SXSW top brass have announced an additional 50 titles in the remaining line-up for next month, with world premieres of Alice Lowe’s Timestalker, Dev Patel’s Monkey Man, and Sydney Sweeney starrer Immaculate among the selection.
Playing in Headliner are Monkey Man, Patel’s feature directorial debut revenge story; Michael Mohan’s Immaculate, which Neon will distribute in the US and stars Sweeney (current $150m global hit Anyone But You, The White Lotus) as a nun; and A24’s New Year’s Eve comedy sci-fi Y2K starring Rachel Zegler.
Among Narrative Spotlight selections are Lowe’s UK reincarnation rom-com Timestalker (pictured) sold by HanWay Films and starring herself and Nick Frost; Ben Brewer’s Irish survival action thriller Arcadian starring Nicolas Cage and Jaeden Martell, which worldwide sales agent Highland Film Group will introduce to EFM buyers next week; and Amman Abbasi’s USA-Pakistan drama Yasmeen’s Element.
A number of Sundance selections get their Texan premieres in the Festival Favorite section. These include: Jane Schoenbrun’s I Saw The TV Glow at A24; Sean Wang’s Didi at Focus Features; Ghostlight at IFC and Sapan Studio; and Rich Peppiatt’s Kneecap, which Sony Pictures Classics acquired for multiple territories.
The additional films appear below. All synopses provided by the festival, and all films are world premieres unless stated otherwise. Click here to see TV selections.
SXSW runs March 8-16 in Austin, Texas. As previously announced, the world premieres of Amazon MGM Studios’ Road House starring Jake Gyllenhaal and Michael Showalter’s The Idea Of You starring Anne Hathaway bookend the festival.
Road House director Doug Liman has said he will not attend the festival in protest over the studio’s decision to bypass theatrical and take the film straight to Prime. The Idea Of You is also going directly to Prime, as is Rudy Mancuso’s Narrative Spotlight entry Música.
Netflix series 3 Body Problem from Game Of Thrones co-creators David Benioff and D. B. Weiss is the festival’s opening night TV premiere, while Universal’s action comedy The Fall Guy with Ryan Gosling and Emily Blunt is the centrepiece screening.
HEADLINER
Big names, big talent featuring red carpet premieres and gala film events with major and rising names in cinema.
Immaculate
Dir: Michael Mohan
Pdrs: David Bernad, Sydney Sweeney, Jonathan Davino, Teddy Schwarzman, Michael Heimler
A devout American nun embarks on a new journey in a remote convent in the Italian countryside. Her warm welcome quickly devolves into a nightmare as it becomes clear her new home harbours a sinister secret and unspeakable horrors.
Cast: Sydney Sweeney, Álvaro Morte, Dora Romano, Benedetta Porcaroli, Giorgio Colangeli, Simona Tabasco
Monkey Man
Dir: Dev Patel
Pdrs: Dev Patel, Jomon Thomas, Jordan Peele, Win Rosenfeld, Ian Cooper, Basil Iwanyk, Erica Lee, Christine Haebler, Anjay Nagpal,
Dev Patel’s directing debut is an action thriller about a man’s vengeance against those who murdered his mother.
Cast: Dev Patel, Sharlto Copley, Pitobash, Vipin Sharma, Sikandar Kher, Sobhita Dhulipala, Ashwini Kalsekar, Adithi Kalkunte, Makarand Deshpande
Y2K
Dir: Kyle Mooney
Pdrs: Jonah Hill, Matt Dines, Alison Goodwin, Chris Storer, Cooper Wehde, Evan Winter
On the last night of 1999, two high school juniors crash a New Years Eve party, only to find themselves fighting for their lives in this dial-up disaster comedy.
Cast: Jaeden Martell, Rachel Zegler, Julian Dennison, The Kid Laroi
NARRATIVE SPOTLIGHT
Features receiving their World, North American, or US premieres.
Arcadian (Ire)
Dir: Ben Brewer
Pdrs: David Wulf, Braxton Pope, Nicolas Cage, Mike Nilon, Arianne Fraser, Delphine Perrier
After a catastrophic event depopulates the world, a father and his two sons must survive their dystopian environment while being threatened by mysterious creatures that emerge at night.
Cast: Nicolas Cage, Jaeden Martell, Maxwell Jenkins, Sadie Soverall
Desert Road
Dir: Shannon Triplett
Pdrs: Steven Schneider, Josh Clayton, Kirk Martin, Alec Roth, Lauren Bates, Sam Cohan
A young woman crashes her car and walks down the road seeking help, only to find no matter which way she walks she ends up back at her car. As night falls, she realises she’s going to die in this endless loop… unless she can find a way to escape.
