Métis writer-director Tim Riedel has released an exclusive trailer for his psychological horror feature "Ancestral Beasts" ahead of its world premiere at the Fantasia International Film Festival on 22 July. The film follows a young Métis woman, Elyse, who returns to her ancestral home to focus on her mental health and finds herself stalked by a grotesque creature, using the horror genre to explore themes of inherited trauma and generational curses within an Indigenous community.

The project, shot in Manitoba in late 2025 with a nearly all-Indigenous cast and crew, first surfaced as a proof-of-concept at Cannes' Marché du Film in 2025 and became the first acquisition for Cercamon's new genre sales label Vorteks. It stars Morgan Holmstrom ("Outlander") as Elyse and Asivak Koostachin ("Duster") as Cody, with Riedel hosting the Fantasia premiere alongside cast and crew; a rare second screening follows on 28 July, and Mongrel Media has secured Canadian distribution rights, though no release date has been set. Riedel, who spent over a decade documenting global issues for NGOs before turning to his own Métis community, said he wanted to avoid clichéd depictions of Indigenous culture and instead tell an authentic, relatable story.