Grimmfest 2025 Review: Weekend at the End of the World

Gille Klabin’s Weekend at the End of the World turns heartbreak, friendship, and the apocalypse into one of Grimmfest 2025’s funniest surprises.

Every festival needs that one film that sneaks up on you—sharp writing, offbeat humor, and just enough genre weirdness to remind you why you love indie horror. At Grimmfest 2025, that film is Weekend at the End of the World.

Directed by Gille Klabin (The Wave) and written by Clay Elliott and Spencer McCurnin, the movie stars Elliott alongside Cameron Fife as two best friends whose quiet weekend getaway spirals into supernatural chaos. Think Tucker and Dale vs Evil meets The Cabin in the Woods, with the fast, witty pacing of something like 12 Hour Shift.

Elliott plays Carl, recently heartbroken and nursing his wounds when Miles (Fife) invites him to a family cabin that’s just been left to him by his grandmother. The perfect place to clear your head—until it isn’t. Inside the cabin lurks a creeping strangeness neither can explain, but the real wildcard is the neighbor next door, Hank—played by the always-excellent Thomas Lennon—whose nosy intrusions quickly turn from awkward to otherworldly.

From there, the film leans confidently into its genre DNA—balancing absurdity, tension, and clever dialogue without losing its emotional thread. Elliott and Fife’s chemistry is undeniable, their friendship believable and often laugh-out-loud funny, even as the story drifts toward the bizarre. Klabin’s direction keeps things nimble, maintaining energy and focus while letting the characters’ personalities drive the tone rather than overplaying the horror beats.

The humor and heart are the film’s real strength. It’s a buddy comedy at its core, but one that knows when to dip into genuine unease. The supernatural elements, introduced through Hank, build smartly from comedic to unsettling without ever breaking the film’s rhythm. And like the best midnight movies, Weekend at the End of the World embraces its own chaos—it’s wild, weird, and exactly the kind of off-kilter fun festival crowds thrive on.

3.5 out of 5.

Clever, fast-moving, and surprisingly heartfelt, Weekend at the End of the World stands as one of the strongest and most purely enjoyable films at Grimmfest 2025. A wickedly funny horror hybrid that reminds us why we keep coming back for indie genre cinema done right.