With over 100 screenings of films and around 90 world premieres, the 2024 SXSW Film & TV Festival was a place to watch some of the best movies of the year. While 2024 highlighted its deeply diverse slate of films, horror came to play, and quirky films about Sasquatches, and heartfelt takes on PTSD rounded out our best movies of SXSW 2024.
The only criteria to be included as one of the best movies of SXSW 2024 is that the film had to have screened as part of SXSW in any of its dedicated tracks. That’s it. Without further ado, here are the best movies we watched at SXSW 2024.
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Sing Sing
Director: Greg Kwedar
Writer: Greg Kwedar and Clint Bentley
“There are not enough words to describe Sing Sing’s importance as a film. It’s a testament to the men who put on a comedy with Egyptian princes, pirates, time travel, Freddy Krueger, and Hamlet. It honors their talent and life, but more importantly, it honors all of those still have yet to make it home. The film humanizes without infantilizing and always puts its subjects first. Greg Kwedar and Clint Bentley‘s approach to telling this story is stunning. In a landscape that refuses to see these men and their stories as anything but their trauma, Sing Sing tells us of their joy. The film breaks your heart and rebuilds it stronger than before.”
Things Will Be Different
Director: Michael Felker
Writer: Michael Felker
“Things Will Be Different feels utterly fresh. Science fiction is currently synonymous with VFX-heavy blockbusters. There, the effects take precedence over the story. Michael Felker’s debut really digs into big ideas and human interaction with those big ideas. It’s the ideal for movies like this and a must-see. More than that, the film is a good indicator of where the science fiction genre could go if entrusted to filmmakers with smaller budgets and bigger imaginations. Things Will Be Different is a work of science fiction genius that deserves to become a cult classic.”
Civil War
Director: Alex Garland
Writer: Alex Garland
“Ultimately, Civil War (2024) is an overwhelming experience. It captures the importance of journalism but also the fragility of life on the frontline and how easy it is for someone to jump into the fray in your place—all to capture the shot. By choosing to come into the Civil War at the end of it, Alex Garland boldly chooses to simply use the War as a backdrop and let his characters carry his pro-journalist message loud and clear.”
I Saw The TV Glow
Director: Jane Schoenbrun
Writer: Jane Schoenbrun
“I Saw The TV Glow has the legs to be a cult classic in the vein of the television series it immortalizes through The Pink Opaque. More importantly, it’s a queer story that is unlike any I’ve seen before. It invites every viewer to look inward, to stand in front of a mirror, and accept who they are.”
It’s What’s Inside
Director: Greg Jardin
Writer: Greg Jardin
“It’s What’s Inside takes a well-explored concept, capitalizes on it, and reinvigorates it. Without revealing too much about the film, the tightness of Jardin’s script and the charisma of the actors is second to none. As the actors begin to change from one character to another, they each have to be believable in their new skin. It pays off every time.
It’s What’s Inside is a fantastic film, a perfect Midnighter, and a new take on a party game all in one. You have to watch it the moment it releases.”
Late Night With the Devil
Director: Cameron Cairnes & Colin Cairnes
Writer: Cameron Cairnes & Colin Cairnes
“Late Night With The Devil nails comedy and horror in equal measure despite drawing a quick line between the two as the film hits its halfway point. Another horror jewel in Dastmalchian’s crown, this film is unlike anything you’ve seen and worth watching on the biggest screen.”
Oddity
Director: Damian Mc Carthy
Writer: Damian Mc Carthy
Oddity is viscerally scary with a sound design that constantly disorients and pulls the rug out from under you. Using one location, a wood golum, and a whodunnit to propel its narrative, this quiet horror film is constantly looking to make you jump. A film that reminds the viewer that a good jump scare is actually not a bad thing, this look at love and the awful way it consumes people is one hell of a scarefest.
The Fall Guy
Director: David Leitch
Writer: David Leitch
“Effortlessly funny and absolutely action-packed, this rom-com action hybrid is one of the best films of SXSW. It’s loud and brash but never loses its charming core. The cast has electric chemistry and never stops reeling you in. The Fall Guy’s electricity comes from how it embraces its eccentricity and the tropes it’s built on. David Leitch doesn’t just know what makes action special. He knows what makes it everlasting. The dedication to practical effects and stunt work is what makes this film sing.
The Fall Guy has the longest cannon roll in film history and that’s just in the film’s first act. It gets bigger, louder, and goes full throttle in the end. Every time you ask yourself, “Is there more?” Leitch says yes.”
Sasquatch Sunset
Director: Nathan Zellner and David Zellner
Writer: Nathan Zellner and David Zellner
“Sasquatch Sunset took me by surprise. At first, the whole “dialogue-free, recognizable actors buried in make-up” conceit feels like a gimmick more than anything else. However, Nathan and David Zellner aren’t playing some prank on the audience. Sasquatch Sunset is achingly earnest, part of a proud mime tradition in mapping human emotion on the seemingly unknowable. It’s a project that would’ve fallen apart if there were any lack of commitment. Due to everyone’s belief in Sasquatch Sunset, it becomes so much more than a silly Sasquatch story; it’s a genuine testament to the power of the family unit.”
My Dead Friend Zoe
Director: Kyle Hausmann-Stokes
Writer: Kyle Hausmann-Stokes and A.J. Bermudez
“…My Dead Friend Zoe still leaves a mark. Hausmann-Stokes has made a film about PTSD from the military, but it feels relevant to those who have suffered PTSD in any form. One of its banes in lack of commentary becomes a strength as, through a restrained direction and Earth-shaking work by Sonequa Martin-Green, My Dead Friend Zoe achieves a reflection of an under-discussed aspect of humanity.”
Synopses for Best Movies We Saw At SXSW 2024 are taken directly from our writer’s reviews written during the 2024 SXSW Film & TV Festival, which ran from March 8 – 16th.
