And thats another SXSW for the history books. At the same festival that saw a keynote talk given by the CEO trying to bring the Woolly Mammoth back, cinephiles and genre enthusiasts also got a new Babak Anvari banger, the unicorn horror-comedy you never knew you needed, and a reported return to form by Matthew McConaughey after he stepped away from the big screen for the last six years.It was a lot of fun, a lot of work, and as always over too soon. (Spoiler: McConaugheys much celebrated The Rivals of the Amaziah King is one of the ones we missed!) Be that as it may, we still saw a whole lot from the Film and TV festival selection during our limited time on the ground. Heres the round-up to prove it.Ramy Youssef (Rumi)#1 Happy Family USAAnimated sitcoms dont usually make a habit of concluding their first episode with the events of Sept. 11, 2001. But then again not many animated sitcoms are Prime Videos #1 Happy Family USA. Created by comedy superstar Ramy Youssef and South Park producer Pam Brady, #1 Happy Family USA follows the Husseinsa Muslim family in New Jersey doing their best to project patriotism amid a very dark time in American history.While that setup is bleak (and undoubtedly reflects Youssefs own experiences growing up as a Muslim-American during the turn of the 21st century), the series ends up being quite a cheerful experience. Young Rumi Hussein (Youssef) befriends a talking lamb and tries to bang his teacher (who may or may not have a personal connection to His Airness, Michael Jordan). His dad Hussein Hussein (also Youssef) breaks out into pro-America song numbers routinely. Also, Grandma (Randa Jarrar) appears to have Doc Ock arm attachments.Each episode of the show, which has already scored a two-season order at Prime, opens with faux MPAA text warning Rated H for Haram: Allah please forgive mistakes in this program. Rated H it may be, but that could just as easily stand for Halal. Alec BojaladAmerican SweatshopMost folks objectively recognize the internet is a terrible and unpleasant place. But most of us also never think about the poor souls who are encouraged (tricked?) into trying to clean it up for lawsuit-fearing tech companies. Director Uta Briesewitz and star/producer Lili Reinhart care though. And maybe they can convince you to put down the doom-scroller in your hand for a while with American Sweatshop.In the film, written by Matthew Nemeth, Reinhart plays a young person who thinks the gig of a media moderator at the fictional company of Paladin is a foot in the door to tech, but in truth it is an invitation for the most vile and terrible things on the web being seared into her brain. Briesewitz wisely elects to mostly obscure what those things are. But we glimpse them in miniature reflection on Reinharts pupils as they burrow into her soul. This acts as the opening to a larger drama with thriller elements as Reinharts Daisy demands for more to be done than simply deleting harmful (and possibly murderous) content. She wants revenge. Yet the film is at its best when wallowing in the camaraderie and occasional gallows humor of a young staff that looks increasingly as hollowed out as meat in a frontlines grinder. David CrowAre We Good?Are we good? That phrase began as a verbal tic from comedian Marc Maron as he launched his eventual medium-conquering podcast WTF in 2009. Maron would conclude episodes with that question, often posed to his comedic peers whom he previously was not, in fact, good with. Nowadays Maron is more or less good with everyone, having long ago conquered both his personal demons and professional insecurities. Its only fitting then that the documentary about him bears that familiar phrase.Directed by Steven Feinartz, Are We Good? tells the whole story of Maron while honing in on his particularly chaotic 2020s. The doc is rich in pathos, covering the death of Marons partner, filmmaker Lynn Shelton, to a non-COVID illness at the outset of the pandemic. It also covers his triumphant 2023 special From Bleak to Dark and his still-fraught but now simpler relationship with his father.Through it all Feinartz summons many of Marons peers in the comedy world to explain his unique appeal. Marcs having a bad time all day. Then gets on stage and destroys the audience, John Mulaney offers. Is it good? It sure is. ABAshFlying Lotus fully embraces his love for creature feature spectacles of the 1980s and 70s with this trippy throwback to Ridley Scott and John Carpenter movies so seminal you dont even need us to name them. The trick about Ash, however, is that the musical artist and filmmaker behind the film synthesizes it in a dreamlike fantasia of psychedelic imagery and some gnarly camera tricks which could only be executed in this century.Join our mailing listGet the best of Den of Geek delivered right to your inbox!Our favorite is when RiyaEiza Gonzalzs heroine who awakens on an abandoned spaceship with her crew dead and her memories erasedis forced to defend herself against a monstrous foe in a fevered first-person oner. The camera catches her arms and legs