Romance Meets Body Horror in New Apocalypse Movie Officially Coming to Fantastic Fest [Exclusive]

The apocalypse is often the perfect place to set an immersive story. Against the backdrop of chaos and despair, the smallest stories can feel much bigger. Alfonso Cuáron altered the course of human history in Children of Men; Pixar offered their usual brand of beauty in the apocalypse with WALL-E; Mad Max: Fury Road defined the genre in the 2010s; and Lars von Trier added his customary bleak poetry to the apocalypse in 2011’s Melancholia.

But not all apocalypse movies are built the same. Although the genre is most associated with bold blockbuster disasters, some of the very best apocalypse-set films are much quieter. The next such film that should be on your radar is Little Doors, the feature directorial debut of Anthony Oberbeck (Dance Freak, The Travel Companion), who is perhaps best known for his guest-starring role on Hulu’s Shrill. Described as “a relentlessly deadpan comedy about loneliness, love, and the pain of human connection,” Little Doors made its world premiere at the Calgary Underground Film Festival back in April and is now about to finally hit the U.S.

As part of Collider’s Exclusive Preview series celebrating 21 years of Fantastic Fest, we’ve exclusively teamed up with the Little Doors team to bring you the image below, which perfectly captures the eeriness of this thoughtful surrealist take on the apocalypse. The likes of Aki Kaurismäki, Jim Jarmusch, and the great Yorgos Lanthimos have been cited as stylistic inspirations for the film, which puts it in great company for those who love thought-provoking, unusual cinema.

Collider Exclusive · Sci-Fi Personality Quiz
Which Sci-Fi Hero Are You Most Like?
Paul Atreides · Captain Kirk · Princess Leia · Ellen Ripley · Max Rockatansky

Five iconic heroes. Five completely different ways of facing an impossible universe. One of them shares your instincts, your values, and your particular way of refusing to back down. Eight questions will tell you which one.

🏜️Paul Atreides

🖖Capt. Kirk

✊Princess Leia

🔦Ellen Ripley

🔥Max Rockatansky

FIND YOUR HERO →

How do you lead when the stakes couldn’t be higher?
The way you lead under pressure is the most honest thing about you.

AI absorb everything — every variable, every pattern — and move only when I know the path forward.
BI read the room, make the call, and own the consequences. Hesitation costs more than mistakes.
CI rally people. A cause needs a voice, and I refuse to let fear be louder than conviction.
DI assess the threat, establish what needs doing, and get it done without waiting for permission.
EI don’t lead. I act. Others can follow or not — I’m already moving.

NEXT QUESTION →

What is your greatest strength in a crisis?
The quality that keeps you alive when everything else fails.

APrescience — the ability to see further ahead than anyone else and plan accordingly.
BImprovisation — I’m at my best when the plan falls apart and I have to invent a new one.
CConviction — I know what I’m fighting for, and that certainty doesn’t waver under fire.
DComposure — I stay functional when everyone around me is falling apart. Panic is a luxury.
EEndurance — I outlast things. I take the hit and keep moving long after others have stopped.

NEXT QUESTION →

What is the thing you’d sacrifice everything else for?
Your deepest motivation is your truest compass.

AThe survival and dignity of my people — even if I have to become something frightening to ensure it.
BThe safety of my crew — every single one of them. No one gets left behind.
CFreedom — for my people, for every world still crushed under the weight of an empire.
DThe truth — what actually happened, what’s actually out there, whether anyone believes me or not.
EThe one person — or the one memory — that still makes any of this worth surviving for.

NEXT QUESTION →

How do you relate to the people around you?
Who you are to others under pressure is who you really are.

AWith intensity and distance — I care deeply, but the weight I carry makes closeness complicated.
BWith warmth and irreverence — I take the mission seriously, not myself.
CWith directness and trust — I say what I mean, and I expect the people I work with to rise to it.
DWith professional care but clear limits — I’ll protect you, but I won’t pretend we’re family.
EWith wariness that slowly becomes loyalty — I don’t trust easily, but when I do, it holds.

NEXT QUESTION →

You’re facing a threat that no one else believes is real. What do you do?
How you respond when you’re the only one who sees it defines everything.

APrepare in silence. If they won’t listen, I’ll be ready when they finally have to.
BKeep pushing until someone listens — and if no one does, handle it myself.
CBuild the case, find the allies, and make the threat impossible to ignore.
DDocument everything. The truth matters even if no one believes it yet.
EStop trying to convince anyone. Survive it. That’s the only argument that counts.

NEXT QUESTION →

What has your heroism cost you personally?
Every hero pays. The question is what — and whether they’d pay it again.

