Fantasia 2026: BOWELS OF HELL
Blue Finch Films Releasing
The best thing about cinema is just when you think you've seen everything, something can come along and surprise you. Or disgust you. In any case, when something like that comes along, you sit up and take notice. Gustavo Vinagre and Gurcius Gewdner's BOWELS OF HELL is one of those rare beasts, mixing profane, disgusting, and humorous situations into a devastating rumination on how bottling up grief and emotion can lead to ruin, especially in the bathroom.
Malu (Martha Nowill) is a busy party planner in the bustling city of São Paulo. After the loss of her son, Luan, in a tragic bathroom accident years earlier, she's attempting to make a return to the scene. A budding influencer, Suelen (Chandelly Braz), in her building looks to be the opportunity for her to grab the spotlight when she needs a planner for her gender-reveal party. Though she accepts there is a heavy price to be paid. Her non-binary adolescent child, Genesis (Benjamin Damini), hates their mother taking the job and secretly plans to get revenge. She's also suffering from a prolonged bout of constipation that's starting to affect not just her trips to the restroom, but also her acid reflux and mind.
BOWELS OF HELL is one mean film. It might cover it up under the guise of lowbrow humor, but pleasantries are put to the side, as it targets the obvious gaggle of influencers and building owners, poking at their needs to often exploit others for their own self-worth. Yet it also launches into more pointed (and deserved) cruelty at the likes of trauma dumping and transphobia. Malu is an extremely toxic individual for a large portion of the movie, crying out for her lost son and misgendering the one in front of her. Even without the interference of her worsening constipation (fecaloma, if we're being technical), Malu finds herself lashing out at those she should embrace.
Things take a turn for the worse when, after getting sick, she tries to save a necklace from her dead son from being flushed down a toilet. While doing so, she cuts her arm, and her grief, blood, and necklace combine to unleash a supernatural force. One that is hellbent on swallowing every resident of the apartment complex, in whole. And no, that isn't a euphemism or anything. For half the runtime, all the toilets in the building have an insatiable hunger for human flesh.
Blue Finch Films Releasing
Though Malu is clearly the central force of the film, she shares the screen with characters far more compelling and eccentric than herself. There’s the elderly janitor, Vilaca (Otávio Müller), who has recently been laid off, but cares deeply about his job. Crazy cat lady, Ms. Emengrada (Regina Braga), who crushes on Vilaca while also stealing from her neighbors. Norberto, Malu's put-upon and kind-hearted assistant.
Most importantly, because it helps give a glimpse into the tone of BOWELS OF HELL, the film also spends time with Miskatka (Olivia Torres), the Scat Mystique. A mystic from Ohio who moved to downtown Sao Paulo because calculations told her that's where energies are the heaviest in the world. She's also the kind of character that Ellen Greene would have played back in the day and utters phrases like "The energies are calling for a crapmancia.”
Saying this is a grotesque film is the understatement of the century. It starts innocent enough with a little poop, then some blood, before launching into a full-on assault from which there is no safe passage. All manner of fluids and viscera and goop and sludge make an appearance in ways you shouldn’t care to think about. There's something about the combination of framing, the budget, and style of which things are shot that makes things feel more disturbing than if everything was gussied up.
BOWELS OF HELL feels like the demonic love child of John Waters and Frank Henenlotter, while gleefully encouraged and championed on the sidelines by Lloyd Kaufman. It’s a film that casually states “hold my beer” to the recent festival hit THE COFFEE TABLE, so eager is it to wear the badge of “gross-out movie of the year.”
Truly—and I cannot stress this enough—this film is made for true cinema sickos. Those who feel like watching the most disgusting, twisted, angry, and often hilarious films possible isn’t just a challenge, but a badge of honor they can wear with pride. For those, this film will put you through your paces but send you off with a smile on your face. Everyone else? It’s best not to eat before, during, or after viewing the movie. Just to be safe.