using scalpels, fire, and some badass choreography before things get really whild. Its all part and parcel for a drive-in dopamine-hit. Other highs include fantasy dream sequences and an ensemble that includes Aaron Paul and The Raids Iko Uwais. DCThe AstronautKate Mara knows her way around a spaceship. After all, she helped steer one of the great ones in cinema during Ridley Scotts The Martian. But in that film, she never really got to come back down to Earth. We see a homecoming in Jess Varleys The Astronaut, though, and its a rough landing when the film opens on the wide, wide sea where a decimated space capsule floats. Apparently it needed emergency deployment after something cracked the hull, and even suit, of Maras Capt. Sam Walker.This proves to be a kinetic and spacious kickoff to what is really a claustrophobic thriller. After being monitored for some time, Sam is sent by NASA and her father (Laurence Fishburne) to finish her quarantine on a glorified farmhouse where something seems to continue to stalk the astronaut. The film is obviously playing with tropes, but Varley seems intent on inverting the often reductive parable about the mad, crazy woman in touchstones like Repulsion and Black Swan in favor of something optimistic about a womans ability to observe eerie changes in the world around herand within. DCMusic can remind us of a time. Music can remind us of a place. Music puts us in touch with the people we once were. There is something sweet about that. It can also be annoying as hell. James Griffiths The Ballad of Wallis Island finds humor in both sentiments with an absolute charmer of a movie. As cozy as a cable-knit sweater by the fire on a cold night, Wallis Island takes place in exactly such an environment when struggling folk singer Herb McGwyer (Tom Basden) is induced to visit Wallis Island because he is being offered a lot of money to play for an intimate audience of uber-fans. Actually, as it turns out, there is only one fan: Charles (Tim Key). And hes also invited Herbs ex and former songwriting collaborator, Nell Mortimer (Carey Mulligan).The Ballad of Wallis Island is an absurd premise that most of the collaborators have spent a lot of time thinking about. Basden and Key in fact wrote it as a short film some 18 years ago, which Griffiths directed. Time has given them space to make a feature thats a little more wistful and reflective on the ephemeral nature of lifewhile still being funny enough to convince you that Keys lonely fanboy is neither a creeper nor a danger to Herb and Nell. Although that doesnt mean trips down memory lane are ever truly safe. DCThe BondsmanKevin Bacon has been a regular on episodic television since headlining Foxs The Following in 2013, with lead roles in Amazons I Love Dick and three seasons on the acclaimed Showtime series City on a Hill. His new series for Prime Video, The Bondsman, which premiered at SXSW Film & TV Festival, has all the hallmarks of his preferred workday: covered in blood, sticking a chainsaw into a demons face.It was a blast, Bacon says with a laugh while his showrunner, Erik Olsen reminds him that one particular stunt sees Bacons character, Hub Halloran, drown a demonic cheerleader in a pool. Bacon himself was in the pool for the stunt. The Bondsman begins with Hub Hallorans gruesome death and resurrection, maybe the fastest in television history, and what may seem like a demon-hunting case of the week storytelling structure quickly world-builds into a much larger narrative arc across season one.One of the most prolific working actors with over 107 credits to his name, Bacon still loves making movies, but hes found a home, for now, in the gritty world of Satanic bounty hunters.I went to television very reluctantly when I first signed up for The Following, Bacon tells Den of Geek. Its hard to imagine that there was a world where if you were a movie actor, you just did not do a series. That was just a thing and all of a sudden I said Wow! This is so much fun! Im really digging this. Chris LongoPhoto by: Nick MorgulisBulldozerIn the spirit of Phoebe Waller-Bridges Fleabag, independent TV pilot Bulldolzer is a single-word titled show about a funny woman whose life is falling apart. Written by and starring Joanna Leeds, and directed by her brother Andrew Leeds, Bulldozer picks up with Jo learning of her partners infidelity and reacting poorly. What follows is a fun and breezy half-hour journey of self destruction with only occasional breaks for growth.Both Leeds shine in front of and behind the camera, and are bolstered by an impressive supporting cast that includes Nat Faxon, Harvey Guillen, and most notably, Mary Steenburgen, who according to the Leeds, hand-crafted her own blonde wig to better resemble her onscreen daughter Jo. The many famous faces, sunny California setting, and lead characters very transparent flaws lend a welcome air of Curb Your Enthusiasm to the proceedings.Its an impressive, personal debut but maybe not that personal, as Joanna Leeds told Den of Geek: I have the same first name as the lead