Larry Fessenden, Arielle Friedman, Stuart Rudin, Anya Krawcheck, Hunter Goetz, Max
\nUnited States, 2024
\nIndy is a good boy; a faithful dog, he is always by his human Todd\u2019s side. When Todd seeks quiet in an empty family home in the countryside, Indy finds there is a strange, malevolent presence lurking in the shadows \u2014 an evil that only he can sense. Shot entirely from Indy\u2019s perspective, Ben Leonberg\u2019s first feature balances bark with bite<\/p>\n
\nLos Muchachos<\/strong>, Dir. Alejandro Artiles, Spain, 2025, WORLD PREMIERE
\nThrough a mobile phone and isolated in the La Palma observatory, Fran must face the last thing any parent wants to hear.<\/p>\n
\nThe Traveler & The Troll<\/strong>, Dir. Adam Murray, United States, WORLD PREMIERE
\nA traveler stops to rest in a clearing of a haunted forest. Son, they learn they have stumbled upon the lair of a terrifying troll who demands gifts for passage.<\/p>\n
\nCruelty<\/strong>, Dir. Sam Das, United States, 2024
\nA young trans woman is chased into a junkyard while being followed home late at night. There, she must outwit her predator and summon the strength of a goddess.<\/p>\n
\nEasybake<\/strong>, Dir. Sasha Duncan, Canada, 2024
\nAfter consuming a clay sculpture, an insecure teen wakes with the ability to sculpt her own body, leading to an obsessive pursuit of \u201cperfection.\u201d<\/p>\nFeature Film Jury<\/strong><\/h2>\n
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/hunterword.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/04\/pub-Shrouds_01.jpg\")
<\/p>\n
\nHaleigh Foutchis a writer, editor and critic. Currently Director of Audience at TheWrap, she has also appeared in Rotten Tomatoes, Collider, Complex and the Shudder docuseries “Behind the Monsters.” She is a member of the Television Critics Association and GALECA.<\/p>\n
\nPhil Nobile Jr. is the Editor-in-Chief of Fangoria<\/em> magazine, an Emmy-winning documentary producer, and the executive producer of the acclaimed documentary feature Horror Noire: A History of Black Horror<\/em>. His writing on the Dark Shadows<\/em> TV series, the James Bond franchise, and the films of David Cronenberg have been published in books and other publications around the world. He\u2019s been a loyal Overlook attendee since 2018.<\/p>\n
\nAlice Waddington (born Irene Lago) is a Spanish filmmaker known for her genre-defying work blending speculative fiction, surreal humor, and social metaphor. Raised in Bilbao, she studied advertising at the University of the Basque Country before moving into fashion photography and creative direction.<\/p>\n
\nBrooke H. Cellars<\/strong>
\nBrooke H. Cellars is an independent filmmaker with a passion for horror, authenticity, and storytelling through film. As the founder of Warped Witch Cinema and the Warped Witch Film Festival in Lafayette, Louisiana, Brooke champions underrepresented voices in the industry. Her 16mm short film Violet Butterfield: Makeup Artist for the Dead<\/em> earned both the Audience Award and Jury Award at the Overlook Film Festival in 2023. She recently completed production on her debut feature The Cramps: A Period Piece<\/em>, shot on 35mm and set for release in 2025.<\/p>\n
\nDeirdre Crimmins has been a professional film critic for the past 15 years. She primarily writes for Rue Morgue<\/em> magazine and ThatShelf.com, and has contributed to the A.V. Club, Paste Magazine, Polygon and Birth.Movies.Death. She is a programmer for the Alamo Drafthouse’s Weird Wednesday series, lives in Chicago with two black cats and wrote her master’s thesis on George A. Romero.<\/p>\n
\nAddison Heimann is a queer genre filmmaker currently residing in Los Angeles. His first feature Hypochondriac<\/em> premiered at the 2022 SXSW Film Festival and was distributed by XYZ Films.\u00a0 His second feature Touch Me<\/em> premiered in the Midnight section at the Sundance Film Festival. His goal is to tell queer stories that explore mental health in the genre space.<\/p>\n
\nFacebook \u2013 https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/OverlookFilmFestival\/<\/a><\/em>
\nTwitter \u2013 @TheOverlookFest<\/a><\/em>
\nBluesky \u2013 @OverlookFilmFest<\/a><\/em>
\nInstagram \u2013 @OverlookFilmFest<\/a><\/em>
\nJoin the conversation using this hashtag: #OverlookFilmFestival<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\nClick here to return to Part 1<\/strong><\/a><\/h2>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"