AMy innocence — I’ve seen what I’m capable of, and I can’t unsee it.
BPeople I loved — the command chair has a view, but it’s a lonely one.
CA normal life — I gave up everything ordinary the moment I chose the cause.
DMy sense of safety — I know exactly what’s out there now, and I can’t pretend otherwise.
EAlmost everything — and I’m still not sure what I’m carrying it all for. But I keep going.

NEXT QUESTION →

How do you feel about the rules of the world you’re in?
Every hero has a relationship with the system. What’s yours?

AI understand them deeply — and I know exactly which ones must be broken, and why.
BI respect the spirit of them and bend the letter when the situation demands it.
CThe system is the problem. I’m not here to work within it — I’m here to dismantle it.
DI follow protocol until protocol stops being useful. Then I make the call myself.
EThe rules collapsed a long time ago. What’s left is instinct, and mine are reliable.

NEXT QUESTION →

When everything is on the line, what keeps you going?
The answer is the most honest thing about you.

ADestiny — or something that feels so much like it that the difference no longer matters.
BThe people on my ship — their faces, their trust, the fact that they’re counting on me.
CThe belief that what we’re fighting for is worth every sacrifice, including this one.
DSheer refusal to let it win — whatever it is. I don’t stop. That’s just who I am.
EI’m not sure anymore. But the road is still there, and I’m still on it.

REVEAL MY HERO →

Your Hero Has Been Identified
Your Sci-Fi Hero Is…

Your answers point to the iconic sci-fi hero who shares your instincts, your values, and your particular way of facing the impossible.

Arrakis · Dune

Paul Atreides

You carry a weight most people would crumble under — the knowledge of what you’re capable of, and the burden of what you might have to become.

You see further ahead than others and you plan accordingly, even when the vision frightens you.
You are driven by loyalty to your people and a sense of destiny you didn’t ask for but can’t escape.
Paul Atreides is not simply a hero — he is someone who understands the cost of power and chooses to bear it anyway.
That gravity, that willingness to carry what others won’t, is exactly you.

USS Enterprise · Star Trek

Captain Kirk

You lead with instinct, warmth, and an absolute refusal to accept a no-win scenario — because you’ve always believed there’s a third option nobody else has thought of yet.

You take the mission seriously without ever taking yourself too seriously.
Your crew would follow you anywhere, not because you demand it, but because you’ve earned it.
Kirk’s genius isn’t tactical — it’s human. He reads people, bends rules with purpose, and wills outcomes into existence through sheer conviction.
That combination of warmth, audacity, and relentless optimism is unmistakably yours.

The Rebellion · Star Wars

Princess Leia

You are the kind of person who holds the line when everyone else is losing faith — not because you’re fearless, but because giving up simply isn’t something you’re capable of.

You lead through conviction. Your voice carries because your belief is unshakeable.
You gave up everything ordinary the moment you chose the cause, and you’ve never looked back.
Leia is not a supporting character in her own story — she is the moral centre of the entire rebellion.
That same fierce, principled, unbreakable core is what defines you.

The Nostromo · Alien

Ellen Ripley

You are not reckless, not grandiose, and not particularly interested in being anyone’s hero — you just refuse to stop when it matters.

You see threats clearly, you document the truth even when no one listens, and when the time comes you handle it yourself.
Ripley’s heroism is earned, not performed. She doesn’t have a speech — she has a flamethrower and a plan.
You share her composure under the worst possible pressure, and her refusal to pretend the monster isn’t there.
When it counts, you don’t flinch. That’s everything.

The Wasteland · Mad Max

Max Rockatansky

You have been through fire that would break most people — and what came out the other side is something the world underestimates at its peril.

You don’t ask for help, don’t need validation, and don’t wait for anyone to tell you the rules no longer apply.
Your loyalty, when it finally arrives, is absolute — but it’s earned in silence and tested in action, not in words.
Max is not a nihilist. He is someone who lost everything and found, against his will, that he still has something worth protecting.
That bruised, stubborn, ultimately human core is exactly yours.

↻ RETAKE THE QUIZ

What is ‘Little Doors’ About?

Oberbeck isn’t just making his feature directorial debut with Little Doors; the film is also written by and stars the Shrill alum, alongside co-star Megan Koester (Mommy to Brayden). Eleanore Pienta, who featured in the brilliantly underrated Sebastian Stan-led A Different Man, also stars in Little Doors, but what is the film about? A logline reads:

“In a quietly apocalyptic world, a lonely woman falls in love and then discovers a small wooden door on the side of her body, and must decide whether or not to open it.”

Fantastic Fest 2026 is held at the Alamo Drafthouse South Lamar in Austin, Texas, from September 17 through 24. Check out our exclusive image above and stay tuned here at Collider for further sneak peeks at the projects heading to the genre festival this year.

Romance Meets Body Horror in New Apocalypse Movie Officially Coming to Fantastic Fest [Exclusive]

What is ‘Little Doors’ About?

Comments

Leave a Reply Cancel reply