SXSW 2025 Review: MIX TAPE, Love, Music, and the Gulf Between Them

Two teenagers fall in love, united by music and passion.

Mix Tape
The series enjoyed its world premiere at SXSW 2025.

In the early 1980s, the music scene in Sheffield, England, birthed Cabaret Voltaire, ABC, and the Human League, among others. Quite a range!

First published in 2020, Jane Sanderson's novel Mix Tape is set in Sheffield, where two music-loving teengers meet and fall in love in 1989. In the present day, they reconnect. Written by Jo Spain and directed by Lucy Gaffy, the first two episodes of a new series adaptation introduce the teens in the flower of their youth before fast forwarding to their lives some 25 years later.

In their youth, Alison (Florence Hunt) and Daniel (Rory Walton-Smith) were separated by a gulf between their family lives and their respective economic situations. Daniel has a happy family life, with two loving parents and siblings who don't actively hate each other. They live modestly but comfortably. Daniel is ambitious about his future. Alison lives with her brother in a much more challenging existence, scrapping for everything and constantly aware of what she doesn't have. She is no less anxious to escape her surroundings, which she keeps hidden from Daniel.

In their middle-aged present, they are separated by literal oceans. Alison (Teresa Palmer) has moved to Sydney, Australia, where she lives with her husband and children, and has just published a well-received book. Daniel (Jim Sturgess) has remained in Sheffield, where he's a freelance music journalist with a domestic partner and a desire to do more.

The grown-up Alison and Daniel are both in relatively settled situations, yet neither appears to be completely satisfied. They both appear to be in middle-aged ruts; they're not screamingly anxious about changing their circumstances, but neither are they completely satisfied. Something is gnawing at each of them, though they don't know how to define it nor what to do about it.

We can see their underlying ambitions in their younger years, too. Neither one knows exactly how to get out of their present circumstances, though they are more firmly decided on the necessity of action. They need to do something to change things, but they don't know what to do, exactly.

I'm quite curious as to how the Australian-Irish series resolves the questions it raises in the first two episodes. Based on the first two episodes, it's quite promising, especially due to the reliable presence of Teresa Palmer, who's given excellent performances over the years in both films and television series.

The series is due to premiere on Australian service Binge, later in 2025.