character but we have different last names so were not the same person, right? Maybe the awful characteristics about her, I dont have them! ABPhoto by: Nick MorgulisClown in a CornfieldIts been 15 years since director Eli Craig has been in Austin for SXSW. The last time was because he brought future cult classic Tucker and Dale vs. Evil to town. He might have another on his hands with this Shudder-bound horror-comedy, Clown in a Cornfield.Deliberately modeled after the look of other 1980s slasher movies, Clown in a Cornfield plays with the generation gap between Zoomers like Quinn (Katie Douglas) and Xers like her father (Aaron Abrams) when they move to a dying small town with a local mascot called Friendo the Clown. There are some obvious similarities to Terrifier, however this film, which is based on a YA novel by Adam Cesare, is not after the same splatter cinema highs (not least of all because the kills are a lot less inventive). But theres some clever social satire at play, especially when we reach the third act and the clown takes things out of the cornfield and into the streets. Suddenly, its like if Freddy Krueger had a fanged point to make to kids these days. DCPhoto by: Nick MorgulisGrace Glowickis sophomore feature came from a simple starting point: I wanted to make a comedy with my friends, she tells us. She assembled a weird writers room to build ideas and jokes.What came out of it was a true midnighter (though it was curiously in the festivals Visions section) that follows a lonely gravedigger who stinks of corpses. When the gravedigger, played by Glowicki, has a whirlwind affair cut short by the tragic passing of her lover (played by her frequent collaborator and off-screen partner Ben Petrie), she defies science to bring him back from the dead with unintended consequences.If the logline sounds far too familiar, the final outcome is anything but: the film was shot on 16mm with no monitors on set for playback to honor a more theatrical process. Glowicki says the structure forced us to be spontaneous and trust ourselves. It worked. We awarded Grace and the Dead Lover cast our only Den of Geek award of the festival, for best (and funniest) accent work.Dead Lover is bound to be a buzzy camp hit on the festival circuit for its innovative filmmaking approach. Glowickis risk paid off as she took home the NEON Auteur Award for Uncompromising Visionary in the Visions Section. Its admittedly a much more impressive award than ours, but not nearly as fun. CLDeath of a UnicornIn the High Middle Ages, unicorns were embraced by the wealthy and moneyed as a metaphor for the appeal of resurrection and everlasting life. In his first feature, writer-director Alex Scharfman shrewdly estimates not much has changed between then and now for the elite gentry classes, even if we get our highs a little differentlybe it by vaping, a la the films heroine Ridley (Jenna Ortega), or snorting pure concentrated, ground unicorn horn up our noses, a la Will Poulters absolute shit-kicker of a trust fund baby, Shep.Those prove to be just a few of the appeals of this delightfully weird horror-comedy which marries creature feature aestheticsincluding a surprisingly heavy emphasis on emulating the first couple of Steven Spielberg-directed Jurassic Park flickswith class satire that makes direct allusions between the billionaires of today and the liege lords of the past. Somehow the two impulses make a happy union in large part because of the cast, including the aforementioned Poulter, Paul Rudd, and a scene-stealing Richard E. Grant as the patriarch of a pharmaceutical dynasty who discovers on his deathbed that unicorns are real and they have the power to extend life. Pleasantly, though, any attempt to corner that market turns into an absolute bloodbath. DCPhoto by: Nick MorgulisDescendantPeter Cilellas Descendant kicks into gear when Sean Bruner (Ross Marquand), a school security guard who is haunted by childhood trauma, sees a beam of light in the sky. He then wakes up in a hospital and soon hes inexplicably drawing beautifully artistic renderings of extraterrestrials and desert landscapes.Cilella drew inspiration from Jeff Nichols 2011 apocalyptic thriller Take Shelter, which he lauded because of the performances and character development. With Descendant, he knew the genre elements resonate only if he landed the relationship between Marquands Sean and Sarah Bolgers Andrea, who is quickly approaching her babys due date.For Bolger, the slightest hint of extraterrestrial life had her from the jump. First of all, Im obsessed with aliens. Were very knowledgeable about this [topic], UAPs. Were all in. On a deeper level, Bolger was excited about exploring the films familial themes through the science fiction lens. If you look at the alien metaphor, it makes people feel isolated or removes them from reality, she says. Theres this beautiful thing of fate and identity thats such a big part of Descendant: who are you as a person? And what changes you? Those factors are wonderful when you can merge them with something science