Film Events

You’ve Heard of ‘Cocaine Bear’? Get Ready for ‘Cocaine Stepdad’

ninth annual MidWest WeirdFest film festival rolls out first wave of programming

McKenna Scherer |

READY OR NOT. MidWest WeirdFest will return to Eau Claire this spring, and the first wave of programming was recently announced.
READY OR NOT. MidWest WeirdFest will return to Eau Claire this spring, and the first wave of programming was recently announced.

While some events promise goodie bags, great group conversation, or can’t-miss surprises, an upcoming film fest promises just one thing: to bring the weird. The ninth annual MidWest WeirdFest is slated for March 6-9 at the Micon Downtown Cinema in Eau Claire and festival passes are up for grabs now.

Dean Bertram, the festival’s founder and programming director, recently announced the first seven films part of the 2025 lineup, unveiling an intriguing and decidedly weird range: a neo-noir thriller reminiscent of early Coen Brothers classics; a first-ever documentary on erotic and bondage comics icon John Wille; a crude comedy following a former stepdad and his estranged stepson; a mad scientist’s troubling time-travel conundrum, and more.

“There’s a bevy of delights for any cinephile who revels in the bizarre,” Bertram said in a recent media release.

Full schedule details and filmmaker guests at MidWest WeirdFest will be announced in the coming weeks with individual tickets to each film going on sale closer to the festival. Tickets will be available for purchase from both the festival’s website and directly from the Micon Downtown Cinema.

The first seven announced films:

• Anywhere (dir. Adam Seidel): A roughneck commits a hasty and brutal crime after discovering his scumbag brother is planning to run off with his cheating wife, completely upending the only life he’s ever known. A taut, twisting, and character driven neo-noir thriller, reminiscent of early classics from the Coen Brothers. (Website)

Beyond Bizarre: The Life and Art of John Willie (dir. Charlotte Grondin & Guillaume Pin): A captivating examination of John Wille’s tumultuous life, from the Edwardian era to underground New York. Champion of sexual freedom through his magazine Bizarre, and a brilliant draughtsman, photographer, and editor; Willie left his mark on fetish iconography and on the history of erotic and bondage comics with Sweet Gwendoline. For the first time, a documentary recounts the life and work of this passionate artist. (Website)

Cocaine Stepdad (dir. Cody LaRue, Dylan Grady): On the run from the law, former stepdad Terry Miller (Cody LaRue ) must travel across the state with his estranged 12-year-old stepson Kyle Kulansky (played hilariously by bearded adult actor and co-director Dylan Grady), in order to stop his ex-wife from remarrying. Crude, crass, shocking, and jaw-achingly hilarious, Cocaine Stepdad is THE underground comedy film of the year! (Website)

The Sasqualogist (dir. Joseph Granda): In the Colorado Rockies, a researcher and his young protégé track a Sasquatch, uncovering the emotional depth of their adventure and the influence of fatherhood. A unique and rollicking film, it’s loaded with heart and Bigfoot references. It’s sure to delight anyone with even a passing interest in cryptozoology. (Website)

Straight On Till Morning (dir. Craig Ouellette): Two dreamers, small town musician Dani and waitress Kaitlin, start falling for each other on a spontaneous road trip. The future is bright – until they cross paths with a twisted family, led by matriarch Lilly (Maria Olsen, Paranormal Activity 3, Percy Jackson and The Olympians: Lighting Thief), with something much, much darker in mind. A unique blend of romance and horror, filled with nail biting tension and highlighted with original songs sung by Dani, Straight On Till Morning weaves the beautiful and terrible things people do for love into an unforgettable, edge of your seat journey into darkness. (Website)

Tim Travers & The Time Travelers Paradox (dir. Stimson Snead): It is called the Time Travelers Paradox. In which a scientist creates a Time Machine and kills their younger self. So now a man who should not exist, somehow does. That is the Paradox, and Paradoxes are impossible. And the man who has created it, is Tim Travers: a reclusive, mad scientist. In the course of his adventure, Travers will take on the mercenary gang whose stolen plutonium powers his machine, challenge a conspiracy podcaster to a battle of wits, create a black hole, meet the one woman alive crazier than him, clone himself, destroy the universe, make a new one, and maybe – just maybe – learn to love himself at last. (Website)

Traumnovelle (dir. Florian Frerichs): A potent adaptation of Arthur Schnitzler’s novel of the same title (the inspiration for Stanley Kubrick’s Eyes Wide Shut). Equal parts erotic and disturbing, a woman tells her husband that she has fantasies about other men, triggering a desire for his own sexual adventures. Set in modern, kinky Berlin, the film is much more than a mere reboot of Kubrick’s last film. (Website)


Learn more about MidWest WeirdFest and purchase your three-day festival pass, currently discounted as an early-bird deal, online • Keep up with MidWest WeirdFest on Facebook