Foreigner – Movie Review | Fantasia (3/5)

FOREIGNER is a new thriller about the struggles of fitting in when you move to a new country. Told with elements of horror, campy comedy, and a sinister undertone. Screening at Fantasia 2025. Read our full Foreigner movie review here!

FOREIGNER is getting its world premiere at Fantasia 2025 and will continue to screen at other genre film festivals. Up very soon is FrightFest in August. This is a thriller, but one that has a campy and sinister tone that might throw you off a little, but it works.

Not least in attempting to show us what it feels like to arrive somewhere new. Especially from a place that most refer to as simply “foreign”. We meet a girl as she begins High School in Canada, which is already a difficult age without the added element of being a foreigner.

Continue reading our Foreigner movie review below.

Arriving in Canada in 2004

With Foreigner, we’re getting a story that plays out in 2004, but I don’t think it would be too different if it had been in the present day. The Iranian immigrant teenage girl, Yasamin (or just Yasi), is the new girl in her Canadian high school.

And also, she’s new to Canada, which means she’s a foreigner. Plain and simple. Also, her classmates know nothing about Iran, so they assume she’s been living under third-world country conditions.

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In preparation for starting High School, she’s been rewatching her favorite sitcom episodes over and over, and over again. Trying to nail the perfect pronunciation of tricky words.

Unsurprisingly, her high school experience is daunting, as the queen bee of the high school and her two besties attach themselves to Yasi. The trio of pastel-clad girls feeds Yasmin’s need to fit in by showing her what to do and how to act.

Demonic hair dye

For her dad and grandmother, it’s confusing to see their daughter and granddaughter change before their eyes. However, Yasi is desperate for acceptance, which requires that she fit in. In order to achieve this, she dyes her hair blonde.

This act turns out to be a turning point as it attracts a demonic force to Yasmin. One that will drag her further away from her family and her roots.

Rose Dehgan delivers a strong and painful portrayal as Yasi, while Chloë MacLeod shines as the very creepy high school “It girl” Rachel.

Foreigner is premiering at Fantasia 2025

Foreigner was written and directed by Ava Maria Safai, who is a Canadian-Iranian artist from Vancouver. And I believe it does show that this story comes from someone who can relate to the feelings our Yasi has on a personal level.

This is her feature film debut, but she’s already achieved success with her short film Zip, which won numerous awards on the festival circuit. Horror fans will probably also find it very interesting that Ava Maria recently shadowed directors Zach Lipovsky and Adam Stein on Final Destination: Bloodlines. I know I did.

I also enjoyed the retro setting and use of numerous teen horrors as inspiration. Overall, this is a very interesting movie for several reasons. I don’t expect to watch it again, but it’s an important look at the Canadian immigrant experience.

Some have referred to Foreigner as Mean Girls meet The Exorcist, which isn’t wrong, but it’s still taking it a little too far. Still, I acknowledge that Ava Maria Safai is a very interesting filmmaker, and I would love to see more horror (maybe horror comedy) from her hands.

Foreigner is getting its world premiere at Fantasia 2025.

Details

Director: Ava Maria Safai
Writer: Ava Maria Safai
Cast: Rose Dehgan, Chloë MacLeod, Maryam Sadeghi, Ashkan Nejati, Talisa Mae Stewart, Victoria Wardell.