after school Archives - 9to5 (dot cc)

9to5.cc Goes to Fantasia: After School & Dance Freak

by keith on July 22, 2026 at 9:25 pm

Posted In: Fantasia, Fantasia Festival Podcast, Homepage, Podcast, Podcasting

Sarah and I are still deep in the 30th edition of the Fantasia International Film Festival here in Montreal.

It’s time for the second episode of 9to5.cc Goes to Fantasia. As usual, we’re keeping it loose, chatting about the movies we’ve seen, and trying not to spoil anything big. Our dog Clementine made us do a few extra takes again, but we got there.

In this episode we talk about two very different Canadian premieres. First up is After School (also known as Straf), a Dutch dark comedy directed by Merijn Scholte Albers and Tobias Smeets. It follows Edwin (Rutger de Bekker), a music teacher who’s a total pushover and gets himself into deeper and deeper trouble after a bad decision with a nightmare student. It’s super tense, cringe-inducing in the best way, and genuinely one of the funniest straight comedies we’ve seen in a while. There’s a second screening on July 25th so you still have a chance to see it at Fantasia.

Then we get into Dance Freak, from Alan Resnick and Robby Rackleff. This one’s a lot weirder — high-contrast black-and-white surreal absurdity with a ton of practical effects. Underground internet comedy vibes from the 2010s turned into a feature length film. If you’re into the wild late-night Adult Swim shorts (think Unedited Footage of a Bear, Too Many Cooks, etc), Mike Diva stuff, or Sarah Sherman’s SNL sketches, this might be your jam. I was cracking up; Sarah was mostly just staring at me wondering what the hell I was laughing at. It’s definitely not for everybody, but I had a great time with its pure absurdity.

We’ve got more screenings coming up and more episodes on the way. If you’re at Fantasia, come say hi. If not, throw this on while you’re figuring out your schedule.

Go see some Fantasia films kids.