fiction or ethereal or alien. CLDropWhen a studio brings a genre movie to an Austin festival, it usually means they have the goods for winning over a movie-loving crowd. And Christopher Landon (Freaky, Happy Death Day) knows nothing if not how to put audiences on his side, which he does with glee in this Blumhouse original that hews closer to Hitchcockian suspense than straight horror.The stakes are high, too, even before the genre stuff is introduced, because this film marks the first date of Violet (Meghann Fahy) and Henry (Brandon Sklenar), an immediately adorable would-be couple with enough chemistry to intoxicate the entire posh restaurant with a view where they rendezvous. Unfortunately, one stranger in the back doesnt want to imbibe. Instead they send increasingly cryptic and threatening AirDrop messages to Violet, slowly urging her to prepare to murder Henry for no apparent reasonor they promise theyll kill her son at home.With massive font lettering marking every hideous message on Violets phone, and ultra-glossy studio set design and cinematography, this is unapologetic popcorn-programming, and it is absolutely a blast in that lane. There is a more ambitious version of this story that could have been told, but somehow we suspect this is the one you really want if youre looking for a date night out at the multiplex. DCPhoto by: Nick MorgulisFantasy LifeTheres a very deliberate choice made by actor-turned-director Matthew Shear in his first feature. He never shows the moment when his two main characters, who both suffer from differing forms of anxiety, panic. We know they have such attacks, or that they endure dark moments while alone, but those bits are left just ever off-screen. Instead we are asked to deal with the aftermath of the proverbial pyrotechnics. We are asked to deal with what it means to be human.Casting himself as one of those humans, and relying on a wonderful performance by Amanda Peet for the other, Sheers Fantasy Life favors a story of connections (and performance), even when it comes down to a genuinely odd pairing. What Sam (Shear) and Dianne (Peet) have isnt romanticper sebut it is nonetheless profound when a thirtysomething failed paralegal becomes the unlikely nanny of Diannes three children. Its messy, sometimes tragicomic, and ultimately sweet. It also features a terrific performance by Alessandro Nivola as David, Diannes rock star husband who might want to be home more often. DCPhoto by: Nick MorgulisFucktoysWriter/director/star Annapurna Srirams idea for Fucktoys started with a phone call from a psychic, who told her to break up with her then boyfriend to avoid further illness and any roadblocks to her career.Sriram impulsively obliged and within weeks she had a script for her debut feature, described perfectly in the logline as a lush 16mm fever dream that reimagines The Fools Journey of the Tarot through the story of AP a sanguine young woman seeking salvation from a curse. With Fucktoys, the psychics prophecy has come true.The campy fantastical comedy is grotesque, sexy, smutty, and surprisingly poignant when tapping into themes of exploitation and class. Its also laugh-out-loud funny with standout performances from its leads in Sriram and Sadie Scott, as well as supporting roles from Brandon Flynn, Damian Young, Big Freedia, and Franois Arnaud.The film is set in Trashtown, which Sriram described as a neglected Americana yesteryear landscape. Trashtown is a term of endearment. We love Trashtown. Srirams singular vision for Trashtown earned her the festivals Special Jury Award for a Multi-Hyphenate. It was well-deserved for pushing forward a bold, darkly funny sensibility unlike any film we screened at the festival, a new genre the cast described as neo-camp. Long live Trashtown. CLPhoto by: Nick MorgulisGood BoyWriter-director Ben Leonberg and producer Kari Fischer might have stumbled on one of the best setups for an original horror movie weve heard in years. Ever notice how your dog or cat stares off into the darkness of empty rooms? Has it ever creeped you out to ponder what it is theyre getting so worked up about after midnight? Well, Good Boy has the answers, and theyre provided through a dogs perspective.What could be a gimmick ultimately works as a bit of inspired, if rough-around-the-edges, genre moviemaking. As Leonbergs feature debut, Good Boy was shot largely like a documentary with Leonberg and Fischers own pup, Indy, standing in as the poor dog in a house haunted with secrets and despair, and an unseen owner who is not particularly warm and cuddly. The effect is a definite low-budget indie, but one with a lot of style and atmosphere that manipulates the audience into investing in one dogs seeming plight. Owing a bit to silent movies as well, Indy proves a compelling lead while turning the corner and seeing what goes bump in the night. DCPhoto by: Nick MorgulisGovernment CheeseHow far can magical thinking take you? In Government Cheese, Hampton Chambers (David Oyelowo) will endeavor to find out. Fresh out of prison in 1969 Los Angeles, this