2024 SXSW Film Festival Preview- Must-See Movies in Austin
March 8th-14th- Going to Austin, Texas is now my second home. Or at least, it’s my second home for great movie consumption, and SXSW 2024 is lining up to have a lot of movies to praise. This will also be my eighth time covering the festivities, something that I can’t believe has become a reality, and each year gets better. The opening night remake of Road House– starring Jake Gyllenhaal– will have plenty of controversy, as director Doug Liman stated he will boycott the premiere because he was told by Amazon that his film would get a theatrical release, and instead it is going straight to streaming. The other movies outside of that all sound like a great mixture of action movies, independent films, movies that were big hits at Sundance, and a bunch of horror movies in the Midnighters that should be a lot of fun. In a nutshell, it’s SXSW, the film festival that blasts the year into a higher gear, as movies that will be big hits rise and some fade into obscurity. This year I am trying to cover things a bit differently, taking notice of documentaries, short films, independent films that deserve attention, and of course, the horror movies that get me going. Here are the movies that I am going to keep an eye on in Austin…
MOVIE: DICKWEED
DIRECTED BY: JONATHAN IGNATIUS GREEN
SCREENING: MARCH 9TH, 2:30PM
The true-crime documentary has taken up an entire corner of the genre. If you have a good one on your streaming site, the viewers will flock, and it often means a story that is fascinating from the details alone. You start with a wild title like Dickweed and the story behind it is just as crazy, making this the first must-see documentary of SXSW 2024. Director Jonathan Ignatius Green has gathered copious amounts of information on a kidnapping that left two people in the desert and one of them with their penis cut off. Ouch! What follows is a constant stream of details about the kidnapping, the perpetrators, and the detective who won’t stop until he figures out who could do such a heinous crime. Seeing Dickweed with a packed crowd will be a wild moment for the SXSW viewers.
MOVIE: AZRAEL
DIRECTED BY: E.L. KATZ
SCREENING: MARCH 9TH, 10:55PM
When I heard that E.L. Katz, the director of Cheap Thrills was going to have a new movie at SXSW I instantly added it to my “must-see” list. And when I saw that Simon Barrett was the writer- the guy that wrote The Guest and You’re Next– well, now I moved it to my “I refuse to leave Austin without seeing it” list. And then when I saw Samara Weaving was the lead, well, I just about fell over from shock. I don’t know what that list is called. This trio of incredible talents, all dominating the horror genre in their unique ways, certainly feels like a pivotal moment for SXSW this year and we get it with Azrael. The synopsis mentions an apocalyptic world where people can’t speak, a woman being hunted, and the always delightful horror hit of sacrifice. There’s not much else to say, Azrael is likely to blow the roof off the theater and I can’t wait.
MOVIE: HUNTING DAZE
DIRECTED BY: ANNICK BLANC
SCREENING: SATURDAY MARCH 9TH, 10 PM
One of my favorite parts of SXSW is how I discover a new movie every year that I would never have thought to check out and then it becomes the movie I can’t shut up about. The movie for me last year was Monolith and I am hoping that will be the result of Annick Blanc’s Hunting Daze. It’s giving off vibes similar to Triangle of Sadness, where a woman who is an exotic dancer, finds herself stranded with a group of men, celebrating their bachelor party on a hunting trip, where things start to go wrong. What director Blanc is hopefully going for is a battle of gender dynamics, along with a dash of scary situations, asking the audience to react in their way. At a tight 76-minute Hunting Daze might be too slight or just right, but either way, it sounds like one movie you don’t want to miss.
MOVIE: SEW TORN
DIRECTED BY: FREDDY MACDONALD
SCREENING: SUNDAY MARCH 10TH, 10:15 PM
Often at SXSW, I like to play a bit of film festival roulette. Scroll along the phone app schedule, land on a movie, and give it a shot. One that I landed on this year was director Freddy Macdonald’s Sew Torn. It’s the feature debut for Macdonald, something that I always love about SX, where new directors bring their unique voices. With Sew Torn, Macdonald is turning his award-winning short film into a feature, about a seamstress who witnesses a drug deal gone bad and has to make the right decision to save herself. It stars Eve Connolly, Calum Worthy, and the great Caroline Goodall which makes the cast line up for what could be a sneaky great pick at SXSW.
HOW ABOUT SHORTS?
MOVIE: THE BLEACHER
DIRECTED BY: NICOLE DADDONA, ADAM WILDER
SCREENING: MIDNIGHT SHORT COMPETITION- SUNDAY MARCH 10TH, 6:45 PM
With the recent success of Guillermo del Toro’s Pinocchio and the excellent horror film Stopmotion, the format of claymation has made a powerful return and to me, it’s always impressive. A short film that is in the Midnighters section that I highly recommend is Nicole Daddona and Adam Wilder’s strange and hypnotic The Bleacher. With voice work done by the incredibly talented Kate Micucci and Ben Sinclair, it follows a woman who goes on a rampage to find her missing sock and a laundromat. What makes it so memorable is its old-school style, similar to Pee-Wee’s Playhouse or MTV music videos, which makes every inch of the frame a visual delight. The Bleacher is an example of a short film offering more than most feature films.
MOVIE: THE BLACK SEA
DIRECTED BY: CRYSTAL MOSELLE, DERRICK B. HARDEN
SCREENING: MONDAY MARCH 11TH, 3:15 PM
The filmmaking of Crystal Moselle was something I took notice of quite quickly. Her first film The Wolfpack was groundbreaking, not just because her subjects were fascinating, but because it was a documentary style that blended fact and fiction into one. She followed that with her film Skate Kitchen and proved she wasn’t just a one-hit wonder. Her new film The Black Sea is co-directed with the film’s star Derrick B. Harden and once again Moselle is making a film that blurs the narrative lines. It’s the story of a man named Khalid (Harden) who finds himself stuck in Bulgaria with no way back to New York. Just as Moselle’s other films have done, there is excitement for how real and enlightening the experience will be, and The Black Sea should instantly be placed on your list of must-see movies at SXSW.
MOVIE: MONKEY MAN
DIRECTED BY: DEV PATEL
SCREENING: MONDAY MARCH 11TH, 9:30 PM
Four great words will be uttered at SXSW. Dev Patel. Directorial debut. Yes, Patel has directed a few short films, but the buzz surrounding his first feature Monkey Man can be heard from Texas to the California coast. This will certainly be one of the few screenings at SXSW that forces audiences to line up hours ahead of time. Rightfully so, because the trailer alone for Monkey Man was impressive, in what looks to be a story of revenge and class warfare. It’s a chance to see what Patel can do as a director but also as a new intense action star. If John Wick: Chapter 4 was a hit at SX last year, Monkey Man is going to give a really good kick.
