SXSW 2026 Review: EDIE ARNOLD IS A LOSER, A Wholesome Punk Rock Blast Of Teenage Rebellion

A frustrated catholic schoolgirl accidentally forms a punk band with her “turd” friends and turns her campus upside down in Edie Arnold is a Loser, the contagiously charming, super energetic debut feature from writer/directors Kade Atwood and Megan Rico.

Edie (Adi Madden Cabrera) hates her catholic school. The only modicum of joy she gets is fantasizing about rock ‘n’ roll while (barely) playing drums for her school’s terrible church choir. Sharing her frustration is the choir organist, the explosively enthusiastic Frances (McKenna Tuckett). The choir is populated by very pretty girls with very little talent, making their jobs as accompanists torturous. They wile away their school days complaining with their more subdued friends Judith (Niki Rahimi) and Ellen (Alexa Paige), all while the popular girls giggle and point.

When the dynamic duo sneak out to see a punk band at a local dive, Edie stumbles into playing drums on stage when the band’s regular guy gets too drunk to do his job. She gets noticed by the dreamy lead singer, Iggy (Gabe Root), who encourages her to bring her own band back to the open mic night the following week. After roping in reluctant Judith and Ellen to fill out the lineup, The Nundead are formed, as well as some incredible core memories and self-confidence that the quartet were actively denied at school.

Edie Arnold is a Loser is a love letter to teenage rebellion wrapped in a story about growing up punk. Cabrera and Tuckett are like a live action cartoon duo, the former genuinely trying to fit into what she thinks the world – and her mother, played by Cherish Rodriguez – want from her and the latter playing Tasmanian devil as she blasts her way beyond the boundaries of catholic school good taste to express every unfinished through that pops into her head. It’s a solid balance that is outlined by Atwood and Rico’s directorial sense that utilizes animated rotoscope-like techniques to highlight the way their characters see the world as well as comic sound effects that might feel at home in a Three Stooges short.

As a person with a soft spot for “let’s start a band!” films, Edie Arnold is a Loser presses a lot of my buttons. We have outcast teenagers trying to find themselves, angry music as a form of rebellion, deliberately over-the-top acting and action, and all of it wrapped up in a briskly paced seventy-three-minute package. This film feels like what might have happened if Twisted Sister’s “I Wanna Rock” video from 1984 was extended to feature length, and that is exactly my jam. If Edie Arnold is a Loser inspires just one teenage girl to get off her butt and strap on a guitar or grab a pair of drumsticks, it will have done its job. I suspect it will do just that.