Overlook Film Festival Announces First Wave Lineup for 10th Anniversary Celebration in New Orleans

 The Overlook Film Festival returns to New Orleans this April with a stacked lineup including Leviticus, Hokum, and Obsession.

Overlook Film Festival Unveils First Wave Lineup for 10th Anniversary in New Orleans

The Overlook Film Festival is gearing up for a milestone celebration, revealing the first wave of programming for its tenth annual edition, set to take over New Orleans from April 9–12 at the historic Prytania Theatres. Known as one of the premier genre events in the country, the festival returns with a packed slate of horror films, immersive experiences, and special events celebrating the best in global genre cinema.

This year’s initial lineup includes 47 films from seven countries—21 features and 26 shorts—along with live presentations, immersive theater, and festival traditions that have helped turn Overlook into one of the most distinctive horror gatherings in the world.

Opening, Centerpiece, and Closing Night Films

The festival will kick off with Opening Night film Obsession, a dark tale of desire gone terribly wrong from director Curry Barker. The film follows a lovelorn young man whose wish on a mysterious novelty toy spirals into a nightmare he never imagined.

Serving as the Centerpiece screening is the highly anticipated horror drama Leviticus from filmmaker Adrian Chiarella. The film centers on two teenage boys who must escape a violent supernatural entity that takes the form of what they desire most—each other—blending coming-of-age drama with psychological horror.

Closing out the festival will be Hokum, the latest folk-horror tale from returning director Damian McCarthy, whose previous film Oddity captured the festival’s Audience Award in 2024. The film stars Adam Scott as a cynical writer who travels to an Irish inn to scatter his parents’ ashes, only to become entangled in sinister legends of a witch haunting the honeymoon suite.

Packed Lineup of New Genre Films

Among the additional highlights in the first wave lineup are several of the year’s most buzzed-about horror titles. Larry Fessenden will premiere Trauma, or Monsters All, the final chapter in his personal monster quadrilogy, accompanied by special screenings of the earlier entries in his series: Habit, Depraved, and Blackout.

Other notable films include:

• Chili Finger, a Coen Brothers–style thriller starring Bryan Cranston, Judy Greer, Sean Astin, and John Goodman

• Drag, a twisted horror-comedy featuring Lizzy Caplan and John Stamos

• Faces of Death, the new modern remake from Daniel Goldhaber starring Barbie Ferreira and Charli XCX

• Saccharine, a visceral body-horror feature from Relic director Natalie Erika James

• Exit 8, a film adaptation of the popular video game about a man trapped in a looping subway corridor

Honoring a Legend of Movie Monsters

This year’s Master of Horror Award will be presented to legendary makeup effects pioneer Rick Baker, whose groundbreaking creature work reshaped the horror genre. The tribute will include a 45th anniversary screening of An American Werewolf in London, the film that earned Baker the first-ever Academy Award for Best Makeup.

Celebrating Horror History and Immersive Experiences

The festival will also mark the 100th anniversary of the Japanese silent horror masterpiece A Page of Madness with a special screening featuring a live orchestral score composed by New Orleans musician Jeff Pagano.

Beyond the films, Overlook’s immersive programming returns with interactive horror experiences including Eternal, a solo audio experience exploring immortality, Hag, a comedic yet eerie theatrical experience involving Shakespeare’s Weird Sisters, and The Mother of Nightmares, a one-on-one surreal encounter with the creator of your worst dreams.

Opening night will also feature the festival’s signature Shudder Second Line Parade, a uniquely New Orleans tradition that sends festivalgoers marching through the French Quarter behind a demonic brass band and a host of creepy characters.

With more titles and surprises still to be announced, the tenth anniversary of the Overlook Film Festival is shaping up to be one of its biggest and most ambitious celebrations yet. For horror fans looking to experience the genre at its most communal—and most terrifying—New Orleans will once again be the place to be this April.