‘V/H/S/Beyond’ Is Spectacular Sci-Fi Chaos [Fantastic Fest 2024 Review]
With every entry, the V/H/S franchise just gets better and better, and after its world premiere at the 2024 Fantastic Fest, V/H/S/Beyond only further proves that point with a rip-roaring science-fiction rollercoaster that flips through stories of aliens, mad scientists, cosmic nightmares, and the sky-diving trip from hell. In expanding their themes from single years to broader themes, the franchise has opened itself up to beautifully terrifying possibilities that make this the goriest entry to date.
Jay Cheel directed the wraparound, titled “A Special Presentation,” which is notoriously the most challenging segment of any anthology. Cheel does an admirable job here, crafting a pseudo-documentary a la Unsolved Mysteries documenting the discovery of two tapes supposedly containing proof of extraterrestrial life. While the production design and eventual reveal are top-notch, it still does suffer the wraparound issue of not providing a cohesive glue for the segments. It at first feels like each segment is supposed to be part of the wraparound documentary, but it becomes apparent that Cheel’s segment is essentially chopped up around the others rather than incorporating them.
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Next up is Jordan Downey’s “Stork”, a first-person-shooter-inspired bloodbath through a house infested with strange humanoid creatures who have been stealing babies. Chaotic, gory, and frankly rather batshit (complimentary), “Stork” feels like a sci-fi version of Resident Evil 7, especially as our body-cam-wearing heroes fight off chainsaws and other matter of weapons within an old, dilapidated house. For the found footage purists out there, there is non-diegetic music, which does add to the video game-like atmosphere of the segment. But it does take away from that feeling of it being actual found footage. Regardless, ‘Stork’ is a shot of adrenaline that gets your heart pumping the four remaining segments.
Following that video game-esque nightmare is Virat Pal’s “Dream Girl” where a Bollywood star reveals her true self—and she’s out for blood. Taking place on the set for an upcoming Bollywood film, Pal cleverly integrates more cinematic footage by showing what happens in front of the more professional movie cameras, which allows for high-definition carnage that would put The Terminator to shame. Not only is it dripping in incredible practical effects, it’s a sharp indictment of an industry that wants to eat women alive and mold them into something that can be more easily controlled.
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Then, V/H/S/Beyond soars to new heights in Justin Martinez’s “Live and Let Dive”, where a group of friends accidentally go sky-diving during an alien invasion. That description is already nightmare fuel, but add in some extraterrestrial flare and this is truly hell on earth and in the sky. Martinez delivers scare after scare here, letting the sky-diving gimmick lure you in then unleashing hell when you think you know where it’s all going.
‘Live and Let Dive” is a hard act to follow, but somehow Christian Long and Justin Long pull it off in their absurd body horror nightmare “Fur Babies”. Justin, baby, are you still processing your trauma from Tusk, because it sure seems like it. Here, an animal rights group are bent on infiltrating the home of Becky, a local woman who taxidermies her dogs after they die. But when they go undercover, Becky reveals she’s doing something much worse in her basement. If you needed any more proof that this was the grossest, goriest V/H/S/ film yet, well, here it is.
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Kate Siegel, the sole woman included in V/H/S/Beyond as either director or writer, closes out the film with “Stowaway”. Written by her partner Mike Flanagan, this segment seems, at first, to be the most subdued as a woman sets out to make a documentary about mysterious lights appearing in the Mojave Desert. When she realizes she was right about alien life, she boards an alien vessel and, well, the title should give you an idea of what happens next. While not as gory or nightmarish throughout as the previously segments, the final moments pack such a gut punch that it more than earns its place in V/H/S/Beyond.
I feel like this is said with every entry, but it’s just simply true that this is the best V/H/S/ film yet. The cohesion in terms of the level of gore and chaos is pitch perfect and every filmmaker was bringing their weirdest and wildest to the table to craft an absolutely fantastic ride through science fiction hell. Each filmmaker takes the idea of science fiction and stretches the genre to some absolutely incredible limits, all while creating some of the nastiest and most shocking moments of the year (sorry Terrifier 3). V/H/S/Beyond proves how this franchise isn’t afraid to get bigger, weirder, and grosser with each entry and I simply cannot wait for more.
Summary
This is the best entry in the franchise so far, boasting more gore, more chaos, and more talent than ever before.
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