The Best 2018 Fantasy Movies No One Is Talking About

Plenty of major movies have highlighted 2018 so far, from smashing successes like Black Panther and Avengers: Infinity War to epic flops like A Wrinkle in Time. These have been kept on constant parade, captivating our attention and leaving us with little time for anything else. And the year's blockbusters aren't going to give up the stage anytime soon, with sure-to-be hits like Venom, Aquaman, Mortal Engines, and Fantastic Beasts: The Crimes of Grindelwald on their way to theaters in the coming months.

But while we salivate over the lustrous shine of these big-budget releases, we shouldn't forget that behind each huge hit we see soaking up those front-page stories, there are a host of other high-caliber producers, directors, and actors excelling at their craft in the shadows — and movies with heart and soul, great storylines, and actors on the rise.

They can leave you both pleasantly entertained and much more deeply satisfied, whether you're watching a thought-provoking film like The Endless or a lighter tale like The Man Who Killed Don Quixote. Luckily for you, you don't have to worry about missing any of them — we've rounded up some of our favorites for you right here, in this look at the best 2018 fantasy movies that no one is talking about.

Using the imagination to escape the pain of reality is a common theme in childhood. But it can be hard to capture in a movie, which makes Anders Walter's I Kill Giants a gem. In his smashing feature directorial debut, Walter has successfully brought Joe Kelly's graphic novel of the same name to life, offering viewers a mesmerizing tale of heartache and heroism.

Barbara Thorson (Madison Wolfe) is a restless 12-year-old girl living on Long Island, where she's an outcast at school in spite of attempts by her school counselor (Zoe Saldana) to reach out to her. Her home life is no better, with absentee parents and a strained relationship with her sister (Imogen Poots) only serving to exacerbate her unhappiness. But rather than bury herself in video games or books, she has a different hobby: she's a giant slayer. As it follows Barbara through her adventures, the film beautifully weaves together childhood heartache and escapism along with an epic dose of fantasy.

With solid directing, acting, and CGI, this all-around high-quality feature overlays childhood whimsy with a Pan's Labyrinth feel, and appeals to the giant slayer we all imagined ourselves to be when we were kids.

Every Day is an unusual romance between a quietly shy teenager named Rhiannon (Angourie Rice) and "A" — a personality, being, thing, whatever you want to call it. "A" is an entity that wakes up every day inhabiting a different person's body, while trying not to overshadow its temporary host's personality whenever possible.

The movie, directed by Michael Sucsy and based on the bestselling YA novel by David Levithan, dives into the relationship that "A" forms when it crosses paths with Rhiannon while residing in the body of Justin, her jerk of a boyfriend. "A's" temporary residence gives Rhiannon a break from Justin and the one perfect day she deserves. The movie continues to follow "A" and Rhiannon's growing relationship as the personality moves from body to body, even occupying Rhiannon at one point.

Don't get your hopes set on a deep, perfectly crafted story here, but the movie really does deliver something special, with the real allure being its playfully odd premise that transcends the usual, tacky required set pieces for a romance, such as a terminally ill lover, an ugly duckling story, or the whole "best friends falling in love" shtick. And with one of the main characters changing literally every 24 hours, this one puts a fresh spin on a classic formula.

Before the turn of the millennium, director Terry Gilliam set out to film an adaptation of Miguel de Cervantes' classic 1615 novel Don Quixote. His pursuit of that goal became the stuff of Hollywood legend as Gilliam battled through a seemingly endless series of production delays, actor turnover, and legal and financial fiascos. It even inspired its own documentary, 2002's Lost In La Mancha, which followed the futility of an early attempt that included Johnny Depp cast as Sancho Panza.

But Gilliam's vision for his comedically romanticized film was set with gritty determination, and literally decades later the movie, if somewhat scaled back from its original ambition, has finally arrived in the form of The Man Who Killed Don Quixote.

The film follows director Toby Grisoni (Adam Driver), who travels to the small village where he shot his first movie, a Don Quixote adaptation, with the help of non-professional actors from the village. Here he discovers that the Spanish shoemaker (Jonathan Pryce) that he cast for the lead role has been completely consumed by the experience, believing that he is now Don Quixote. From there the movie progresses through an absurd and fantastic series of events as Driver plays a simple yet perfect Sancho Panza to Pryce's wide-eyed, ludicrously charming Quixote. It's a fun movie with a great backstory that makes it that much better.