Cast: Kristine Froseth, Frances Fisher, Beau Bridges, Ryan Hurst, D.B. Woodside, Max Mattern, Ratchel Dratch, Edwin Garcia II
The Greatest Hits
Dir. Ned Benson
Pdrs: Michael London, Shannon Gaulding, Ned Benson, Stephanie Davis, Cassandra Kulukundis
Harriet finds art imitating life when she discovers certain songs can transport her back in time – literally.
Cast: Lucy Boynton, Justin H. Min, David Corenswet, Austin Crute
The Gutter
Dirs: Yassir Lester, Isaiah Lester
Pdrs: Liz Destro, Jared Hess, Helen Estabrook, Tristen Tuckfield, Jillian Apfelbaum, Screenwriter: Yassir Lester
Walt (lover of threesomes, hater of shirts) strikes up an unlikely friendship with a former Pro Bowler as they discover he might be THE GOAT of the lanes. The only things standing in their way are racism, alcoholism and Linda “The Crusher” Curson.
Cast: Shameik Moore, Susan Sarandon, D’Arcy Carden, Jay Ellis, Jackée Harry, Paul Reiser
High Tide
Dir: Marco Calvani
Pdrs: Mickey Liddell, Pete Shilaimon, Marco Calvani
Heartbroken and adrift, undocumented Brazilian immigrant Lourenço searches for purpose in the queer mecca of Provincetown, where he sparks an unexpected romance with Maurice. Together the two reconcile their pasts they’ve left behind and their uncertain futures. Cast: Marco Pigossi, Mya Taylor, James Bland, Marisa Tomei, Bill Irwin, Sean Mahon
Música
Dir: Rudy Mancuso
Pdrs: McG, Mary Viola, Screenwriters: Rudy Mancuso, Dan Lagana
Coming-of-age love story that follows an aspiring creator with synesthesia, who must come to terms with an uncertain future, while navigating the pressures of love, family and his Brazilian culture in Newark, New Jersey.
Cast: Rudy Mancuso, Camila Mendes, Francesca Reale, Maria Mancuso, J.B. Smoove
Will launch globally on Prime Video on April 4.
Omni Loop
Dir: Bernardo Britto
Pdrs: Ben Cohen, Patrick Donovan, David Hinojosa
Diagnosed with a black hole growing inside her chest, a woman from Miami, Florida decides to solve time travel in order to go back and be the person she always intended to be.
Cast: Mary Louise Parker, Ayo Edebiri, Hannah Pearl Utt, Chris Witaske, Carlos Jacott, Harris Yulin, Steven Maier, Eddie Cahill
Switch Up
Dir: Tara Pirnia
Pdrs: Elizabeth Avellan, Marcela Ronquillo, Tara Pirnia, Cristian de la Fuente, Melissa Bickerton, Angela Blair
One of the nation’s top talk show hosts finds himself stranded at a homeless shelter where he meets a young widow. He falls in love and realises the path to happiness lies in helping others.
Cast: Cristian de la Fuente, Julieth Restrepo, Jeff Fahey, Shondrella Avery, R. Brandon Johnson, Temple Baker, Donnell Rawlings, Alicia Witt, Manuel Uriza, Felice Heather Monteith
Timestalker (UK)
Dir: Alice Lowe
Pdrs: Vaughan Sivell, Mark Hopkins, Natan Stoessel, Tom Wood
From the creative team behind Prevenge comes a reincarnation rom-com about the eternal humiliation that is the search for love, spanning the most romantic epochs of history.
Cast: Alice Lowe, Jacob Anderson, Aneurin Barnard, Tanya Reynolds, Nick Frost
Wakhri
Dir: Parveen Bilal
Pdrs: Abid Aziz Merchant, Apoorva Bakshi, Iram Parveen Bilal
A schoolteacher becomes a viral sensation overnight when she accidentally unleashes her unabashed opinions on social media. This newfound fame comes with its own challenges as she has to navigate archaic mindsets and secret identities.
