After being the first major film festival hit by the 2020 COVID-19 pandemic—the unfortunate timing couldn’t have been worse, March 2020 as the virus first started causing lockdowns around the U.S. — and having to cancel that year, SXSW has been arguably hit the hardest of all the festivals in North America. 2021 SXSW had to go virtual as the virus issues persisted, but this year, the festival is finally triumphantly back in person. Yes, it’s also a hybrid model and there are titles available to stream, but the SXSW (and perhaps more importantly, the studios) is really looking at itself as an in-person festival.
To that end, there’s a ton of good offerings. Austin homeboy Richard Linklater is back with a new animated movie (“Apollo 10 1/2“), as are the ambitious duo, the Daniels (“Swiss Army Man“), and so is indie horror filmmaker, Ti West, a director the festival loves. Other highlights include the meta Nicolas Cage comedy, “The Unbearable Weight of Massive Talent,” the action-adventure, “The Lost City” with Channing Tatum and Sandra Bullock, and a new Jeff Baena film starring Alison Brie, Alessandro Nivola, Aubrey Plaza, and more.
As trailblazers in the TV space, recognizing the growing number of filmmakers moving into television way before more film festivals, SXSW has a great stacked TV line-up. Some of the excellent premieres happening at SXSW this year include Paramount+‘s long-awaited “Halo” series, the third season of Donald Glover‘s much-beloved “Atlanta” FX series, Alex Kurtzman‘s “The Man Who Fell To Earth” TV remake for Showtime, with Chiwetel Ejiofor and Naomie Harris, and the “WeCrashed” series starring Jared Leto and Anne Hathaway to name just a few. There are riches aplenty at SXSW this year, so here’s a quick primer on the big-name titles you’ll want to keep an eye on.
“Apollo 10 ½: A Space Age Childhood”
A coming-of-age tale set during the summer of 1969, the remarkable Richard Linklater returns to the world of animation with “Apollo 10 ½: A Space Age Childhood.” Featuring a great cast including Jack Black and Zachary Levi, Linklater shot parts of his new moon landing project with similar live-action, rotoscope techniques that he used on “Waking Life” and “A Scanner Darkly.” Following childhood fantasies back on Earth as the historic space mission unfolds, the director reportedly spent much of lockdown specifically tinkering the film, and taking his time in the editing bay worked out pretty damn well for “Boyhood.”
“Atlanta”
Our pick for Most Anticipated TV Series of 2022, we’ve already remarked on how “it has been way too long since we caught up with Earn, Paper Boi, Darius, and Vanessa, but the good news is that the geniuses behind this award-winning show have been working not just on Season 3 but writing and shooting Season 4 at the same time.” Now we know that “Atlanta” will, sadly, be coming to its conclusion following the fourth batch of episodes – both seasons set to premiere this year – but that’s very much the way Donald Glover intended it. Though we’ll be waiting till Fall for the grand finale, Season 3 launches at SXSW, so be on the lookout for our review.
“Bodies Bodies Bodies”
Following up her acclaimed directorial debut, “Instinct,” (which received a special mention for best first feature at Locarno Film and was selected as the Dutch entry for the 92nds Academy Awards) Halina Reijn is the latest talent to enter the A24 horror game. Her sophomore movie, “Bodies, Bodies, Bodies,” finds a group of rich young adults hosting a party that turns deadly. Described as a “fresh and funny look at backstabbing, fake friends,” Reijn’s film stars Amandla Sternberg, Maria Bakalova (‘Borat Subsequent Moviefilm’) and Lee Pace. These types of smartphone era slasher satires are all the rage right now (see also: “Fresh”) and ‘Bodies’ looks to capitalize on their success.
“The Cow”
Director Eli Horowitz’s (co-creator of “Homecoming”) feature debut, “The Cow” stars Winona Ryder, Dermot Mulroney, John Gallagher Jr., Owen Teague, and Brianne Tju. Known for his mystery approach to storytelling, specific plot details of Horowitz’s movie are being kept under lock and key but the SXSW program has provided a brief synopsis, at least: “When her boyfriend runs off with a younger woman, Kath (Winona Ryder) attempts to move on with her life — but she begins to suspect his disappearance is not what it seems.”
“Everything Everywhere All At Once”
Produced by Joe and Anthony Russo, “Everything Everywhere All at Once” looks to combine multiverse storytelling with the mundanity of doing your taxes. Starring Michelle Yeoh as Evelyn Wang, an exhausted Chinese American woman who exists across multiple realities. Also starring Jamie Lee Curtis, Jenny Slate, and the great James Hong, writing/directing duo Daniel Kwan and Daniel Scheinert’s interdimensional action romp was initially set to co-star Awkwafina, who had to drop out due to scheduling conflicts. Another hotly anticipated A24 title, there are just so many fascinating elements competing for attention with ‘Everything Everywhere’ that we’ve got to check it out.
“The Girl From Plainville”
Inspired by the true story of Michelle Carter and Conrad Roy’s unprecedented “texting suicide” case,” “The Girl From Plainville” created by Liza Hannah (“The Post”) and Patrick Macmanus (“Dr. Death”) stars Colton Ryan and Elle Fanning as Roy and Carter, the latter of whom was convicted for involuntary manslaughter for encouraging her boyfriend to kill himself over text message. Also featuring Chloë Sevigny, Norbert Leo Butz, and Cara Buono (“Mad Men”), the upcoming Hulu series was directed by Lisa Cholodenko (“The Kids Are All Right,” “Unbelievable”) who is a very strong fit for such specific, sensitive material.