convicted burglar turned man of faith is putting his familys financial well-being in the hands of his latest radical doo-hickya self-sharpening drill called a Bit Magician. Will that be enough to realize the American dream? Hell, will it be enough to pay off the debts Hampton unknowingly incurred from the dangerous Prevost brothers? Guess well find out!Government Cheese is a stylish 10-episode series from Apple TV+ that combines the timeless story of Black family life in California with some magical realism. Show creator Paul Hunter (previously known for his revolutionary work in commercial campaigns and music videos) cites his own father as inspiration for Hampton Chambersa man powered by ambition and that titular government food product that helped fuel working class families. ABPhoto by: Nick MorgulisHappy FaceEver sit back and think about how many pop songs have the word Happy in the title? Paramount+ true crime series Happy Killer certainly has and it puts those cheery tunes to ironic good use in this dark serial killer drama. Adapted from the 2018 podcast of the same name, Happy Face follows Melissa Moore (Annaleigh Ashford), a woman who deals with the fallout of discovering that her father (Dennis Quaid) is a prolific serial killer known as Happy Face.While that may sound like a stranger-than-fiction premise, not only is Melissa Moores experience real, she serves as an executive producer on this project. Moores involvement gives the proceedings an added element of realism, even as the show indulges in some by-the-numbers true crime pop storytelling. ABJULIE VRABELOVAHallow RoadThe best horror movie we saw while in Austin, Babak Anvaris Hallow Road is a nearly-perfect exercise in descent. It begins with a plunge into the worst nightmare of any parent: that call in the middle of the night from a child whose life has been forever changed. In the case of Maddie and Frank (Rosamund Pike and Matthew Rhys), that comes after their daughter Alice (voiced by Megan McDonnell) has hit a stranger in the middle of the night while driving alone on Hallow Road in the deep woods of Wales. Now she wants Mom and Dad to come fix it for her.What starts as one type of nightmare quickly cascades into something far more slippery and sinister. Hallow Road is a dark fable as grim as the fairy stories of yore, and as unforgiving as an Old Testament deity. Maddie and Frank have differing views of parenting and of their daughter, and both are put to the extreme test in a taut 80 minutes that mostly take place inside of their car as they drive from their suburban home deep into the wilderness. Often as much about how they listen to the pleas and fears of their daughter over the phone as it is how they try to guide her, Anvaris camera stalks and shadows the lines of their faces until even their countenances become haunted things and they discover what lies at the end of their surreal journey into dark. Its a relentless triumph. Stay for the credits. DCAmazon MGMHollandMimi Caves first feature was the seductively twisted horror-comedy Fresh. Her second seeks to similarly beguile its audience into thinking theyre getting one type of movie only to discover another as we enter the world of Holland, Michigana real Midwestern town with an affinity for things so Dutch that it verges on fetishistic.It is there that Nancy Vandergroot (Nicole Kidman) lives with her perfect husband Fred (Matthew Macfadyen) and tween son Harry (Jude Hill). Theirs is such an idyllic existence that Nancy seemingly wants to create a sense of danger to spice up her life, or at least find an excuse to hang out with a fellow teacher named Dave (Gael Garcia Bernal) who clearly is carrying a torch for her in the instructors lounge.Look, theres obviously something ominous occurring beneath the surface, and Holland takes its time getting there. But truthfully, when the revelation finally comes, it feels ultimately in service to a sum lesser than its parts. But it does give Kidman a juicy role to play as a Midwestern mom who kind of stumbles her way into a genuine thriller, which is likely why such an unsatisfying screenplay got made.Photo by: Nick MorgulisLifeHackProducer Timur Bekmambetov has spent about a decade making screenlife movies like Searching and Unfriended. Some have been clever genre inversions and others tacky high-concepts. All, however, have felt largely like an older generation trying to imagine what Zoomers online life might be. LifeHack, by contrast, is actually made by youts, which might be why it amounts to a dazzling, fast-moving plunge into a digital lifestyle that is all things at once: coming of age melodrama, high-stakes heist escapism, and finally an expression that the kids are all right even when scrolling endlessly through Minecraft group chats.Directed by Ronan Corrigan and featuring a cast that includes both a Wednesday player (Georgie Farmer) and an honest-to-goodness YouTuber (James Scholz), there is indie gumption and rebellious zeal to the film that is infectious. It also taps into the modern zeitgeist of eating the rich