Cast: Faryal Mehmood, Gulshan Majeed, Shees Sajjad Gul, Saleem Meraj, Sohail Sameer, Bakhtawar Mazhar, Akbar Islam, Tooba Siddiqui North American Premiere
Yasmeen’s Element (USA-Pak)
Dir: Amman Abbasi
Pdrs: Amman Abbasi, Jeffrey E. Stern, Alex Nystrom, Sana Jafri, Missy Laney
After losing her homework in the winding paths of her mountain town, resourceful Yasmeen sets off alone on an unexpected journey to find her professor.
Cast: Eeshal Fatima, Nazir Ahmed Bulbul, Abeera Rubab, Naveed Hassan
DOCUMENTARY SPOTLIGHT
Features receiving their World, North American, or US premieres.
7 Beats Per Minute (Can)
Dir: Yuqi Kang
Pdrs: Ina Fichman, Sherien Barsoum
Film captures the descent of a lifetime, when freediving champion Jessea Lu returns to the site of her near-death experience to face the traumas of her past and find a way back to connection.
A King Like Me
Dir: Matthew O. Henderson
Pdrs: Fisher Stevens, Maura Anderson, Darcy McKinnon, Terry Dugas
A King Like Me follows members of the Zulu Club, New Orleans’ first and century-old Black Mardi Gras krewe, as they work to bring Zulu back to the streets for Mardi Gras 2022.
The Antisocial Network
Dirs: Giorgio Angelini, Arthur Jones
Pdrs: Giorgio Angelini, Arthur Jones, Jordan Wynn, Andrew Fried, Dane Lillegard
From the rise of QAnon to the January 6th riots, The Antisocial Network explains how a group of bored teenagers built an online community out of their shared loneliness but accidentally shattered consensus reality in the process.
Billy & Molly: An Otter Love Story
Dir: Charlie Hamilton James
Pdr: Jeff Wilson
From National Geographic and Silverback Films, Billy & Molly: An Otter Love Story is a heart-warming story of love between a wild otter and a man set in the remote Scottish islands of Shetland.
Brandy Hellville & the Cult of Fast Fashion
Dir: Eva Orner
Pdrs: Jonathan Chinn, Simon Chinn, Eva OrnerHiding behind the shiny Instagram façade of Brandy Melville, the go-to clothing brand for young women, is a shockingly toxic culture that lies within the global fast fashion industry.
Clemente
Dir: David Altrogge
Pdrs: Mike Blizzard, Mary Sabol, Sarah Altrogge, Jocelyn Hartnett, Stephen Turselli, Keith Ayers, Andrew Calvetti, Steve Burman,
An immersive documentary about the remarkable life and legacy of MLB icon Roberto Clemente. Featuring Vera Clemente, Rita Moreno, Roberto Clemente Jr., Michael Keaton, Luis Roberto Clemente, Bob Costas, Tom Morello, Francisco Lindor, Yadier Molina, Richard Linklater.
Fly
Dirs/pdrs: Shaul Schwarz, Christina Clusiau
To stand on the edge and jump into the wind, one must be willing to lose everything. That could mean the love of your life, or the life you love. Over seven years, three couples in the world of BASE jumping risk everything to feel alive.
The Hobby (Can)
Dir: Simon Ennis
Pdrs: Kim C. Roberts, Tina Pehme, Justin Rebelo
Are games the meaning of life? The Hobby is a funny, affectionate, character-driven portrait of the massive subculture of modern board games, featuring a fascinating and diverse group of subjects who find deep meaning in “meaningless” pursuits.
How Music Got Free
Showrunner/dir: Alex Stapleton
Pdrs: Philip Byron, Marshall Mathers, Paul Rosenberg, LeBron James, Maverick Carter, Steve Stoute, Jamal Henderson, Bridgette Theriault, Dan Sacks, James Chapman, Steve Berman, John Janick, Anthony Seyler, Stephen Witt, Alex Stapleton
Film reveals the true story of Dell Glover, a CD factory worker turned piracy pioneer, who sparked a global file-sharing revolution.
Stormy
Dir: Sarah Gibson
Pdrs: Sarah Gibson, Erin Lee Carr, Emelia BrownFrom reporters to lawyers to politicians, many have attempted to define Stormy Daniels. Stormy tells the unvarnished truth about an unlikely American icon – this time, in her own words.
The Truth vs. Alex Jones
Dir: Dan Reed
Pdrs: Dan Reed, Marguerite Gaudin
How grieving Sandy Hook families defeated conspiracy giant Alex Jones in two historic trials, holding him to account for the lies he spread about the 2012 mass shooting. Fake news on trial, with unprecedented access to a Travis County courtroom.
