Fantastic Fest 2026, returning to Austin’s Alamo Drafthouse South Lamar from September 17–24, will feature Death Has No Master, a slow-burn thriller from Jorge Thielen Armand. The film comes off its premiere in Cannes Directors’ Fortnight and is among the lineup of world premieres, major genre releases, and discoveries highlighted by the festival.
What we know about Death Has No Master
The film stars Asia Argento as Caro, an expat who returns to Venezuela following her father’s death to sell her childhood home and its aging cacao plantation. Instead, she discovers the estate is occupied by her father’s former employee Sonia and several tenants Sonia has illegally renting rooms to. Caro wants everyone out, but Sonia isn’t going anywhere. What begins as a property dispute escalates into something uglier, drawing Caro into Venezuela’s history of colonialism, dispossession, violence, and social inequality.
Fantastic Fest programmer Annick Mahnert calls the film a “masterfully crafted slow-burn thriller,” noting that the escalating standoff inside Caro’s decaying childhood mansion mirrors the broader conflict surrounding the estate.
Death Has No Master screens at Fantastic Fest this September.
