The 58th edition of the Sitges Film Festival closed with a celebration of surreal narratives, subversive imagery, and an undeniable feminine force behind some of the most striking works of the year. This Catalonian coastal town once again became the European capital of genre cinema, a meeting point for horror visionaries, avant-garde directors, and cult-film enthusiasts who gathered under the banner of fantasy and rebellion.

This year’s top honor went to The Ugly Stepsister, directed by Emilie Blichfeldt, a twisted re-imagining of Cinderella that turns a familiar fairy tale into a meditation on envy, identity, and revenge. Its mix of gothic absurdity and emotional rawness perfectly captured the festival’s dual fascination with beauty and monstrosity.

Park Chan-wook received the Best Director Award for No Other Choice, a visually hypnotic thriller exploring moral duality and collective guilt. The Special Jury Prize was shared between The Furious and Obsession, both exploring obsession and transformation through wildly different cinematic languages — one visceral and mythic, the other psychological and intimate.

In the acting categories, Rose Byrne was honored with Best Actress for her darkly comic and devastating performance in If I Had Legs I’d Kick You, while the ensemble cast of The Plague received Best Actor, recognizing the collective intensity of their portrayal of survival and madness.

Beyond awards, the 2025 edition reinforced Sitges’ position as a barometer for global horror and speculative cinema. The lineup included emerging voices from Asia and Latin America, a retrospective on female Gothic, and midnight screenings that blurred the line between cinema and ritual.

Sitges remains not just a festival but a state of mind — a space where genre becomes a language for fear, desire, and transformation.

Visit Sitges Film Festival official website for more information.