since this teenaged, keyboard-ratpack is off to snatch a crypto bros BitCoin reserves. Its all flash and a lot of fun. DCPhoto by: Nick MorgulisMix TapeYou never forget the boy who makes you your first mix tape. So says Allison (Teresa Palmer) near the conclusion of Mix Tapes first episode. The four-episode series, an Irish-Australian joint production, then goes on to reveal just how right she is.Mix Tape is a decades-spanning romantic saga, picking up with a young Daniel (Rory Walton-Smith) and Allison (Florence Hunt) at a house party in 1989 Sheffield house party before jetting off to a future where the pair (now played by Palmer and Jim Sturgess) is set to reconnect over their shared love of music. Mix Tape is a lowkey, yet affecting sonic journey. ABPhoto by: Nick MorgulisNirvanna The Band The Show The MovieIn 2017, Matt Johnson came by himself to SXSW to screen three episodes of his webseries turned TV series, Nivanna The Band The Show. I had never seen a crowd in my life react the way they did to the TV show, he tells us of the reception in Austin.Johnson returned home to Canada and the screening became a legend within the shows creative and production team. It became the goal of Johnson and co-creator and co-star Jay McCarrol to bring a feature length version of the show and premiere it at SXSW. They submitted an unfinished cut and still made the festival. For SXSW it was worth the risk. For Johnson and McCarrol it was well worth the wait.We dont time festival ovations with a stopwatch here like other outlets, but it comfortably felt like the audience reception to Nirvanna The Band the Show The Movie was the longest at SXSW 2025. The data backs up our claim: Nirvanna won the 2025 audience award for the midnighters section. The film sees Johnson and McCarrol reprise their roles as bandmates who attempt to scheme their way to a gig at Torontos Rivoli nightclub, to no success. In their most elaborate plan yet, they Back to the Future their way to 2008. Using clever editing techniques to splice present day and archival footage, and featuring daring stunts on the unsuspecting public in downtown Toronto, Nirvanna The Band The Show The Movie earned every bit of the riotous energy at the ZACH Theatre.Its been 17 years since the original Nirvanna webseries was released. Since then, the project ran for two seasons as a full-fledged TV show on the ill-fated Viceland, Johnson had a hit feature film with 2023 SXSW darling Blackberry (on which McCarroll did the music), and theyve already filmed a third season. Theyre hopeful a positive reception to the feature film will help find a U.S. distributor for the film and a new home for season three. Until then, the Canadians are happy to bask in a warm, if not red hot reception way south of the Toronto border. It felt like a gift that we gave to all the fans who stuck with us, McCarrol says. CLSearchlight PicturesODessaEight years after knocking Austins socks off with Patti Cake$, Geremy Jasper returns with ODessa, a niche fairytale that will appeal to a very specific kind of nerd. Did you grow up loving post-apocalyptic or dystopian wasteland movies with dilapidated mega-cities? These would be your Blade Runners and Tim Burton Batmans, but also Dark Citys and Streets of Fires? Do you know all the words to Science Fiction Double Feature and Meatloafs big moment in Rocky Horror Picture Show? If that Venn Diagram crossed over and found you smiling at both prospects, then ODessas rock opera silliness is for you.It certainly was for me during an opening credits crawl that looked as if it had been panned and scanned for VHS in another century. This sets the stage for a parable about a farmgirl (Stranger Things Sadie Sink) with dreams about being a musician and wanderer (or rambler) in the big city, even as that city is ruled by a despot (Murray Bartlett). There she might find love, or at least a partner in crime opposite a fabulous Kelvin Harrison Jr., and a reality show where contestants sing to the death. Its bizarre, fleeting, and yet filled with the kind aspirational power of rock that makes movies worth seeing. In another era, it would be a cult favorite at the video store waiting to be discovered by hopeless nerd romantics. Hopefully today, it still finds the descendents of that on Hulu at the end of the month. DCPhoto by: Nick MorgulisSallyScience Fair director Cristina Costantini returns with an unflinching, deeply emotional portrait of astronaut Sally Ride, and her 27-year relationship with Tam OShaughnessy that was kept from the public spotlight until Rides passing in 2012. In third grade, Costantini painted a life-sized mural of Sally Ride in her jumpsuit and by the time she was ready for high school she was inspired to find a career in science in part because of Rides story.I was struck by this feeling of disbelief that she could have went through something like that, Costantini tells us of her motivation to put the story on film. NASA was barely ready for a woman at that time. The idea that she was also queer and closeted at such a homophobic