It must be spring, because in just a couple of days thousands of tastemakers will descend upon Austin, Texas, for the SXSW Film & TV Festival. Providing a home for everything from big budget Hollywood premieres like The Fall Guy to micro budget foreign indies, XR presentations, short film programs, music videos, TV premieres, and much more, SXSW is the hot spot for film in the US in this part of the year.
WIth over 100 feature films, most celebrating world or international premieres, SXSW has become a crucial launching pad for genre film, thanks to its impeccably curated Midnighters and Visions sections. Yes, the big budget stuff is there, and we are excited about those, but these speciality sections really get our engines revving. With that in mind, check out the gallery below for our most anticipated films of SXSW: horror, thrillers, weirdo experimental stuff, and action, it's all happening at SXSW 2024.
Monkey Man
Dev Patel's directorial debut, Monkey Man, has been described as "John Wick in Mumbai," and that would be enough to put it on our radar. However, having spoken to a handful of people who have seen the film, it's jumped to the top of our list of anticipated titles. Action, action, and more action; this looks like one hell of a calling card for Patel both behind and in front of the camera, and with a solid supporting cast to back him up, Monkey Man is definitely one to keep your eyes peeled for.
Hunting Daze
A graduate of the Frontieres at Cannes selection, Hunting Daze is Annick Blanc's feature directing debut. Dropping an abandoned exotic dancer in the middle of a men's hunting weekend is a scenario ripe for drama, but you'll never guess what actually happens when a stranger appears out of nowhere and everything turns topsy turvy. Blanc's incredible visual sense complements her characters and a sense of unease that permeates the film makes it definitely one to watch for.
Azrael
Silence is terrifying in director E.L. Katz's (Cheap Thrills) post-apocalyptic survival horror, Azrael. Almost completely without dialogue, Katz and writer Simon Barrett (The Guest, Godzilla X Kong) put lead actress Samara Weaving through the wringer as a woman kidnapped for a sacrifice but determined to escape. It's a long and brutal road to potential freedom, but never boring in one of the year's most experimental Midnighters.
Civil War
Say what you want about Alex Garland, his work never fails to start conversations. Garland follows up the divisive Men with Civil War, a contemporary dystopian thriller in which current US politics have led to a violent fracture between extremes. The trailer for this film has already caused waves, and the full feature is certain to be one of the festival's buzziest titles as A24 presents the film's world premiere at this year's SXSW.
Kryptic
Another director making their feature debut this year is Kourtney Roy with Kryptic. A woman searches for a a missing cryptid hunter, only to discover that she may be inextricably linked with the monster being hunted. Scary and tense, the photography in Kryptic is incredible, thanks in large part to Roy's extensive experience as a photographer. There's a lot to parse in Kryptic, and we look forward to the challenge.
Sew Torn
Director Freddy Macdonald expands on his 2019 short film, Sew Torn with this year's feature length version of the same name. A candy colored, violent, and twisty film in the vein of Run Lola Run, Sew Torn follows Barbara Duggen, a woman whose family tailoring shop is inches from closing as she scrapes by with any job she can get. When she attempts to retrieve a lost button at her gig as a mobile seamstress, a chance encounter with a drug deal gone bad opens up multiple realities in which she must chose her own adventure. A fast-paced action film with a huge sense of humor and creativity dripping from every frame, Sew Torn looks to be one of SXSW's sleepers, but keep your eyes on this one, it's great!
Things Will Be Different
The latest project from the Rustic Films (The Endless, Spring, Aporia) extended family is Things Will Be Different. In this one, regular Moorehead & Benson editor Michael Felker takes the director's chair for yet another metaphysical creepfest. A pair of siblings hide from the cops in a farmhouse that isn't exactly normal, altering their realities and sense of time, pushing them and their already strained relationship to the edge. Another SXSW feature debut, Things Will Be Different brings an exciting new voice to the genre film world.
Oddity
That's one messed up looking mannequin.
Sign me the fuck up.
Oddity.
Family
Young Joanna is lonely and scared. Her father is ill and the family has moved across the country to seek medical help, leaving her far from the life she's always known. As Dad gets sicker, things at home get worse and Joanna asks the universe for a little help. Unfortunately, the universe listened, but it didn't exactly deliver the help she was looking for and soon the family is in danger. In what is always one of the most exciting parts of SXSW, the Midnighters section brings us yet another debutante feature director with Benjamin Finkel's Family. We're very excited to see where Family goes if this single image is anything to go by.
Desert Road
A woman's car crashes in the middle of nowhere in Desert Road. In a desperate search for help, she treks off into the wilderness, only to find that every path leads her right back to where she began. Visual FX specialist Shannon Triplett makes her feature directing debut and leaves the CG behind with this mindfuck of a movie, and we are into it. Desert Road has its world premiere on Sunday, March 10.
Immaculate
This is Sydney Sweeney's world, we're just living in it. After starring roles in Euphoria, Anyone But You, The White Lotus, and Madame Web, Sweeney seems to be everywhere, but Immaculate feels different. Directed by Michael Mohan (The Voyeurs), Immaculate follows a young nun as she accepts a role at a prestigious Italian convent, only to discover that not everything nor everyone are as innocent as they seem. Give me fucked up nuns any day of the week and I'm sold. Let's do this.
Dead Mail
Starting with the striking image of a bound and bloodied man crawling desperately toward a postal box, Dead Mail never goes quite where you think it will. A rural town's postal investigator attempts to track down the cold leads with help from across the globe. The race for the perfect synth drives men to madness. All manner of bizarre and cruel acts capturedwith a unique visual flair and almost Peter-Stricklandesque sense of detachment. Dead Mail is one of the more unique titles in Visions this year.