Every year, MidWest WeirdFest curates an intriguing range of documentaries and narrative films calculated to blow minds. Today the fest announces its first wave of features, a drool-worthy group of strangeness that sounds incredible. Following is the official press information, and for more information, visit https://www.midwestweirdfest.com/.
MidWest WeirdFest announces its first programming wave of 2026 today. The cinematic celebration of all things fantastic, frightening, paranormal, and just plain weird, is celebrating its 10th anniversary when it returns to the Micon Downtown Cinema in Eau Claire, Wisconsin, March 5-8 2026.
“MidWest WeirdFest is delighted to reveal its first wave of feature programming for 2026, one that’s jam-packed with incredible world and midwest premieres.” says festival founder and director Dean Bertram. “Whatever way your predilection for the weird swings, we have films to satiate: Blood drenched serial killer and home invasion thrillers, terrifying atmospheric horror, confronting dark comedies, unsettling documentaries, mind-bending found footage films that blur the line between reality and terror, and even a hilariously perverted musical. And that’s just the first programming wave! So come get weird with us, and celebrate MidWest WeirdFest’s first 10 years of cinematic weirdness this March!”
Discounted festival passes are now on sale here: https://filmfreeway.com/MidWestWeirdFest/tickets
Last year, full season festival passes, as well as Friday and Saturday passes, sold out. So we recommend getting passes early, to avoid disappointment.
Individual tickets to each film will go on sale closer to the festival; both on the fest’s website, and directly from the Micon Downtown Cinema in Eau Claire, Wisconsin.
Additional films, full schedule details, and filmmaker guests will be revealed in the coming weeks.
The first eight feature films announced follow:
THE HEDONIST (dir. Nick Funess) – MIDWEST PREMIERE – Reed’s monotonous days lead to a meltdown at his dead-end job. He bails and heads to his parents’ place in Arizona, spending his days floating in the pool while his parents persuade him to get back on track. Reed comes up with a wild plan instead. He hires an escort, Tess, to take care of him for a week. Debauchery and buffoonery ensue as Tess joins Reed on his journey to nowhere fast. Confronting, and uncomfortably hilarious, THE HEDONIST marks director/star Nick Funess as a major new talent of American cinema.
THE HOLE STORY: (dir. Elijah Sullivan) – MIDWEST PREMIERE – The discovery of a sixty-foot man-made hole on a California mountain implicates a small town’s unusual local industry in a bizarre unsolved crime. Abandoning the conventional investigative format, THE HOLE STORY unfolds as a multi-faceted oral history, immersing us in personal mythologies and painting a haunting and unsettling portrait of a community shaped by fringe belief. A captivating documentary that draws you into a deep and unsettling mystery.
INCUBATION (dir: Joshua Land, Victor Fink) – WORLD PREMIERE – In an isolated cabin amidst a devastating pandemic, Helen takes every precaution to protect her children Ethan and Lily. But when a mysterious stranger named Gideon arrives, the family’s fragile reality shatters. As secrets unravel and a deadly confrontation ensues, Ethan must make a harrowing choice to protect his sister and mother. A shocking and brutal new addition to the home invasion sub-genre, from fest alumni Joshua Land and Victor Fink (BAD WITCH).
THE MID-NIGHT DRIVER (dir: Alex Cherney) – MIDWEST PREMIERE – When a young girl summons a driver using a seemingly innocent ritual, she must fulfill his demands if she ever wants to get back home in 1992 Long Island. A taught, atmospheric, descent into paranormal paranoia; THE MID-NIGHT DRIVER is one of the freshest and most captivating horror films of the decade. Do not miss its 2nd ever screening, only at MidWest WeirdFest.
PEEPING TODD: (dir: Josh Munds) – MIDWEST PREMIERE – When his peeping passions become compromised, Todd decides he’ll do whatever it takes to continue stalking his beloved Claire. An obsessive HOA fleet and a dense boyfriend are obstacles Todd must dance around if he wants to sing his way into Claire’s heart. As Claire gets wrapped up in the lies of her fiancé and the web of her stalker, she must escape the two most toxic relationships she’s ever faced. Demented, toe-tapping fun, this gloriously deranged musical has to be seen (and heard) to be believed.
THE PHILIP EXPERIMENT (dir. Thomas Eliot) – WORLD PREMIERE – Inspired by a parapsychology experiment from 1972, a team of paranormal researchers led by an unscrupulous documentary filmmaker try to summon the ghost of a fictional character. This found footage gem blurs the lines between real paranormal history and edge-of-your-seat terror.
SUNSET STRIP KILLERS (dir. Chad Ferrin) – WORLD PREMIERE – From prolific modern master of horror exploitation, Chad Ferrin (THE CHAIR, DEEP ONES, ED KEMPER), comes this vicious true crime stunner. Los Angeles, 1980. Beneath the glittering lights of the Sunset Strip, a horrifying tale of obsession and bloodshed unfolds. Carol Bundy, a lonely nurse, crosses paths with Doug Clark, a charming but dangerously unstable man. Drawn into his web of deceit and depravity, Carol’s quiet existence spirals into a nightmare she never imagined.
WE PUT THE WORLD TO SLEEP (dir. Adrian Tofei) – WISCONSIN PREMIERE – The highly anticipated, genre-bending film, from cult director Adrian Tofei (BE MY CAT: A FILM FOR ANNE) and Duru Yücel. Part reality-bending sci-fi, part chilling horror, part domestic drama, this film masterfully subverts and surpasses the conventional tropes of found footage. Adrian and Duru get lost in the characters they play in an apocalyptic film and embark on a secret mission to end the world for real. What follows goes beyond their wildest imagination.