VISIONS
Audacious, risk-taking artists who demonstrate innovation and creativity.
7 Keys (UK)
Dir: Joy Wilkinson
Pdrs: Cassandra Sigsgaard, Dylan Rees
Daniel has kept the keys to all the places he’s lived. Lena wants to use them for a wild weekend getting to know each other intimately in other people’s homes. But what begins as a risky fantasy soon becomes a deadly threat.
Cast: Emma McDonald, Billy Postlethwaite, Kaylen Luke, Joey Akubeze, Amit Shah, Jane Goddard
Doppelgängers³ (USA-Alg-Arm-Fr-UK)
Dir: Nelly Ben Hayoun- Stépanian
Prds: Sandra Leeming, Luke Moody, Victoria Adams, Amina Castaing, Nelly Ben Hayoun-Stépanian
Three doppelgängers meet in outer space to imagine diasporic and eco-feminist futures.
Sew Torn (USA-Switz)
Dir: Freddy Macdonald
Pdrs: Fred Macdonald, Barry Navidi, Sebastian Klinger, Diamantis Zavitsanos, Socratis Zavitsanos
A seamstress gets tangled in her own thread after stealing a briefcase from a drug deal gone bad. In an escalating game of cat and mouse, her different choices lead to drastically different outcomes along the way.
Cast: Eve Connolly, Calum Worthy, John Lynch, K Callan, Ron Cook, Thomas Douglas, Werner Biermeier, Veronika Herren-Wenger, Caroline Goodall
24 BEATS PER SECOND
Films showcasing the sounds, culture and influence of music and musicians.
Any Other Way: The Jackie Shane Story (Can)
Dirs: Michael Mabbott, Lucah Rosenberg-Lee
Pdrs: Amanda Burt, Sam Dunn, Scot McFadyen, Michael Mabbott, Justine Pimlott
The extraordinary rise, sudden disappearance, and resurgence of trailblazing Black trans soul singer Jackie Shane.
Billy Preston: That’s The Way God Planned It
Dir: Paris Barclay
Pdrs: Stephanie Allain Bray, Jeanne Elfant Festa, Nigel Sinclair,
A celebration of Billy Preston’s musical legacy, and an examination of the personal and social forces that haunted him throughout his life. Featuring Billy Preston, Eric Clapton, Billy Porter, Merry Clayton, Ringo Starr, Olivia Harrison, Suzanne de Passe, Tony Jones, Cory Henry, Gloria Jones
Dandelion
Dir: Nicole Riegel
Pdrs: Rian Cahill, Adam Cobb, Nicole Riegel, Peter McClellan
A singer-songwriter in a downward spiral takes a last effort gig at a motorcycle rally in South Dakota where she meets Casey, a guitarist who walked away from his dream long ago.
Cast: Kiki Layne, Thomas Doherty, Melanie Nicholls-King, Brady Stablein, Jack Stablein, Grace Kaiser
Freaknik: The Wildest Party Never Told
Dir: P. Frank Williams
A celebratory exploration of the boisterous times of Freaknik, the iconic Atlanta street party that drew hundreds of thousands of people in the 80s and 90s, helping put Atlanta on the map culturally. Featuring 21 Savage, Too $hort, Jermaine Dupri, Killer Mike, Luther Campbell (AKA Uncle Luke), Ceelo Green, Jaleen Rose, DJ Kenny Burns, Lil’ Jon, Legendary Jerry, Sharon Toomer, Emma Horton, Monique Tolliver, and Amadi Boon, Stacy Llyod
FESTIVAL FAVORITE
Stand-outs from festivals around the world.
Black Box Diaries (USA-Jap-UK)
Dir: Shiori Ito
Pdrs: Eric Nyari, Hanna Aqvilin, Shiori Ito
Journalist Ito embarks on a courageous investigation of her own sexual assault in an improbable attempt to prosecute her high-profile offender.
Texas premiere
Dìdi (弟弟)
Dir: Sean Wang
Pdrs: Carlos López Estrada, Josh Peters, Valerie Bush, Sean Wang
In 2008, during the last month of summer before high school begins, an impressionable 13-year-old Taiwanese American boy learns what his family can’t teach him: how to skate, how to flirt, and how to love your mum.
Cast: Izaac Wang, Joan Chen, Shirley Chen, Chang Li Hua
Texas premiere
Every Little Thing (Aus)
Dir: Sally Aitken
Pdrs: Bettina Dalton, Anna Godas, Oli Harbottle
All that stands between a wounded hummingbird and its survival is Terry Masear, the busiest hummingbird rehabilitator in Hollywood. Follow Terry’s unique mission to heal these tiny birds, and how in turn she shows us how to heal ourselves.
