Spiral Half Anchors Aweigh Festival Gems

The September 2026 RogerEbert.com festival dispatch, titled “Spiral Half Anchors Aweigh Festival Gems,” highlights three distinct standouts from the Toronto International Film Festival (TIFF) and Fantastic Fest in Austin. The films covered are Paolo Strippoli’s arthouse horror “The Spiral,” Samjad’s Malayalam-language gore film “Half,” and Matthew Barats’ experimental comedy “Anchors Aweigh.” These selections represent a broad spectrum of genre filmmaking, from refined Faustian horror to chaotic vengeance thrillers and deadpan personal comedy, each solving a specific problem for its target audience in the festival circuit.

Key Facts

Attribute Value

Primary Source RogerEbert.com Festival Dispatch

Covered Films “The Spiral”, “Half”, “Anchors Aweigh”

Festivals Mentioned Toronto International Film Festival, Fantastic Fest, Venice Film Festival, Telluride Film Festival

“The Spiral” Director Paolo Strippoli

“The Spiral” Starring Jasmine Trinca, Romana Maggiora Vergano, Valeria Bruni Tedeschi

“Half” Director Samjad

“Half” Starring Ranjith Sajeev, Aishwarya Raj

“Half” Language Malayalam

“Anchors Aweigh” Director/Writer/Star Matthew Barats

“Anchors Aweigh” Runtime Approximately 70 minutes

Choreography (Half) Very Tri Yulisman of “The Raid 2”

What Is “The Spiral” About?

“The Spiral” is a modern Faustian, or Monkey’s Paw, tale directed by Paolo Strippoli that explores impossible parental choices. It follows Anna (Jasmine Trinca), who makes a deal with a mysterious stranger (Valeria Bruni Tedeschi) to save one daughter’s leg from amputation, but the deal dooms her other daughter to a life of torment as an obese child.

The narrative unfolds as a cascade of increasingly impossible choices, with the wicked benefactor returning to offer a way out of each predicament that only creates another one. The film uniquely embeds parental guilt into its horror fabric, exploring universal questions about whether one’s choices were the right ones. It played at Venice and Telluride before TIFF and Fantastic Fest, a “rare quadruple hit” for a horror film.

The film’s blend of arthouse filmmaking, almost-biblical horror storytelling, and phenomenal performances allowed it to appeal to both Canadian and Texan festival programmers.

“The Spiral” is a cascade of increasingly impossible choices, and Trinca is truly remarkable at selling the emotional cost that comes with each of these decisions. RogerEbert.com Festival Dispatch (2026)

What Is “Half” About?

“Half” is a Malayalam-language road vengeance thriller directed by Samjad that features undead protagonists. The plot follows twins Ethan (Ranjith Sajeev) and Ivy (Aishwarya Raj), who are brutally tortured, mutilated, and murdered by road warriors, only to resurrect and hunt down their killers with extreme violence because they are nearly impossible to kill.

The film is described as a chaotic mix of “I Spit on Your Grave,” “From Dusk Til Dawn,” and “Mad Max: Fury Road.” It features impressive makeup work and tight fight choreography by Very Tri Yulisman of “The Raid 2.” The brutality is extreme, including scenes of arm ripping and people being boiled alive, which will be an instant turn-off for some viewers despite the craftsmanship.

“Half” is a film that is never meant to be taken all that seriously, but its unrelenting gore and chaos make it a niche recommendation for those primed for bonkers filmmaking.

It’s the kind of project where one truly appreciates the insanity of it all without quite being able to recommend it to those who aren’t primed for this kind of bonkers filmmaking. RogerEbert.com Festival Dispatch (2026)

What Is “Anchors Aweigh” About?

“Anchors Aweigh” is a heavily stylized experimental comedy written, directed by, and starring Matthew Barats, who previously worked on “The Rehearsal” with Nathan Fielder. The film is a personal essay inspired by a breakup that rattled Barats’ reality, in which he narrates living on a boat and discovering through old VHS tapes that he has been in a personal stasis for years.

The film runs approximately 70 minutes and feels like a short film that never quite figured out how to work as a feature. It functions as a personal investigation and a bit of therapy for the creator, with his sense of humor being the determining factor for viewer enjoyment. It is an interesting announcement of a new comedic talent, even if it doesn’t fully land as a feature-length work.

“Anchors Aweigh” is an admirably goofy personal investigation in which the director dares to make his first movie about his own lack of vision and ambition.

Given how much he narrates a personal story, Barats’ sense of humor will truly be the determining factor as to if this works for viewers. RogerEbert.com Festival Dispatch (2026)

How Do These Festival Films Compare?

These three films represent distinct genres and serve different audiences, showcasing the diversity of the TIFF and Fantastic Fest lineups. They range from the refined, critically-acclaimed horror of “The Spiral” to the extreme gore of “Half” and the goofy, personal comedy of “Anchors Aweigh.”

While “The Spiral” is positioned for wider appreciation due to its arthouse appeal, “Half” is strictly for gore-hounds, and “Anchors Aweigh” targets fans of deadpan comedic experimentation.

Film Genre Ideal Audience Critical Caveat

“The Spiral” Arthouse Horror Fans of moral dilemmas, Faustian tales, and refined filmmaking Runs a little long in its midsection

“Half” Gore / Vengeance Thriller Viewers primed for extreme violence and chaotic action Brutality is an instant turn-off for some

“Anchors Aweigh” Experimental Comedy Fans of Nathan Fielder, Tim Robinson, and personal essay films Feels like a short film; may not work as a feature

Common Questions

What makes “The Spiral” different from standard horror films?

It blends arthouse filmmaking with almost-biblical horror storytelling, focusing on a modern Faustian deal rather than jump scares. The film embeds parental guilt into its narrative, featuring phenomenal performances that resonated across major festivals like Venice, Telluride, and TIFF.

Why is “Half” considered a gory chaos?

It combines a vengeance thriller structure with undead protagonists who cannot be killed, allowing for extreme, unimaginable violence. The film features impressive makeup and choreography from “The Raid 2” stunt coordinator, creating a chaotic mix that is both mesmerizing and numbing.

What is the runtime of “Anchors Aweigh”?

The source material specifies that “Anchors Aweigh” runs approximately 70-ish minutes. The review notes that at this length, it feels like a short film that never quite figured out how to work as a feature presentation.

Sources and Methodology

This article is a faithful rewrite of the source material provided by RogerEbert.com. All facts, quotes, and data points are derived exclusively from the text of the original festival dispatch titled “Spiral Half Anchors Aweigh Festival Gems”.

Primary Source URL: https://www.rogerebert.com/festivals/tiff-2026-the-spiral-half-anchors-aweigh

This article synthesizes information from a single source document. Where specific data, such as the exact runtime of “Half” or the release date, was not provided in the source material, it has been omitted or marked as unspecified rather than extrapolated. This article was last updated in September 2026.