There are few film festivals that can claim to be as “cool” as South By Southwest (SXSW), which every year unleashes a cavalcade of ambitious and experimental motion pictures in the heart of Austin, TX before segueing neatly into a badass music festival. SXSW is equal parts laid back and prestigious, with a relaxed atmosphere that welcomes film fans and respectable filmmakers, and highlights serious dramas and completely fucked up horror movies on the same schedule.
There’s a lot to see at any SXSW, and SXSW 2017 is no exception. Take just one look at the festival’s official schedule and you’re bound to find thrilling prospects. Unfortunately, nobody has time to see everything. We’ve scoured the SXSW 2017 film premieres and singled out only the most fascinating films, the ones you won’t want to miss if you’re attending the festival, and the ones you’ll want to look out for when they eventually hit theaters.
Keep coming back to Crave for our ongoing coverage of SXSW 2017, which plays from March 10-19 and promises – as always – to be one of the most entertaining cultural events of the year!
24 Must-See Films From the SXSW 2017 Film Festival:
Top Photo: SXSW
William Bibbiani (everyone calls him ‘Bibbs’) is Crave’s film content editor and critic. You can hear him every week on The B-Movies Podcast and Canceled Too Soon, and watch him on the weekly YouTube series What the Flick. Follow his rantings on Twitter at @WilliamBibbiani.
24 Must-See Films of the SXSW 2017 Film Festival
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68 Kill
Trent Haaga, the screenwriter of the cult hit horror thriller Cheap Thrills, goes behind the camera for a "punk-rock romantic comedy for our jagged times."
Photo: SXSW
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The Archer
A high school archery champion escapes from a corrupt juvenile correction facility in The Archer, a film that sounds like The Fugitive meets The Hunger Games.
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Baby Driver
Edgar Wright's first film in four years is a romantic heist thriller car chase film which promises to have one hell of a soundtrack.
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The Ballad of Lefty Brown
Bill Pullman plays the sidekick of an old west legend who, for the first time, accepts the starring role in his own life.
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Becoming Bond
Half narrative, half documentary, Becoming Bond tells the tale of George Lazenby's bizarre rise to fame, from humble beginnings to playing James Bond in On Her Majesty's Secret Service.
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Bill Nye: Science Guy
Bill Nye was famous for teaching science to kids, but has in recent years taken on a new role: defending science to adults who don't in climate change or evolution. Bill Nye: Science Guy chronicles that journey.
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David Lynch - The Art Life
David Lynch is one of the most celebrated and enigmatic of filmmakers. This new documentary examines his life and influences.
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The Disaster Artist
James Franco directs and stars in The Disaster Artist, a dramatic retelling of the making of The Room, one of the most notoriously awful motion pictures in history.
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Fits and Starts
Comedian Wyatt Cenac takes center stage as a struggling writer whose wife finds fame before he does.
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Game of Death
A group of friends discover that if they don't kill people, their heads explode. To a certain crowd of people, that premise alone makes Game of Death a "must-see."
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The Hero
Sam Elliott stars as a western movie star who re-examines his life after a cancer diagnosis, and looks for one last role.
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Infinity Baby
All we know about Bob Byington's film is that it's "a comedy about babies that don't age." Are we supposed to be taking that literally? Because that sounds fascinating.
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Lake Bodom
A group of teenagers try to solve a series of mysterious murders by recreating the same events decades later, but the exercise becomes a reality. Lake Bodom sounds like the sort Friday the 13th movie we should have seen years ago.
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Lucky
The legendary Harry Dean Stanton plays a 90-year-old atheist seeking some sort of enlightenment in the directorial debut of actor John Carroll Lynch.
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Mayhem
An office worker (The Walking Dead's Steven Yeun) discovers that his co-workers have been infected by a virus that makes them act on every impulse in the latest bit of madness from director Joe Lynch.
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The Most Hated Woman in America
Oscar-winner Melissa Leo plays Madalyn Murray O'Hair, the founder and president of American Atheists, who helped end Bible readings in public schools in a landmark Supreme Court case.
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Muppet Guys Talking - Secrets Behind the Show the Whole World Watched
Everyone loves the Muppets, and now the performers who originated the classic characters are telling their backstage stories, complete with behind the scenes footage.
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Pornocracy
More people watch pornography than ever, but the industry is on the verge of collapse due to rampant piracy. Pornocracy takes a closer look at this shift in the popular but rarely discussed industry.
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Prevenge
A new twist on The Omen is about a pregnant woman who kills people because her unborn child wants her to. Alice Lowe wrote, directed and starred in the movie while she was pregnant herself.
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Song to Song
Rooney Mara, Ryan Gosling, Michael Fassbender, Natalie Portman and Cate Blanchett star in a drama set against the backdrop of Austin's own music community, in the latest film from acclaimed filmmaker Terrence Malick.
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This is Your Death
Breaking Bad co-star Giancarlo Esposito takes up the director's chair for a film about a television series, in which the contestants literally kill themselves for money.
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Tragedy Girls
In their pursuit of social media fame, two young women become serial killers and run afoul of their mass murdering mentor.
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Two Pigeons
A man has no idea that he's sharing his apartment with a "master of concealment" in this creepy-sounding horror comedy.
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Us and Them
A disenfranchised kid starts attacking the 1% and filming his exploits in the hopes of spawning a revolution.
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