Big Break

Preceded by “Don’t Come Home Before Midnight”

ERIC SAYS New/Next isn’t just about amplifying the art house or the microcinema. Every year at the fest we feature a few exceptional genre films that deliver on the promise of a good time at the movies as pleasurably as the best thing you saw at the multiplex all year. That’s a bold claim to make in 2026, the year that indie horror films famously saved the industry’s ass at the box office. But rest assured Big Break delivers; it’s the extremely rare horror-comedy that shines equally bright in both genres.

Big Break is directed by Ian Faria, a New/Next alum as director of the documentary What Happened to Bobi, and as an actor for the narrative short The Warmest Color Is Blue. It’s made in collaboration with Simple Town: “comedy group (derogatory),” as per their IG bio. It’s a film about a comedy group (complimentary), professional jealousy taken to the brink of desperation, and a serial killer on the loose… and beyond that, go in cold. Someone with deep pockets please give these folks a whole lot of money for their next one; they’ve got the goods. In the meantime, see this movie—and bring a friend who thinks film festivals aren’t about having a great night out.