The Psychological Horror Ancestral Beasts Gets Its 1st Trailer
So, Fantasia just got its centipede monster. Tim Riedel‘s Ancestral Beasts dropped its first trailer this week, and it’s already the kind of teaser that’s going to have people checking under their beds.
What Ancestral Beasts Is About
The Canadian psychological horror follows Elyse, a young Métis woman who retreats to her rural ancestral home to deal with the fallout of her mother’s death and a toxic relationship — only to find a grotesque, centipede-like creature waiting for her there. According to Dread Central, the creature feeds on her emotional turmoil, forcing Elyse to confront the past she’s been running from.
Morgan Holmstrom (Outlander, Shadow of the Rougarou) leads the film, alongside Darla Contois (Little Bird), Gail Maurice (Aberdeen), and Asivak Koostachin (Duster). Nearly the entire cast and crew is Indigenous, which tracks given the film’s roots.
Where the Trailer Landed
Riedel shared the teaser exclusively ahead of the film’s World Premiere at the Fantasia International Film Festival in Montreal on July 22. The film isn’t coming out of nowhere, either — it screened as a Proof of Concept project at Cannes’ Marché du Film back in 2025, where it became the first acquisition for Cercamon’s genre sales label, Vorteks. Mongrel Media has since picked up Canadian distribution rights.
Of course, the monster isn’t just there to look cool. Per Wikipedia, Riedel has said the design was deliberately kept separate from any specific Indigenous mythology, and the film draws in part on his own family history — his mother was a Sixties Scoop survivor who lived with Borderline Personality Disorder. Producer Edmon Rotea, who worked on Skinamarink, is also on board as an executive producer.
No UK release date, streaming home, or BBFC rating has been announced yet, so anyone across the pond hoping to catch Elyse’s centipede problem will need to wait on festival word-of-mouth or a distributor pickup for now.
We’ll keep you posted on updates about Ancestral Beasts as the project develops.
Chloe Jones is a film and television critic dedicated to providing expert analysis of movies, web series, and the latest in prestige TV. Known for her insightful perspective and deep industry knowledge, Chloe helps audiences navigate the crowded streaming landscape with honesty and expertise. Folow me on letterboxd