time, it was illegal to be gay in Texas at that time.Sally uses a mix of original audio interviews from Ride, as well as recreations of Sally and Tams time together to supplement a lack of documentation of their relationship. The film dives into women and LGBTQ+ rights through interviews with Billie Jean King, members of the Ride family, and astronauts from Sally Rides NASA class of 1978: Kathy Sullivan, Anna Fisher, John Fabian, and Steve Hawley, Sallys ex-husband. Ultimately Tams journey provides a gut-wrenching look into Rides life and the power dynamics and pressure that come with fame.Tam is an incredible gift to a documentary filmmaker, Costantini says. She is an amazing storyteller. She has an incredible memory. But more than anything she is willing to be vulnerable to tell the story of what it was like to fall in love in this secret relationship. CLPhoto by: Nick MorgulisSlantedSlanted was the big winner at this years SXSW Film Festival, taking home the Grand Jury Award in the Narrative Feature Competition. And to that we say good on ya, South By! This comedy-drama from Australian filmmaker Amy Wang is an entertaining and affecting coming-of-age story with a clever supernatural bent.Shirley Chen stars as Joan Huang, a second-generation Chinese-American high school student who just wants to be prom queen. To make that dream a reality she undergoes a controversial ethnic modification procedure and comes out the other side as Ghostbusters: Afterlife star Mckenna Grace. Okay, Shirley doesnt become literally Mckenna Grace, but Grace does take over the role as the now white-passing Shirley.Slanted has as much fun with that premise as youd hope while also never losing sight of the complicated racial dynamics and youthful insecurities at play. Call it The Substance for the YA crowd: smart, silly, and satisfyingly gross. ABPhoto by: Nick MorgulisStars DinerWe have but one simple rule at Den of Geeks TV section: if you open your indie comedy pilot with a jaunty 80s sitcom theme song, you get included in the festival roundup. Three cheers to Stars Diner creators Fidel Ruiz-Healy, Tyler Walker, and Mary Neely for making it happen.Stars Diner is a whacky pastiche of laughtrack sitcoms set in the titular diner where everything is always going to shit. Not only will the steak get overcooked but the nearby supervolcano may exterminate all life in Fresno. Blessed with an endearing DIY energy (Ruiz-Healy handles all the exterior shots as miniature and PS1 graphics), Stars Diner should get a look from distributors and networks that dont mind a little bit of anarchy. ABPhoto by: Nick MorgulisStrange Journey: The Story of Rocky HorrorThe Rocky Horror Picture Show remains the longest running theatrically released film in history. Seriously, if your hometown has any sort of cool cred, its playing this Saturday at midnight somewhere. Yet, curiously, there has never been a major, comprehensive documentary about the phenomenon lest you count a 90s Behind the Music episode on VH1. Director Linus OBrien, son of Richard OBrien, and writer/producer Avner Shiloah correct that oversight with Strange Journey, aka the Rocky Horror Documentary.Filled with most of the surviving stars and contributors to both the 1975 film and the original 1973 stage musical who shaped the lore, Strange Journey doesnt necessarily teach diehards anything new, but it immortalizes for posterity the memories of all involved in a concise and elegantly told format. OBrien and Shiloah also make the astute choice to intertwine the building of Rocky Horror with the legacy of its mytheschewing a linear format in favor of using the feature-length to expand on why this show became such a conduit for counterculture, freedom, and escape. May it continue to provide that time warp release for another 50 years. DCThe SurrenderTake a touch of Ari Asters Hereditary, add a heaping dose of Stephen Kings Pet Sematary, and blend them together with a host of chopped up limbs and youve got the formula for Julia Maxs macabre horror flick, The Surrender.The Boys Colby Minifie stars as Megan, a woman who returns home to take care of her terminally ill father. After Megans dad succumbs to the inevitable, her mother Barbara (Kate Burton) turns to some alternative methods to bring him back. The Surrender leaves too much potential woo-woo wellness culture satire on the table but ultimately succeeds as a horror movie sizzle reel for all involved. ABPhoto by: Nick MorgulisThe ThreesomeIf the star-crossed entanglements of characters played by Zoey Deutch and Jonah Hauer-King arent enough to sell you on this rom-com, then a first-act twist anchored by Bottoms breakout Ruby Cruz pushes The Threesome out of familiar territory and into something much closer to comedic bliss.Director Chad Hartigan masterfully balances the films big hearted moments of Ethan Ogilbys script with key supporting roles from comedy TV mainstays like Jaboukie Young-White and Josh Segarra, and standout quips and one-liners from Deutch.Whenever I read a script and find myself reading the lines out loud, I