Admittedly, director Drake Doremus' dystopian near-future love story suffers from a fair bit of untapped potential. But even if it's probably destined never to be thought of as a classic, the film has a poignant overarching message that make it worth watching — it feels like a slow, low-stakes Black Mirror episode, tackling a subject that gets closer to reality every day: how do we deal with artificial intelligence once it becomes smart enough to feel even remotely equal with humans? And what if the AI is programmed so well that it doesn't even know it's synthetic... until it's told it is?

The plot follows Cole (Ewan McGregor), a designer at a company that creates elite robots that are nearly indistinguishable from humans, with the goal of inventing a model that could live compatibly with a human, giving them companionship and allaying the fear of being left by a partner. One of his creations is Zoe (Léa Seydoux), a robot that works with him at the lab. As the story progresses, a complicated (and strange) love story starts to unfold, pitting emotions and humanity itself against an ever-evolving world where old and new ways clash and society struggles with accepting their synthetic programmed companions as either equals or simply slaves.

Based on the popular 1973 novel by John Bellairs, The House with a Clock in Its Walls is a film that, while not necessarily an instant classic, still manages to properly execute the ever-challenging task of bringing a novel to the silver screen.

The story follows recently orphaned Lewis Barnavelt (Owen Vaccaro) who comes to live in an old house with his Uncle Jonathan (Jack Black). Finding out that his uncle is a warlock, while his fast friend and neighbor Florence Zimmerman (Cate Blanchett) is a witch, Lewis launches into his own enchanted adventures as he becomes accustomed to his uncanny new life in his uncle's abode. The crux of the story surfaces when it's revealed that a clock was embedded somewhere within the house by the previous owners, the villain Isaac Izard and his wife Selena. Learning of the detrimental intent of the clandestine timepiece, the trio acts quickly to unpack the dark mystery before the ticking counts down to a terrible conclusion.

During a year where all of the "wizardly attention" was dominated by the spellbinding big-budget feature Fantastic Beasts: The Crimes of Grindelwald, this incantation-filled adventure has quietly satisfied audiences, while simultaneously recording a solid run at the box office. From its timeless story to its comedically light acting, particularly by two A-list actors that know their business, this one's certainly worth a watch.

Who doesn't love Peter Dinklage? From Tyrion Lannister to Eitri the Dwarf King, he's definitely made his mark across a whole slew of fantasy outings over the years. But in a year marked by his sparkling debut as the weapon forger of Asgard in Avengers: Infinity War, few people noticed Dinklage's other fantasy film, quietly released just a few months after the Marvel mammoth rolled into theaters.

I Think We're Alone Now follows the post-apocalyptic adventures of Del (Dinklage), a misanthrope who has happily settled into a solitary life in a small town after an undefined event has seemingly wiped out all other humans. Del's peaceful new existence proves temporary, however, when he comes across another, much less "pulled together" survivor, Grace (Elle Fanning). From there, the film follows the story of the two polar opposite personalities as they build a relationship amongst the ruins of humanity.

The fairly short feature continues to develop as other humans surface, bringing news of a warped community of survivors that are attempting to find a disturbing way to forget the past and move forward with their lives, with the revelation threatening to once again shatter the stability of both Del and Grace's lives. Slow moving at times, the film is certainly a departure from Dinklage's typically more action-packed roles of late, consisting of a hefty dose of "deeper thought" fantasy that leaves you pondering for days.

If you're a fan of a good romance with a twist, you may want to check out Border. This Swedish release, directed by Ali Abbasi and based on a short story of the same name, is an impressively well-executed movie that can be put into a category all its own.

The film follows Tina, a woman with a keen sense of smell and a bit of an odd look about her, who lives in a secluded corner of the woods. For her day job, Tina works as a Swedish border agent and spends her time looking for contraband, which she is uncannily effective at locating. It's during a shift at work that she meets Vore, a fellow with similar facial features, who has an aura of mystery about him that's even stronger than Tina's.

The plot continues to pick up from there as Tina and Vore begin to forge a relationship, with several mind-bending revelations made along the way that turn this bizarre genre-hopping fantasy into a captivating film that is well worth a watch.