THE WELL (2025) is a new Post-Apocalyptic Eco-Thriller enjoying its world premiere at Fantasia 2025. It features a story that just might hit a little too close to home, but that’s also what makes it work. Read our full The Well movie review here!
THE WELL (2025) is screening at Fantasia 2025 and getting its world premiere at the iconic genre film festival. It’s the perfect setting for this Post-Apocalyptic Eco-Thriller that features both a deadly virus and a struggle to find water clean enough to drink.
Everything about this movie feels like it could potentially happen. I mean, the virus element has already hit us, and many places all over the world are struggling with clean drinking water. In that sense, this movie is simply presenting a story that is worldwide. And it works!
Continue reading our The Well movie review below. Screening at Fantasia 2025.
Die of a virus or thirst
Water is, by default, dangerous and could be contaminated. And if you, like me, can’t talk about water being contaminated without thinking of Shyamalan’s Signs, then we have the same catalogue brain for genre movies.
For The Well, many are faced with the choice of drinking water that may kill them or dying of thirst. Needless to say, this will bring some people to take a chance. However, it appears that no water in natural or existing rivers is safe.
However, one family has a well where the water is not contaminated. It’s clean, clear, and keeps the family alive. In a world where water is the most important (and sparse) resource, this well must be protected.
A realistic thriller rather than horror-action
Unlike in many other post-apocalyptic movies, this isn’t about an army or some Negan [from The Walking Dead] type, running the show and using the water for leverage. Instead, it’s just a family of mom, dad, and a teenage daughter living off the land.
Of course, being able to grow food also requires water, so everything needs to be hidden, and alarms are set up on the property. In this post-apocalyptic world, everything is very old school.
No cellphones or electricity are available. You have what you can build, grow, or invent.
This makes for a world where things happen slowly, but also where people come together. Most importantly, you have to be able to trust the people you’re with. That’s why it’s key that a family has this well; There is a built-in trust with this family.
However, one day the water from this well looks different, and they need to fix a filter. What to do in a world where you can’t just call someone or order it online? You go out into the world to find the materials needed.
Unfortunately, this means running into strangers, who would obviously love to have a well for themselves. I don’t want to reveal what happens, but suffice it to say that there are still good people in the world. Finding them can be tricky, though.
The Well (2025) world premiere at Fantasia 2025
This new eco-thriller comes from the Oscar-nominated filmmaker Hubert Davis (Black Ice), who is getting narrative feature debut with The Well (2025). The screenwriters, Michael Capellupo and Kathleen Hepburn (Never Steady, Never Still), have built a very intriguing world.
I think it’s the perfect venue for The Well to have its world premiere at Fantasia 2025. With a cast full of amazing Canadian actors and with a Canadian filmmaker at the helm, this is the place for a genre movie to premiere.
In the cast, you’ll see quite a few familiar genre faces. The cast includes Shailyn Pierre-Dixon (The Book of Negroes), Arnold Pinnock (Altered Carbon), Joanne Boland (Fear Street: Prom Queen), Sheila McCarthy (Anything for Jackson), and Noah Lamanna (The Last of Us).
It’s a dark and brutal world, but the story itself is often life-affirming, so if you’re worried it will get too dark, know that it also features some hope.
The Well is enjoying its World Premiere at Fantasia 2025.
Details
Director: Hubert Davis
Writers: Michael Capellupo, Kathleen Hepburn
Cast: Joanne Boland, Noah Lamanna, Sheila McCarthy, Steven McCarthy, Shailyn Pierre-Dixon
Plot
In a world where environmental collapse has left survivors to fight over the precious remaining resources, a young woman’s loyalties are tested by the arrival of a wounded man who discovers her family has a secret supply of freshwater.
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