Texas premiere
Ghostlight
Dirs: Kelly O’Sullivan, Alex Thompson
Pdrs: Alex Thompson, Chelsea Krant, Pierce Cravens, Ian Keiser, Eddie Linker, Alex Wilson, Screenwriter: Kelly O’Sullivan
When a construction worker unwittingly joins a local theatre’s production of Romeo and Juliet, the drama onstage starts to mirror his own life.
Cast: Keith Kupferer, Dolly De Leon, Katherine Mallen-Kupferer, Tara Mallen
Texas premiere
Girls Will Be Girls (India)
Dir: Shuchi Talati
Pdrs: Richa Chadha, Claire Chassagne, Shuchi Talati
16-year-old Mira finds her sexy, rebellious coming-of-age hijacked by her mother who never got to come of age herself.
Cast: Preeti Panigrahi, Kani Kusruti, Kesav Binoy Kiran
Texas premiere
I Saw The TV Glow
Dir: Jane Schoenbrun
Prds: Emma Stone, Ali Herting, Dave McCary, Kevin Kelly, Sam Intilli, Sarah Winshall
Owen is just trying to make it through life in the suburbs when his classmate introduces him to a mysterious TV show — a vision of a supernatural world beneath their own. In the pale glow of the television, Owen’s view of reality begins to crack.
Cast: Justice Smith, Brigette Lundy-Paine, Ian Foreman, Helena Howard, Lindsey Jordan, Danielle Deadwyler, Fred Durst, Conner O’Malley, Emma Portner
Texas premiere
Kneecap (Ire-UK)
Dir: Rich Peppiatt
Pdrs: Trevor Birney, Jack Tarling
There are 80,000 native Irish speakers in Ireland. 6,000 live in the North of Ireland. Three of them became a rap group called Kneecap. This is the real life story of how this anarchic Belfast trio became the unlikely figureheads of a civil rights movement to save their mother tongue.
Cast: Naoise Ó Cairealláin aka “Móglaí Bap”, Liam Óg Ó Hannaidh aka “Mo Chara”, JJ Ó Dochartaigh aka “Dj Provaí”, Josie Walker, Fionnuala Flaherty, Jessica Reynolds, Adam Best, Simone Kirby, Michael Fassbender
Texas premiere
Love Machina
Dire: Peter Sillen
Pdrs: Brendan Doyle, Peter Sillen
Love Machina follows Bina48, a humanoid AI, commissioned in 2007 by Martine and Bina Rothblatt. An early sketch of potential digital consciousness, Bina48 is our vehicle to explore the Rothblatt’s futurist ideas and their quest to be in love forever.
Texas premiere
Never Look Away (NZ)
Dir: Lucy Lawless
Pdrs: Matthew Metcalfe, Lucy Lawless, Tom Blackwell, Screenwriters: Matthew Metcalfe, Tom Blackwell, Lucy Lawless, Whetham Allpress
New Zealand born, ground-breaking CNN camerawoman Margaret Moth, risks it all to show the reality of war from inside the conflict. Moth stares down danger and she confronts those that perpetuate it. Texas premiere
Pet Shop Days (It-UK-USA)
Dir: Olmo Schnabel
Pdrs: Galen Core, Francesco Melzi, Alex Coco, Bebe Moratti, Marie Savare, Olmo Schnabel, Screenwriters: Olmo Schnabel, Galen Core, Jack Irv
Impulsive black sheep Alejandro and pet store employee Jack, enter a whirlwind romance that sends them down the rabbit hole of depravity
in Manhattan’s underworld.
Cast: Jack Irv, Dario Yazeb Bernal, Willem Dafoe, Peter Sarsgaard, Jordi Molla, Louis Cancelmi, Maribel Verdu
Texas premiere
Smugglers (Kor)
Dir: Ryoo Seung-wan
Pdrs: Kang Hye-jung, Cho Sung-min, Ryoo Seung-wan, Screenwriters: Ryoo Seung-wan, Kim Jung-youn, Choi Cha-won
Two women get unexpectedly caught up in a high stakes smuggling scheme in 1970’s Korea
Cast: Kim Hye-soo, Yum Jung-ah, Zo In-sung, Park Jeong-min, Kim Jong-soo, Go Min-si
US premiere.
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