Fantastic Fest 2025 Review: Coyotes

Justin Long faces off against a relentless pack in Colin Minihan’s Coyotes, premiering at Fantastic Fest 2025.

Rating: ★★★★☆ (4/5)

Colin Minihan returns to the genre space with Coyotes, premiering at Fantastic Fest 2025, a sharp, feral thriller that leans into the classic animal-attack subgenre while layering in humor, gore, and family drama.

Minihan, best known for What Keeps You Alive and earlier collaborations under the Vicious Brothers banner, directs from his own script this time. The film stars real-life couple Kate Bosworth and Justin Long as partners balancing the chaos of work, parenting, and mid-life friction in their Hollywood Hills home. Their daughter, played by Milah Harris, is at the heart of the family dynamic that grounds the story before the chaos hits.

Anyone who has lived in California knows coyotes are more than local folklore—they’re a constant, unnerving presence that becomes all the more visible during wildfire season. Minahan taps into this reality, twisting it into nightmare fuel as a pack begins encroaching on suburban safety. While the premise might sound familiar, the execution sets it apart. The film doesn’t hold back on ferocity: the pack mentality is portrayed with a relentless intensity that calls back to Gremlins in its chaotic swarm energy.

The gore is unflinching, the pacing never drags, and the film finds a balance between dark comedy and violent spectacle. Some viewers may question the visual design of the coyotes—at times stylized, at times hyperreal—but by the final act, the tonal consistency pays off, locking in the atmosphere Minahan aims for.

Animal-attack horror works best when it leans on the “what if” factor, and Coyotes thrives on that dread. It’s not a genre re-definer, but it’s certainly a crowd-pleaser: brutal, funny, and packed with star power.

Minihan delivers one of the most enjoyable horror outings of the year—a bloody, fast-moving creature feature that should have Fantastic Fest audiences howling.

Stay tuned for our continued coverage of Coyotes, including red carpet updates and reactions live from Austin.

Colin Minihan's Horror Comedy Coyotes

Starring Justin Long, Kate Bosworth

Katherine McNamara, Brittany Allen,

Mila Harris, Norbert Leo Butz

World Premiere at Fantastic Fest September 20

Opens Theatrically Nationwide October 3