Movies of War

It’s not hard at all to see why body horror is having another moment. It’s a subgenre built on exploring loss of control, the rebellion of our own human vessels, and the ways in which our flesh resists and pushes back against us. In 2026, when so many things feel out of control already, there’s a natural impulse to push that pulsing bleakness in our minds out into the rest of our bodies. Bagworm, which made its North American debut at SXSW this weekend, is a film built on the idea of a sick mind producing an even sicker body. An intimate, grungy descent into paranoia and disease, it’s a very effective work of body horror with more than a few wonderful stylistic flourishes, even if its third act never quite goes as far as you’d like. Carroll (Peter Falls) is a man with doom on his mind. Laboring listlessly in the gig economy and playing the numbers game with dating apps, he’s also obsessed with the end of the world, to the point that he believes he knows exactly what crises lie ahead and wants to explain them to everyone. He’s the Uber driver who’ll talk your ear off about the water crisis, the salesman who’ll bug you about plant-based eating, the friend who’ll flake because he’d rather sit in his room and look deeper into the black hole of the internet. He’s also, after an unfortunate encounter with a rusty nail, an extremely sick man. The film’s spare plot follows Carroll’s downward spiral as he tries to forge ahead with his life and relationships, always aware of the nagging sickness growing inside him, threatening to burst free. For much of Bagworm‘s runtime, director Oliver Bernsen and writer Henry Bernsen keep their grip on a tone that successfully straddles the line between bleak and darkly comic, as Carroll bumbles, stumbles, and generally struggles through life in one way or another. Oliver also works as a painter, and it’s clear that even within the constraints of this film’s budget, his visual skills are on point. Carroll’s living space is less of a home than it is of a lair, a gritty, malignant dungeon that looks like something out of Possession by way of Jean-Pierre Jeunet. As Carroll sits alone in his room, pondering the disgusting new chair he bought or conducting truly strange, deeply unsettling video conferences with one of his employers, we can feel the infection in the space, even when it’s not shown. It’s very well-designed, so even when the film leans into tone poem territory, it works. The body horror of the piece also works, both as a potent metaphor and as a disgusting series of visuals ranging from a severely runny nose to…well, much more horrific things that I won’t spoil for you here. Carroll’s deep sense of impending doom runs through every aspect of his life. He distrusts people, uses them, and mocks them both publicly and privately. He believes he’s seen some secret architecture in the way society will someday crumble, and because no one wants to listen to him, he believes that those around him are either indifferent, stupid, or both. He’s seething with so much resentment and bitterness and pain that it manifests physically in ways that body horror fans can savor. It’s not subtle, but it doesn’t need to be. What it does need to be is committed, and unfortunately, the film’s one real stumbling point is how Carroll’s journey resolves in the final act. There’s tremendous tension in his breakdown, and the film keeps building and building it, and then suddenly it’s just…gone. It’s not a cop-out, really, nor is it an unsatisfying handwave moment of quick resolution. It’s more of a sputter. The film’s most effective qualities as both a horror film and a comedy seem to fall away in the final minutes, leaving us with a movie that feels unfinished. Wanting more when a film ends is good for an audience, but in this case, seeing, or at least feeling, just a bit more would have gone a long way. Fortunately, Falls’ performance sells every moment of it anyway. This is a regular guy who went just plain wrong somewhere along the way, and he’s able to make Carroll feel like a guy you might know while also embodying his more monstrous qualities. He’s a man infected not just with illness, but with something akin to literalized toxic masculinity. Falls has to jump through a lot of emotional hoops in this film, and he clears virtually all of them. Bagworm is in the midst of its festival breakout after an acclaimed run at Sitges and, now, a SXSW premiere. That means it’s poised to be an indie horror hit in the very near future, and despite my quibbles with its resolution, I hope it gets there. This is one of the year’s most squirm-worthy movies, and you should seek it out. Bagworm made its world premiere at SXSW. Release info TBD. Related Topics:Bagwormbody horrorHenry BernsenOliver BernsenSXSWSXSW 2026 Matthew Jackson You may like Breakups Are All In the Execution on New ‘Over Your Dead Body’ Posters [SXSW Exclusive] ‘Monitor’ SXSW Review – Technology is Terrifying in Supernatural Horror Movie ‘Grind’ Clip Drives Employee to Corporate Insanity in Horror Anthology [SXSW Exclusive] Click to comment Movies ‘Ghosts in the Fog’ Official Trailer – Animated ‘Friday the 13th’ Fan Film Coming Soon Published 8 hours ago on March 13, 2026 By John Squires The team behind the Never Hike Alone fan films is back with Ghosts in the Fog, the first ever animated Friday the 13th fan film. And it’s releasing this coming November. While you wait, slice into the official trailer for Ghosts in the Fog below. In the new Friday the 13th fan project from Womp Stomp Films, witness Jason Voorhees in haunting 2D animation, brought to life by Mako Animation and Armáss Productions. Set four years before Never Hike Alone, the story follows a group of hikers who get lost in a mysterious fog and stumble into the cursed grounds where the Ghost of Crystal Lake awaits. Will they escape the wrath of Jason, or become the latest in a long list of lost victims? The final call fundraiser for the animated film is live on Kickstarter now. Womp Stomp Films previews the 10-minute fan film, “The film features 2D animation with 3D environments by Mako Animation, presented in black and white with bold splashes of red and yellow—stylistically inspired by Sin City.” The team also teases, “Ghosts in the Fog will feature 3 unique animated kill sequences that push the limits of gore in the Friday the 13th universe—bringing a whole new dimension of terror to the screen!” “Ghosts in the Fog is the first time Jason Voorhees has ever been featured in an animated story based on Friday the 13th,” says Vincente DiSanti, who co-directed with Juan Rivera. The original Never Hike Alone fan film launched back in 2017 at a time when the actual Friday the 13th franchise was still mired in a legal mess. It’s one of the most popular horror franchise fan films ever made, subsequently spawning follow-ups from the same team. This production is an independent effort by Womp Stomp Films, LLC, and its volunteer collaborators. Never Hike Alone is a work of fan fiction. It is not affiliated with, endorsed by, or representative of Viacom/Paramount Pictures, Warner Bros., New Line Cinema, Jason Un1v3rse, Horror Inc., or the Friday the 13th franchise and its characters. Continue Reading