THE FILTHY LIST: FEBRUARY 2026

CURATED AND SERVED UP FRESH FOR THE FREAKS.

Introducing THE FILTHY LIST, our new monthly list of feature films made by women and queer/trans people that transcend taboos and test the boundaries of what’s acceptable in filmmaking. These films are either newly-announced, making their festival circuit debut, or about to hit screens near you, so make sure you add these to your watchlist and keep an eye out for these titillating filth-makers.

ANTICIPATING: SLANTED (dir. Amy Wang)

We’re not sure who asked Amy Wang for a “The Substance meets Mean Girls” body horror, but thank God they did. Wang’s debut feature Slanted, which premiered at SXSW 2025, follows insecure Chinese-American teenager Joan, who will do anything to fit in. And we mean anything. Desperate for a chance at winning prom queen, Joan undergoes an experimental “ethnic modification surgery” to become white. Nothing could go wrong, right?

Slanted hits theaters nationwide on March 13th (Friday the 13th…. spooky….), and we’ll be some of the first in line.

LOVING: CASTRATION MOVIE ANTHOLOGY i. AND ii. (DIR. LOUISE WEARD)

It’s rare that an indie film so entirely handmade and homegrown (and long) resonates so firmly with its audience and makes such an immense impact. But for us, Louise Weard's mumblecore anthology about a sex worker whose world is piling up around her does exactly that. Both anthologies can currently be rented from the Letterboxd Video Store or on the film’s website. From filmmaker and Femme Filth programmer Carrsan T. Morrissey:

“Castration Movie Vol. 1 is my favorite film of 2025. It’s absolutely brilliant and raw and grungy and beautiful. Louise Weard has become one of my biggest filmmaking idols. I’m trying to hold out to see Vol. 2 in a theatre…”

ANTICIPATING: UGLY CRY (DIR. EMILY ROBINSON)

Having its world premiere at SXSW 2026 next month, first-time director Emily Robinson’s (Eighth Grade, Private Life, Unicorn Store) feature follows Delaney, who becomes obsessed with fixing her appearance after auditioning producers tell her she has an “ugly cry.”

How do we contort ourselves to please other people, or to appear attractive? How do we conceal the ugliest parts of ourselves, while also exploiting them for artistic merit? Ugly Cry may not give us the answers, but it will certainly wail alongside us.

ANTICIPATING: I LIVE HERE NOW (DIR. JULIE PACINO)

The work of another first-time feature filmmaker Julie Pacino, I Live Here Now sees a woman “trapped inside a remote hotel where the violent echoes of her past come alive.” Starring Lucy Fry (Lightening Point, Bright) and Madeline Brewer (Hustlers, Cam), I Live Here Now has been described as a Lynchian journey into an inner battle against toxicity and trauma. After premiering at Fantasia, the film is being distributed by Utopia and should be coming very soon.

LOVING: MESSY (DIR. ALEXI WASSER)

Alexi Wasser’s blisteringly-profane sex comedy truly does feel like a romp in the hay with a stranger: unpredictable, risky, and pretty fun. The film follows Stella Fox, a promiscuous love addict who moves to New York after a terrible breakup. From there, she enters a self-destructive spiral of casual sex and romantic mishaps across one tumultuous summer.

Too often now, films are criticized for having their characters be too perfect, too flat, and too one-dimensional. One of my favorite things about Messy is how you can comfortably hate pretty much every single character—laugh at them, judge them—but relate to them all the same.

anticipating: IDIOTKA (DIR. NASTASYA POPOV)

The star-studded cast in this highly-anticipated feature debut from filmmaker Nastasya Popov is enough to sell it (Camila Mendes, Benito Skinner, Saweetie, Julia Fox, and Gabbriette among others), but that isn’t all it’s offering. Idiotka stars Anna Baryshnikov as Margarita, a down-on-her-luck fashion girlie attempting to live out her dreams: competing on a competition reality show. This color-soaked, Gen-Z anxiety comedy seems equal parts odd and hilarious, and we’re eagerly awaiting its release via Utopia later this year.