Another great year yields a treasure trove of great film.
The 2018 edition of the SXSW Conference and Festivals is over, and the Cinapse team was on the ground, covering all things film.
For complete coverage, please visit cinapse.co/sxsw.
Over the course of this year’s SXSW Film Festival, I was able to catch twenty features, with six more taken in before the action got started, and that’s not counting dozens of short films. Sadly, this is just a small slice of the works that were screened over nine (often exhausting) days.
Every year is great, but the number of excellent films this go round made for a difficult decision when it came time to write this wrap up. Looking over this list of favorites, pairs of films became apparent, so that’s how they’re grouped here. Without further ado, my Best of the Fest!
Home is where the hurt is
Best creepy Irish movie made my an Austin director? That would be Michael Tully’s Don’t Leave Home. Beyond being champion of that micro-genre, the film captures a lovely country’s unlovely side, with big questions asked along the way about the here and the hereafter. Anna Margaret Hollyman, another Austin local, effortlessly portrays the victim of all this strangeness.
A camping trip turns into a time for reflection and angst in Pet Names. Writer and lead Meredith Johnston does a great job of embodying a young lady who is dealing with a lot but trying to be true to herself at the same time. Maybe director Carol Brandt will start a Milwaukee-to-SXSW connection with this well-crafted indie flick. (Cinapse Review)
Girls just want to have funny
Beyond the fact that I mistakenly thought this was going to be some dark A24 fare, Never Goin’ Back could be one of the more humorous films to hit theaters this summer. Co-stars Maia Mitchell and Camila Morrone are great, and Joel Allen as the dopey brother is near perfect. There’s a scatalogical scene near the end that’s unforgettable, and here’s to hoping this movie does for Michael Bolton what Lady Bird did for DMB. One can dream. (Cinapse Review)
While not a comedy per se, The New Romantic has some razor sharp moments, usually supplied by star Jessica Barden and her best friend played by Hayley Law. The situations involving this new “sugar baby” and her “sugar daddy” are ripe for laughter as well. A great drama from Canadian that is sure to make you chuckle. (Cinapse Review)
Lone Star Ha Ha
Grand Jury Award Winner Thunder Road is definitely fun, but it’s also not. Jim Cummings’s portrayal of a sweet man whose life has turned sour has some dark moments, but his energy and singular delivery tell me this won’t be the last we see of him either in front of or behind the camera. (Cinapse Review)
I don’t think you have to live in Austin to appreciate Support the Girls, but there are parts of Andrew Bujalski that locals will certainly appreciate. (If you’ve ever wanted to scream your guts out at the Arboretum shopping center, this film’s for you.) Regina Hall is a miracle, composed and assured in the face of increasing inanity, and Haley Lu Richardson is sweet as summertime tea. Kudos for making a film about “breastaurants” that’s much more than a cliche. (Cinapse Review)
Slow down and enjoy the ride
There are lots of ways to make a movie, but “meditative” isn’t usually one of them. Friday’s Child is a true Texas film that is as concerned with aesthetics as it is narrative. Fortunately, the story is engaging, with Tye Sheridan, Imogen Poots, and Caleb Landry Jones delivering great performances. Director A.J. Edwards gives this film the space it deserves and very much rewards patient viewers. (Cinapse Review)
Thy Kingdom Come moves north of the Red River for a dose of redemption. Made out of extra footage shot for Terrence Malick’s To the Wonder, this film takes Javier Bardem’s priest character and drops him into living rooms and prison cells across the state. The people know he’s an actor, but more than that, he’s a willing listener for people with real troubles. At only 42 minutes, it’s more of a novella but one that accomplishes a lot in a short time.
