This past week marked my 15th year attending the SXSW Film Festival. Every year I tell myself that this will probably be the last year I attend but, come March, I find myself squeezing in the maximum amount of movies every day for a week. I was 21 the first year I attended SXSW. I’m now 39. There’s a big difference in how long a 39-year-old can go without sleep compared to a 21-year-old. Even still, I love the sense of discovery that SXSW, and film festivals in general, bring and SXSW might just be an experience I’m incapable of quitting.
I saw twenty-four films this past year. Here’s a rundown of the stuff you need to keep an eye out for:
TIMESTALKER - CLOUD ATLAS, but make it silly. I loved Alice “PREVENGE” Lowe’s equally beautiful and funny film about a woman trapped in a series of reincarnations as she seeks love from a series of multigenerational doofuses. Please continue to make more movies for a long time, Mrs. Lowe.
GASOLINE RAINBOW - Teens embark on a road trip with zero money and fewer plans. They listen to music older than they are and make bad decisions, but it all works out in the end because adolescence equals immortality. The film is a timeless tale of youthful restlessness, via the TikTok generation.
SECRET MALL APARTMENT - A super fun documentary about a group of artists who managed to build a hidden residential apartment inside of a mall and live there for four years. Oddly (or maybe not so oddly), I found it very inspiring. The film celebrates creation for the sake of creation.
MOVIEPASS, MOVIE CRASH - A fascinating, and all-too-frustrating, history lesson behind MoviePass and the two black founders who were pushed out of the company they started by a pair of white conmen. The film serves a reminder that a good deal sometimes is too good of a deal but dreamers are gonna keep dreaming.
DICKWEED - A very entertaining true crime documentary that starts with a man getting his penis cut off and then goes in even wilder directions. I enjoyed the film’s slick cinematic reenactments but the outrageous subject interviews are the real stars of this fun doc.
BABES - A super funny, super raunchy blast about a woman who, after a one-night stand, finds out she’s pregnant. She leans on her BFF, a mother of two, for emotional support and guidance. It’s great to see Ilana Glazer in full-on BROAD CITY mode again. This movie is going to put so many smiles on so many faces, and probably so many condoms on so many penises.
Y2K - Finally, elder millennials have a MAXIMUM OVERDRIVE to call there own. A very funny, very dark movie about an AI uprising on NYE 2000 and a group of high school students who must save the world. A great cast and a greater collection of “remember this” moments spoke to this Class of 2003 graduate.
GRAND THEFT HAMLET - A group of out-of-work actors during the pandemic decide to stage a production of HAMLET while playing GRAND THEFT AUTO ONLINE. The film is as surreal and charming as you might expect. It’s inspiring to see artists rally behind a fun idea like this.
AUDREY - In the vein of WORLD’S GREATEST DAD, a family finds themselves living their best life when an asshole daughter’s half-ass suicide attempt lands her in a coma. This pitch-black Australian comedy is about how kids ruin people’s lives.
I SAW THE TV GLOW - Two outcast high school students bond over a low-budget supernatural television show. The film is an exploration of how television can simultaneously fill and widen the emotional holes in your heart, using the visual language of a show (BUFFY THE VAMPIRE SLAYER) that filled and widened my own adolescent holes. Powerful, traumatic, and visually stunning.
SEW TORN - A seamstress discovers the many possible ways bad decisions can leave her in a whole heap of crap in this SLIDING DOORS meets '90s crime thriller that somehow got magicked into the year of our lord 2024. Slick visuals, weird geographic disconnect, fun premise.
SHE LOOKS LIKE ME - What if you found out your childhood hero was actually your biological sister? This documentary follows two women who, individually, pushed themselves physically and mentally, as they discover they are actually sisters.
MONKEY MAN - Dev Patel knows how to orchestrate violence. Patel’s directorial debut features the actor both taking and inflicting all kinds of hurt as he seeks revenge for the death of his mother. Patel is a fan of the action genre and shows off his influences in this fun underdog revenge flick.
FAMILY - Grief horror, but make it cosmic. A girl’s birdhouse traps an evil spirit who preys on the family’s heightened emotions as the father fights back against a cancer diagnosis. There are some great scares, including one particularly effective spine tingler featuring a pooch.
CHEECH AND CHONG’S LAST MOVIE - A heavily stylized documentary about the comedic duo has a fun format and some great comedic nuggets while seemingly only scratching at the surface of the story. No mention of the Twitter advertising budget for their gummy business.
THE FALL GUY - A ton of fun, this movie is just an unabashed celebration of stunt work, Ryan Gosling’s comedic chops, and the music of KISS. I can’t wait to watch this movie again and again and again. And then go jump off a roof because I’m easily impressionable.
BIRDEATER - WHO’S AFRAID OF VIRGINIA WOOLF? meets WAKE IN FRIGHT. A coed stag party turns into a night of drug-fueled confessions, dark secrets, and bad decisions. Yet more proof why fiancés shouldn’t share their bachelor/bachelorette parties.
ADRIANNE AND THE CASTLE - A beautiful doc about an artist (with an unexpected relationship to the 1972 movie FROGS) who turns his home into a shrine for his wife and muse. But when she dies and he is left alone in his museum to his love, the artist must continue to live.
THE MOOGAI - Three generations of indigenous women must stand up to a baby-snatching boogeyman in this Australian horror film. Some great scares, a wonderful creature design, and strong cultural perspective make this a film worth seeking out.
DIDI (弟弟) - An absolute megaton delight. In 2008, a Taiwanese-American boy spends a summer trying to figure out friends, skate tricks, and how to not be awkward around girls. Funny, touching, and rooted in that universal longing to belong, audiences are going to love this film.
THE GREATEST HITS - BUTTERFLY EFFECT meets Spotify’s Chill Indie Vibes playlist. Songs cause a woman to trip through time, preventing her from moving on two years after her boyfriend’s tragic death. Great soundtrack, great performances, time travel and music - it’s 100 % my bag.
I WISH YOU ALL THE BEST - A nonbinary teen finds themselves under the roof of their sister after being kicked out of their home by their parents. A charming coming-of-age drama with an unexpected James Tynion IV reference.
CIVIL WAR - My butt is soooo clenched. I may never poop again. Technically stunning, emotionally powerful, its very existence an audacious triumph - this movie rules harder than a tape measure. I can’t wait to watch America react to this film.
AZRAEL - Samara Weaving ducks and weaves her way through the post-apocalypse in this mostly silent religious horror jam. Like IMMACULATE, the movie has a killer ending but, in addition, audiences are also treated to a bonus 75 minutes of Weaving being an absolute badass.
Thank you for your recap! I now have several movies on my list to go see. By the way, you’re just a baby and you’re not getting too old! We need you to go watch these movies for us! 😎