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Stars: Aneurin Barnard, Jeremy Piven, Pixie Lott
Director: Simeon Halligan
Producer: Grimmfest Films

“Are you out of your f*cking mind?!”

The first feature film of Grimmfest 2025’s opening gala was none other than the world premiere of its own in-house film, Past Life. Directed by Grimmfest Festival Director, Simeon Halligan, this year’s horror festival opened with a bloody terrific throwback picture.

What better way to introduce your main character than them experient torment within a Syrian torture sequence… Years later, former war journalist Jason Frey (Aneurin Barnard) has dealt with his PTSD the best that he can, and is now expecting a child with his wife, Claira (Pixie Lott). One night, they attend a studio recording of a chat show where the special guest is a hypnotist played by Jeremy Piven. The event entails demonstrations of hypnosis and tapping into past life regressions – all very creepy, of course. Jason, who’s cynical over the spectacle of it, has his turn and all hell breaks loose. Not only has Jason endured torture in war, but he’s now finding himself experiencing the memories of…a 1980s serial killer.

Past Life provides an abundance of entertainment as it navigates an existence mixing mystery, psychological thriller, and giallo horror. This is clearly a product of genre fans. The chemistry between Barnard and Piven brings inconsistent hilarity, but consistent intrigue. Equipped with these serial killer flashbacks, the enablement of the mystery drama adds a great counterweight to the murderous sequences experienced through said serial killer flashbacks. The flashbacks/memories themselves are challenged with depicting a realistic 1980s, as well as depicting something quite gruesome and grotesque. To experience the POV of a serial killer is both an unreal concept and one that could be aggressively vile.

Not only is Past Life an in-house production of Grimmfest, but it was shot locally, too. Naturally, an immense amount of pride was present during the post-feature Q&A. Being local to central Manchester, as a viewer, there is an additional sense of pride or local romance when spotting locations that provide familiarity. Early aerial shots of MediaCityUK are fabulous, as well as those present around Mancunian Way. For city centre and city centre adjacent scenery, Past Life makes Manchester look great.

Ultimately, Gimmfest 2025 opened with an absolute monster of a film. Past Life is quite the ambitious project, but it works. Written by Ray Bogdanovich and Dean Lines, their story has excelled under the direction of Simeon Halligan. For lucky audiences, Past Life has the ambiance that there is something for everyone in this film, including a scene-stealing Tim McInnerny.