News
Nimas After Hours: Midnight horror returns to Lisbon
The first screening takes place on Friday, 31st July, at midnight.
In the year that MOTELX celebrates two decades dedicated to horror cinema, the Festival returns to its roots with the launch of "Sessões Nimas Fora de Horas" (Nimas After Hours), a new initiative dedicated to genre cinema.
The project revives the spirit of the horror screenings that marked the Festival’s genesis: in 2003, even before its official foundation, the CTLX – Lisbon Horror Film Club held an experimental midnight screening at the former Cinema King Triplex, planting the seed for what is now MOTELX – Lisbon International Horror Film Festival.
Two decades later, the ritual returns with monthly screenings dedicated to cult cinema, horror, and its many contemporary variations. The programming is a partnership between MOTELX and the streaming platform FilmTwist – dedicated exclusively to fantasy and horror cinema – and takes place at Cinema Nimas in Lisbon.
The next session takes place on Friday, July 31st, at midnight. The chosen film is "Saccharine" (AUS, 2026, 113'), by Natalie Erika James.
Saccharine
Hana, a first-year medical student, runs into a long-lost friend, now unrecognizable after a radical weight loss, and decides to follow the same experimental treatment. She then spirals into an obsession with her body, hoping to please Alanya — a fitness influencer she has a crush on. The effect of the slimming pills offered by her friend is immediate and spectacular, but unable to afford their exorbitant price, Hana decides to analyse their composition — only to discover they contain human ashes. Willing to do anything to keep up the treatment, she begins secretly extracting bone fragments from a cadaver during anatomy class.
A contemporary body-horror title, "Saccharine" explores, with visceral discomfort, the pressure of physical transformation and the obsession with image, in a nightmare where the desire to please turns into something profoundly monstrous. Directed by Natalie Erika James, the film joins the ranks of the genre's most disturbing and topical horror titles.
With the Nimas After Hours Sessions, MOTELX revives the tradition of late-night horror screenings and creates a new regular meeting point for genre fans, extending the spirit of the Festival beyond its usual September dates.
Tickets now on sale! (link)
What: Sessões Nimas Fora de Horas (Monthly)
Screening: Friday, July 31st, at midnight
Venue: Cinema Nimas, Lisbon (Av. 5 de Outubro 42b)
Organised by: MOTELX and FilmTwist
Support: Antena 3
Film: "Saccharine" (AUS, 2026, 113'), by Natalie Erika James
Language: English | Subtitles: Portuguese
The project revives the spirit of the horror screenings that marked the Festival’s genesis: in 2003, even before its official foundation, the CTLX – Lisbon Horror Film Club held an experimental midnight screening at the former Cinema King Triplex, planting the seed for what is now MOTELX – Lisbon International Horror Film Festival.
Two decades later, the ritual returns with monthly screenings dedicated to cult cinema, horror, and its many contemporary variations. The programming is a partnership between MOTELX and the streaming platform FilmTwist – dedicated exclusively to fantasy and horror cinema – and takes place at Cinema Nimas in Lisbon.
The next session takes place on Friday, July 31st, at midnight. The chosen film is "Saccharine" (AUS, 2026, 113'), by Natalie Erika James.
Saccharine
Hana, a first-year medical student, runs into a long-lost friend, now unrecognizable after a radical weight loss, and decides to follow the same experimental treatment. She then spirals into an obsession with her body, hoping to please Alanya — a fitness influencer she has a crush on. The effect of the slimming pills offered by her friend is immediate and spectacular, but unable to afford their exorbitant price, Hana decides to analyse their composition — only to discover they contain human ashes. Willing to do anything to keep up the treatment, she begins secretly extracting bone fragments from a cadaver during anatomy class.
A contemporary body-horror title, "Saccharine" explores, with visceral discomfort, the pressure of physical transformation and the obsession with image, in a nightmare where the desire to please turns into something profoundly monstrous. Directed by Natalie Erika James, the film joins the ranks of the genre's most disturbing and topical horror titles.
With the Nimas After Hours Sessions, MOTELX revives the tradition of late-night horror screenings and creates a new regular meeting point for genre fans, extending the spirit of the Festival beyond its usual September dates.
Tickets now on sale! (link)
What: Sessões Nimas Fora de Horas (Monthly)
Screening: Friday, July 31st, at midnight
Venue: Cinema Nimas, Lisbon (Av. 5 de Outubro 42b)
Organised by: MOTELX and FilmTwist
Support: Antena 3
Film: "Saccharine" (AUS, 2026, 113'), by Natalie Erika James
Language: English | Subtitles: Portuguese