Returning for the 26th edition of the SXSW Film Festival, the annual Austin affair remains one of the real highlights of the circuit. This year the festival shows no signs of letting up, with an incredibly exciting line-up mixing headline names with some of the hottest new filmmaking talent.
Headlining the festival is Us, the opening night film from Jordan Peele and a ‘spiritual sequel’ to his much-loved Get Out. This time around a family on vacation encounter a set of dopplegangers who proceed to wreak havoc on their lives. Another horror closes the festival, Pet Sematary from festival alumni Kevin Kolsch and Dennis Widmyer, is an adaptation of the classic Stephen King novel, as a family moves out of the city to discover a creepy pet burial ground deep on their land.
It’s a good year for coming-of-age films, with the directorial debut from Olivia Wilde, Booksmart, telling the story of story school friends on one wild night, and Good Boys from the Seth Rogen/Evan Goldberg stable, hoping to recreate the fun of Superbad with a clutch of 12-year-olds.
Seth Rogen also stars in Long Shot from director Jonathan Levine (50/50). The film pits Rogen opposite Charlize Theron as a journalist and politican who team up when Theron’s character decides to run for president.
Other highlights include Chris Morris’ return with The Day Shall Come, a martial arts comedy starring Jesse Eisenberg called The Art of Self Defense, Harmony Korine’s latest feature, The Beach Bum, this time featuring an all-star cast of Matthew McConaughey, Isla Fisher, Snoop Dogg, Zac Efron and Jonah Hill, plus comedy Extra Ordinary starring Will Forte and Maeve Higgins, and The Highwaymen, a crime thriller with Kevin Costner and Woody Harrelson on the tail of Bonnie and Clyde.
On the documentary side, Jacob Hamilton explores a revolution in basketball on Jump Shot, Alex Gibney’s The Inventor: Out for Blood in Silicon Valley charts the rise and fall of Elizabeth Holmes’ Theranos, and Running With Beto and Knock Down The House explore the lives of some of the new faces of politics.
The SXSW Film Festival runs from March 8th to March 16th.
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