Worlds, both virtual and real
Instagram isn’t the only social media outlet around, but Social Animals shows the effect this platform has on the youth of today. Centered around the stories of three very different teens, the film does a great job of showing the positives and negatives that come from living so much of our life online, interacting with other people. It’s a cautionary tale but a well-reasoned one. (Cinapse Review)
Back offline, The World Before Your Feet describes what happens when we engage with the physical world around us. Jeremy Workman shows exactly what makes Matt Green’s quest to walk every single block in New York City such a compelling project. (Hint: It isn’t Times Square.) A delightful subject and fascinating city make for a great combination. (Cinapse Review)
Color, or lack thereof
Julia Hart was at SXSW a couple of years ago with Miss Stevens and returns with a very different film in Fast Color. She and co-writer (and husband) Jordan Horowitz have crafted a post-apocalyptic tale that’s heavy on pathos and light on sci-fi tropes. Gugu Mbatha-Raw can easily carry a film, but she has help from heavy hitters Lorraine Toussaint and David Strathairn. This movie might make for a franchise, but then again, it might be a single, beautiful gift. (Cinapse Review)
The best black and white film I saw at SXSW was 1985. Not that there were a lot of competitors, but director Yen Tan and DP Hutch (yes, one word) use the medium to great effect as they tell a story of clashing cultures in the time of Reagan. Cory Michael Smith does a great job of embodying this tension, while Virginia Madsen and Michael Chiklis give the type of professional performances one would expect. It’s called acting…
Scary Sci-Fi
Science fiction is usually thought-provoking, but it’s not always as frightening as it is in these two films. Upgrade comes from the mind of Saw’s Leigh Whannell, though it’s much more than a shock piece. Logan Marshall-Green plays a man who has trouble dealing with his hyper-technological world but soon becomes cybernetically connected to it. The action is first rate and the twists satisfying. I could see this one breaking big. (Cinapse Review)
Prospect is a smaller film but engages with similar dystopic elements. A cast featuring Sophie Thatcher, Jay Duplass, and Pedro Pascal enacts the story of scavengers on a hostile planet and a young girl who has to grow up fast. There’s menace at every turn and a great “lo-fi” take on the standard sci-fi tale. (Cinapse Review)
Save the girl at your peril
Austin stalwarts the Zellner Brothers have dipped their toes in Western waters with Damsel, a genre-bending piece that upends the notion of the male hero. Robert Pattinson and Mia Wasikowska give this one some star power, and the brothers themselves provide the glue, but it’s the story of miscommunication and misadventure that will stick in the audience’s mind.
Galveston isn’t simply a mashup of True Detective and Hell or High Water, but it certainly calls out to both. Ben Foster comes back to the Lone Star State with troubles on his mind and Elle Fanning to look after. Actor-turned-director Mélanie Laurent superbly paces a decent from trouble to bigger trouble with the Gulf Coast as a backdrop. This is excellent filmmaking no matter the location. (Cinapse Review)
Us vs. Them
This one is kind of cheating as the Texas Shorts program had two works dealing with the current state of our politics. An Uncertain Future chronicles two pregnant women dealing Trump-era immigration crackdowns affecting their families. Liberty Hill follows a septuagenarian quilt-maker turned political activist. Both films highlight the high stakes of our current politics and give face to the struggle and the suffering.
With far more screen time, They Live Here, Now shows some real boots on the ground in the work of helping refugees right here in Austin. The staff and residents of Casa Marianella are profiled in a film that shows what can be done when people help other people. It’s a dose of optimism in an increasingly pessimistic world. (Cinapse Review)
Young girls in over their head
Attendees of last year’s festival might remember youngster Sophia Mitri Schloss from Lane 1974. She’s back this year with Sadie, co-starring Melanie Lynskey and John Gallagher Jr. The titular character is having a tough time dealing with her dad’s overseas deployment and makes some bad (very bad) choices in response. It’s nice to see this young Seattle actor continue to excel in another great film.
The “Coming of Age” movie is hard to do right, but the key is having a main character who is both unique and engaging. Summer ’03 manages to accomplish both. Joey King has family troubles, boy troubles, and even church troubles. Figuring out how to navigate the world is hard, but director Becca Gleason provides a case study in how to learn hard lessons while having fun at the same time.
