News
Before the Storm: the latest wave of news from MOTELX 2025 (19th Edition)
The storm of terror is about to descend on the capital. Before the full programme is announced, MOTELX presents a range of new features from the 19th edition of the festival, such as the Opening and Closing films, the programme dedicated to Guest of Honour Gale Anne Hurd, and more feature films for our Room Service menu.
September is fast approaching, and the thunder of horror is already rumbling over Lisbon. Here is the latest roundup of news from MOTELX 2025 before the full programme is revealed.
"The Long Walk", by Francis Lawrence (“Constantine”, "I Am Legend", "The Hunger Games"), will have its national premiere at the Opening Screening of MOTELX 2025 on September 9. Based on the book of the same name by the ‘king’ Stephen King, and starring Cooper Hoffman ("Licorice Pizza") and Mark Hamill ("Star Wars"), this thriller combines dystopia and carnage to kick off the festivities. Also premiering nationally, and with the honours of the Closing Screening, on September 14, "The Home", by American James DeMonaco ("The Purge"), with a cast headed by Pete Davidson, brings us psychological horror set in a nursing home with jump scares capable of precipitating tachycardia.
Gale Anne Hurd, the visionary producer behind classics such as "The Terminator", "Aliens", and "The Abyss", is the Guest of Honour at MOTELX 2025 and the first recipient of the new Noémia Delgado Award. A key figure in Hollywood who helped shape the grammar of contemporary genre cinema, she is coming to Lisbon to present practically unmissable screenings of the classics "Aliens: Director's Cut" and "Tremors", for which she will give exclusive introductions, and will also be in a masterclass moderated by Heidi Honeycutt — journalist, programmer and film historian, author of "I Spit on Your Celluloid", about the history of women directors in horror. It will be a unique and unmissable opportunity to meet and learn from two pioneering women in our horror universe, with space for questions from the audience, and a celebration of female talent in fantastic cinema.
Our Room Service also announces three unmissable national premieres, with names that combine legacy, irreverence and originality in genre cinema. Tina Romero — daughter of the legendary George A. Romero, absolute master and pioneer of zombie cinema, who was our Guest of Honour in 2014 — makes her directorial debut with "Queens of the Dead", a daring fusion of zombie apocalypse and drag culture, where horror and glamour intertwine in a vibrant and provocative satire. "I Live Here Now", the first feature film by Julie Pacino — director, screenwriter, and daughter of the iconic Al Pacino — plunges us into a disturbing psychological thriller starring Lucy Fry, where in an atmosphere of isolation and unease, the line between reality and dissociation quickly blurs. Quentin Dupieux (a.k.a. Mr Oizo), acclaimed director of works such as "Rubber" and “Yannick”, returns with "The Piano Accident", a scathing critique of contemporary digital illusion, with a cast headed by Adèle Exarchopoulos and strengthened by the magnetic Karim Leklou. Dupieux exposes with humour and acidity the theatricality — and the unsustainable weight — of social media that has invaded contemporary life.
It's the calm before the storm... Soon we'll be in the eye of the MOTELX 2025 hurricane.
"The Long Walk", by Francis Lawrence (“Constantine”, "I Am Legend", "The Hunger Games"), will have its national premiere at the Opening Screening of MOTELX 2025 on September 9. Based on the book of the same name by the ‘king’ Stephen King, and starring Cooper Hoffman ("Licorice Pizza") and Mark Hamill ("Star Wars"), this thriller combines dystopia and carnage to kick off the festivities. Also premiering nationally, and with the honours of the Closing Screening, on September 14, "The Home", by American James DeMonaco ("The Purge"), with a cast headed by Pete Davidson, brings us psychological horror set in a nursing home with jump scares capable of precipitating tachycardia.
Gale Anne Hurd, the visionary producer behind classics such as "The Terminator", "Aliens", and "The Abyss", is the Guest of Honour at MOTELX 2025 and the first recipient of the new Noémia Delgado Award. A key figure in Hollywood who helped shape the grammar of contemporary genre cinema, she is coming to Lisbon to present practically unmissable screenings of the classics "Aliens: Director's Cut" and "Tremors", for which she will give exclusive introductions, and will also be in a masterclass moderated by Heidi Honeycutt — journalist, programmer and film historian, author of "I Spit on Your Celluloid", about the history of women directors in horror. It will be a unique and unmissable opportunity to meet and learn from two pioneering women in our horror universe, with space for questions from the audience, and a celebration of female talent in fantastic cinema.
Our Room Service also announces three unmissable national premieres, with names that combine legacy, irreverence and originality in genre cinema. Tina Romero — daughter of the legendary George A. Romero, absolute master and pioneer of zombie cinema, who was our Guest of Honour in 2014 — makes her directorial debut with "Queens of the Dead", a daring fusion of zombie apocalypse and drag culture, where horror and glamour intertwine in a vibrant and provocative satire. "I Live Here Now", the first feature film by Julie Pacino — director, screenwriter, and daughter of the iconic Al Pacino — plunges us into a disturbing psychological thriller starring Lucy Fry, where in an atmosphere of isolation and unease, the line between reality and dissociation quickly blurs. Quentin Dupieux (a.k.a. Mr Oizo), acclaimed director of works such as "Rubber" and “Yannick”, returns with "The Piano Accident", a scathing critique of contemporary digital illusion, with a cast headed by Adèle Exarchopoulos and strengthened by the magnetic Karim Leklou. Dupieux exposes with humour and acidity the theatricality — and the unsustainable weight — of social media that has invaded contemporary life.
It's the calm before the storm... Soon we'll be in the eye of the MOTELX 2025 hurricane.