know I really want to do [the film], Deutch tells us. Its almost like my body has a physical reaction to wanting to jump in and figure out how I would gel with [the role]. I loved the script. CLPhoto by: Nick MorgulisThe True Beauty of Being Bitten by a TickDirector Pete Ohs had a SXSW breakout in 2022 with Jethica and returned in 2025 with The True Beauty of Being Bitten by a Tick, a creeping rural psychological thriller. Like his past films, Ohs creative process is unique in that he shares writing credits with his actors, and theyre constantly evolving the narrative or solving problems on set together in real time.Filmmaking is a collaborative medium, but that approach is extra collaborative, Ohs says.He calls the process his table of bubbles. A shoot begins with an outline of the story and, with a minimal crew anchored by a key location, they shoot chronologically while writing scenes together. Zo Chao, Callie Hernandez, and James Cusati-Moyer, and Jeremy O. Harris, the top four on a sparse call sheet, are all credited as writers on the film in which Chaos Yvonne develops troubling symptoms after a tick bite during a weekend away at a secluded house amongst friends new and old.Harris, who executive produced and previously collaborated with Ohs on the editing of Harris Slave Play. Not a Movie. A Play., credited the director for building a creatively freeing atmosphere on set.The genre isnt horror. Its much like [David] Lynch. Its Ohs-ian. Part of being in an Ohs-ian universe is saying yes to his table of bubbles. Its a very fragile process to say yes to whats on the table to keep the table alive. Its like being in film school with the best, most active professor. CLPhoto by: Nick MorgulisWe Bury the DeadIt seems increasingly tough these days to produce a zombie movie that feels fresh or innovative. So the fact that Zak Hilditchs We Bury the Dead finds a new way into the genre via We Bury the Dead makes the horror-drama hybrid one of the nicer genre surprises out of Austin this year. Technically a post-apocalyptic movie set down under where Ava (Daisy Ridley) is a woman looking for her missing husband after the world stopped, the truth is We Bury the Dead is the first undead parable in-tune with a post-COVID and post-Trump world.In the film, life on the Australian island of Tasmania ended long before the story properly begins, with most of the inhabitants dropping dead after the U.S. government accidentally detonated an EMP off the coast of a sovereign ally. Oopsie. Curiouser still, a few of the dead wont stay down. The hapless local authorities euphemistically refer to these folks as coming back online. Still, everyone is promised that the dead, and not-so-dead, will be treated with the dignity they deserve.Its in this context that Ridleys Ava enters the island as a member of the Bodies Retrieval Unit. Like everyone else in the gig, shes looking for a closure that will not come, and a loved one who at best will be a snarling corpse. The irony, and day-to-day indignity, of such a prospect grounds the horror in an eerie verisimilitude. Ridley does raw work, too, when encountering others haunted by those, uh, terminally online. DCColdwave at SXSW 2025. Photo by Perry Hall.Best Music Sets & ShowcasesInitial reports that SXSWs music festival is in a state of flux for 2026 have since been clarified by the event organizers. The show will go on, albeit reduced by two days. There has been a dramatic decrease in artist participation over the decade or so, and a shortening of the SXSW 2026s overall schedule due to construction on Austins new convention center will inevitably lead to changes for the music festival that has been a staple of the event for nearly 40 years.The artists that did travel to SXSW 2025 still packed a punch, though. Of the artists we selected for our SXSW 2025 music preview, we caught sets by Aussie six-piece Coldwave (photo above), who captivated a packed inside stage audience at Mohawk during a late-night set, and Brazilian outfit Terraplana closed out Valhalla with a mesmerizing shoegaze set that evokes emo and grunge inspiration.From artists who also made our SXSW Music Mixtape playlist, we saw Sierra Spirit, a Native American indie artist from Oklahoma, shine during an intimate set with standout tracks bleed you and better wild, and Norways indie pop math rockers Mall Girl impressed with tantalizing vocals and thumping guitars inspired by midwest emo (see Midwest).The British Music Embassy, one of our favorite mainstays at SXSW, once again filled out one of the festivals strongest lineups with strong sets from some of the buzzy bands showcasing last week, including Freak Slug, Gurriers, and Delivery.Dune Rats at SXSW 2025. Photo by Perry Hall.Finally, we stopped by the Sounds Australia House on Thursday for a second Coldwave set and photoshoot to make sure our eyes and ears didnt deceive us. They delivered yet again. And they were followed by Brisbane three-piece Dune Rats (pictured above), who lit up Creek and Cave with their energetic mix of rowdy throwback pop punk. CL