SXSW 2026
-
“You Have to Adjust the Sails to the Winds”: Graham Parkes on Wishful Thinking
Love is one of the most powerful forces in the universe. It’s been the subject of some of the best films ever made for good reason, as it’s something that can grab hold of not just your desires, but your very soul as you search for meaning in a life where it can otherwise be lacking. In American filmmaker Graham Parkes’ feature debut, Wishful Thinking, this is made literal as it paints a portrait of a couple, Lewis Pullman’s Charlie and Maya Hawke’s Julie, whose life in the beautifully-shot Portland, Oregon is about to be upended by the discovery that […]
by Chase Hutchinson on Mar 19, 2026 -
“Questions of the Soul”: Director Brian Tetsuro Ivie and Star Sydney Chandler on Anima
A lo-fi sci-fi road trip film that reaffirms the magic of discordant personalities finding harmony, director Brian Tetsuro Ivie’s Anima is at once earthy and spiritual. It focuses on Beck (Sydney Chandler), who, on the first day of a new job, is assigned to accompany Paul (Takehiro Hira) to a facility for an end-of-life procedure. Paul has decided to upload his consciousness into a cloud system, which means that anyone who wishes can visit a digitized version of himself. What is thought to be a straightforward journey becomes an existential winding road, as Paul frequently diverts Beck from their course […]
by Zachary Lee on Mar 19, 2026 -
“We’re Becoming More and More Disconnected as a Society”: Alex Prager on DreamQuil
These are overwhelming times, and disappointment is everywhere. Wouldn’t it be nice to just get away from it all with a nifty procedure and an automated assistant to take care of things? Tempting as the fantasy sounds, Alex Prager’s sci-fi drama DreamQuil offers a counterpoint: how much humanity will we stand to lose in the pursuit of happiness? The more we give up our responsibilities and human messiness to A.I., the more we risk losing the very connections that mean the most to us. In Alex Prager’s feature debut, Carol (Elizabeth Banks) is stuck indoors with her doting husband (John […]
by Monica Castillo on Mar 16, 2026 -
“Fungi Dictated the Structure of the Movie”: Otilia Portillo Padua on Daughters of the Forest
For generations, Indigenous women in Mexico have understood the vast power of mushrooms—medicinal, culinary, spiritual, toxic. Their knowledge has been calibrated and passed down matrilineal channels, not unlike the mycelial network that connects individual mushrooms to one another underneath rich soil. In Daughters of the Forest, Mexican filmmaker Otilia Portillo Padua documents two specific women, Lis and Juli, who reside with their families in these verdant enclaves. While they both possess a wealth of ancestral knowledge about mushrooms, Lis and Juli hope to distinguish themselves within academia. But there is no tension between homeopathy and science here. Instead, the women […]
by Natalia Keogan on Mar 13, 2026 -
“Billy Could Have Been My Own Brother”: Rachel Mason on Her SXSW Doc My Brother’s Killer
Rachel Mason’s gripping true crime doc My Brother’s Killer is, first and foremost, a love letter. My Brother’s Killer emerged, in part, from Rachel Mason’s previous documentary Circus of Books, named after her parents’ West Hollywood gay porn bookstore, where she grew up enamored by the men who frequented it. Her latest film is also an ode to West Hollywood’s famed yet notorious stretch of Santa Monica Boulevard of the 1990s. Moreover, it is a love letter to a VHS era; a magazine era; a video awards era (ushered in by the likes of Chi Chi LaRue); a cyberpunk era […]
by Ritesh Mehta on Mar 13, 2026 -
A Guide to SXSW 2026, From Penis Enlargements to Pagan Mall Employees
Filmmaker is heading to the 40th edition of SXSW, where myself and several talented contributors will be on the ground filing interviews and dispatches from various corners of Austin’s city limits. This year’s lineup is massive—with 119 feature films alone—and we happily assume the daunting role of covering buzzy world premieres and hidden gems alike. Speaking of world premieres, there’s an expected emphasis on genre fare among this year’s crop. Irish low-budget maverick Damian McCarthy scales up with Hokum, a folk-tinged rental house horror that provokes chills through its trailer alone. This releases via Neon just two and a half […]
by Natalia Keogan on Mar 12, 2026