“I Love My Dad”
Inspired by his own true story, writer/director James Morosini’s “I Love My Dad” stars Patton Oswalt as Chuck, a “hopelessly estranged father” who catfishes his son in an effort to rekindle their relationship. Oswalt showed he had serious acting chops with “Big Fan” and “Young Adult,” and while he’s been heavily in the spotlight for the geek community side of things he so loves (it’s next to impossible to not think of the Thanos Filibuster whenever you see him), we’re eager and intrigued to see him take on a more challenging human role (no offense to Pip the Troll).
“The Lost City”
A noticeably budgeted blockbuster, rom-com adventure, “The Lost City,” looks to be the latest studio star vehicle aiming to revive “Romancing the Stone,”/”The African Queen” type pictures. Starring Sandra Bullock and Channing Tatum as a best-selling romance novelist on tour with her cover model, the pair find themselves wrapped up in a real-life treasure hunt when a famous billionaire, named Fairfax (played by Daniel Radcliffe) kidnaps the author, believing her book to be based in fact. Also featuring Brad Pitt as a CIA agent, “The Lost City” looks to blend movies like “The Heat” and “Jungle Cruise,” and maybe throw in a little “Uncharted” too.
“The Man Who Fell To Earth”
Described as being based on both Walter Tevis novel and Nicolas Roeg’s landmark 1976 cult film starring David Bowie, Showtime’s upcoming “The Man Who Fell To Earth,” “follows a new alien character who arrives on Earth at a turning point in human evolution and must confront his own past to determine our future.” Developed by Alex Kurtzman (CBS’ “Star Trek” reboots) and Jenny Lumet (“Clarice,” and, yes, Sidney Lumet’s daughter) who both have experience working in sci-fi television, the series stars Chiwetel Ejiofor, Naomie Harris, Jimmi Simpson, Rob Delaney, Sonya Cassidy, Joana Ribeiro, Annelle Olaleye, Kate Mulgrew, and Clarke Peters.
“Seriously Red”
Not to be confused with Pixar’s latest “Turning Red,” director Gracie Otto’s “Seriously Red,” stars real life couple Rose Byrne and Bobby Cannavale, alongside Australian writer/actress Krew Boylan playing Red, a Dolly Parton impersonator. A musical dramedy about giving up a 9 to 5 job in favor of chasing one’s dream of success, Otto’s film explores the process of shedding who you are in order to find yourself in someone else. “Be yourself because everyone is taken,” as Dolly Parton would say. Longtime admirers of the creative duo’s body of work, “Seriously Red” marks the first feature produced by Bryne’s Dollhouse pictures.
“Spin Me Round”
Starring Alison Brie, Alessandro Nivola, Aubrey Plaza, and Fred Armisen, director Jeff Baena’s (co-writer of “I Heart Huckabees”) “Spin Me Round” finds him reteaming with his partner, Plaza, following “Life After Beth” and “The Little Hours.” After the manager of an Italian restaurant chain (Brie, we think?) is given the opportunity to attend her company’s “immersion program institute” outside of Florence, Italy – as well as meet the franchise owner – what initially appeared to be a promising getaway/opportunity does not end as expected.
“To Leslie”
The story of a West Texas single mom (Andrea Riseborough) who wins the lottery and then drowns it away in drink just as fast, “To Leslie” is a tale of redemption and rebirth. Years after her spiral, Leslie returns home to confront the past, feeling she has nowhere left to go. Directed by Michael Morris (known for his TV work on series such as “House of Cards” and “Halt and Catch Fire”) the movie co-stars Marc Maron as Sweeney, a quiet hotel manager living a quiet life, and Allison Janney as Nancy, a mean former biker who has a history with the one-time lottery winner.
“The Unbearable Weight of Massive Talent”
Nicolas Cage famously embodied real life screenwriter Charlie Kaufman (“Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind,” “I’m Thinking Of Ending Things”) and his fictional twin, Donald, in the incomparable “Adaptation.” In “The Unbearable Weight of Massive Talent,” Cage plays himself, or, at least, a version of himself so strapped for cash that he accepts a million-dollar offer to attend a super fan’s birthday party. Things get even nuttier when Cage realizes this supposed super-fan (Pedro Pascal) is actually a billionaire drug kingpin, and goes undercover as an assortment of his past characters. Co-starring Tiffany Haddish and Neil Patrick Harris, the meta-black comedy sounds like “Being John Malkovich” meshed with “JCVD.”
“WeCrashed”
The story of how one of the most valuable tech startup companies in the world, WeWork, tanked their $47 billion dollar brand, “WeCrashed” explores the actual events and tumultuous love story that caused a public offering opportunity to plummet. Starring Jared Leto as narcissistic CEO Adam Neumann and Anne Hathaway as his wife, Rebekah, the series is directed by John Requa and Glenn Ficarra, who helmed “Crazy, Stupid, Love,” and “Focus,” the latter of which paired them with Margot Robbie and Leto in developing an unmade Harley Quinn/Joker spin-off film. Also featuring Kyle Marvin and America Ferrera, WeCrashed is high up on our Most Anticipated TV list.
“X”
Returning to his horror roots with a sexploitation/grindhouse project “X,” Ti West looks to take audiences back to the 70s ‘Texas Chainsaw Massacre” days. “In 1979, a group of young filmmakers set out to make an adult film in rural Texas, but when their reclusive, elderly hosts catch them in the act, the cast find themselves fighting for their lives.” Already proving his genre chops with the pair of films, “The House of the Devil,” and “The Innkeepers,” West’s latest – which stars Mia Goth, Jenna Ortega, Martin Henderson, Brittany Snow, Owen Campbell, Stephen Ure, and Scott Mescudi – sounds right up his alley.