The past never dies, it just comes back hungry.
Synopsis
Ancestral Beasts follows Elyse, a young Métis woman who returns to her rural ancestral home after cutting ties with her toxic sister and struggling with her own mental health, and hoping to rebuild her life and find peace, but Elyse soon discovers that the land holds something far more terrifying than memories from her past - a grotesque, centipede-like creature that begins stalking her - a physical manifestation of buried trauma that feeds on her emotional pain.
As the creature grows stronger and the past she tried to escape begins catching up with her, Elyse must confront generations of suffering, family wounds, and the darkness haunting her home before it destroys everything she is trying to protect.
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About Ancestral Beasts
Ancestral Beasts is a Canadian horror film from writer and director Tim Riedel, marking his feature directorial debut, and the project was inspired in part by Riedel’s own experiences as the son of a mother who was a Sixties Scoop survivor and later diagnosed with borderline personality disorder.
Developed with Indigenous Elders, knowledge keepers, trauma-informed experts, and academics, the film aims to explore personal and collective trauma through a horror lens, and Riedel explained that the film is built around the idea of curses - not just supernatural ones, but the emotional burdens people inherit from those who came before them:
“What we inherit is not our fault, but we often allow those things to become our responsibility.”
Rather than using traditional folklore creatures, Riedel created something entirely original for the film. The centipede-like monster represents both the land and the trauma carried through generations.
“The centipede is representative of the homeland but also gives that creepy feeling. The hand represents intergenerational trauma handed down from generation to generation.”
The filmmaker also wanted to avoid creating a story that relied on stereotypes about Indigenous culture, instead focusing on the character journey and emotional reality behind the horror.
“This is the story, this is the journey that the character is on, this is the obstacle in her way, this is who or what is putting obstacles in her way, and this is how she’s trying to overcome those obstacles, and this is what she needs to sacrifice.”
The film was shot in Manitoba in late 2025 and developed from a five-minute proof-of-concept short that premiered through Fantasia’s Frontières Platform, and producer Edmon Rotea, known for producing the indie horror film Skinamarink, serves as an executive producer on the project..
Director and Cast
Ancestral Beasts is written and directed by Tim Riedel, and the cast includes Morgan Holmstrom, Darla Contois, Gail Maurice, Asivak Koostachin, Jess Salgueiro, Josh Strait, Agnes Tong, Shannon Baker, Victoria Gwendoline. Ray Strachan. Emmanuel Oderemi. Jesse Nobess amd Sarah-Lynne Otsuji.
Teaser Trailer
Release Date
Ancestral Beasts had its world premiere at the 2026 Fantasia International Film Festival.
The film is expected to widely release in 2026 with a theatrical or streaming release.