2022 SXSW Film Festival: Movies To Be Excited For

The 2022 SXSW Film Festival officially kicks off this week and it should be a very fun and exciting festival. This will be my second year covering the Austin-based film festival and this year looks just as strong as last year, if not stronger. This year’s SXSW Film Festival is both in-person and virtual and I am incredibly excited to be attending in person. There are a lot of great movies playing at this year’s festival, and these are the ones I am most excited about.

 

CHA CHA REAL SMOOTH

EMERGENCY

MASTER

WATCHER

• I have already had the pleasure of seeing these movies at this year’s Sundance Film Festival and each of them is worth a watch. Cha Cha Real Smooth and Emergency were two of my favorite of the festival and Watcher and Master are two interesting thrillers led by two excellent lead performances.

 

APOLLO 10 1/2: A SPACE AGE CHILDHOOD

What It’s About: A coming-of-age story set in the suburbs of Houston, Texas in the summer of 1969, centered around the historic Apollo 11 moon landing.

Why I’m Excited: Richard Linklater is one of my favorite directors working today and I get excited about any movie that he makes. Apollo 10 1/2: A Space Age Childhood has a stellar cast and brings Linklater back to the animation world for the first time since 2006’s A Scanner Darkly. I can’t wait to see what Linklater has in store for us.

 

BITCH ASS

What It’s About: A gang initiation goes wrong when a group of four recruits break into a house of horror, as they’re all forced to play deadly games for their lives. Win and you live – lose and you die.

Why I’m Excited: Director Bill Posley makes his feature directorial debut in this horror that sounds like a mix of urban legend horror, Saw, and haunted house horror. This should be the ultimate midnight madness trip.

 

BODIES BODIES BODIES

What It’s About: When a group of rich 20-somethings plan a hurricane party at a remote family mansion, a party game turns deadly in this fresh and funny look at backstabbing, fake friends, and one party gone very, very wrong.

Why I’m Excited: What most intrigues me about Bodies Bodies Bodies Bodies is the stellar cast of young talent. Amandla Stenberg, Rachel Sennott, Chase Sui Wonders, and Oscar-nominee Maria Bakalova are four of the most exciting young actress working today, so seeing them share the screen together in this horror-comedy should be a blast.

 

EVERYTHING EVERYWHERE ALL AT ONCE

What It’s About: An aging Chinese immigrant is swept up in an insane adventure, where she alone can save the world by exploring other universes connecting with the lives she could have led.

Why I’m Excited: Directors Dan Kwan and Daniel Scheinert (or as they’ve been referred to as, “The Daniels”) are back together since 2016’s bizarre Swiss Army Man, and if this one is anything like Swiss Army Man, who knows what we can expect.

 

FIRE OF LOVE

What It’s About: Intrepid scientists and lovers Katia and Maurice Krafft died in a volcanic explosion doing the very thing that brought them together: unraveling the mysteries of volcanoes by capturing the most explosive imagery ever recorded.

Why I’m Excited: I, unfortunately, missed this one at Sundance this year, though that might have actually been a good thing. The documentary got raves out of Sundance and is said to be a visual stunner and being able to see it on the big screen (as opposed to Sundance, where it was only streaming) should be a real treat.

 

TONY HAWK: UNTIL THE WHEELS FALL OFF

What It’s About: Follows famous skater Tony Hawk’s personal life, career, and relationship with skateboarding, including never-before-seen footage and unprecedented access to Hawk, along with interviews with figures from the skateboarding world.

Why I’m Excited: Tony Hawk has been an iconic sports figure for as long as I can remember, This documentary, which has a runtime of over two hours, should give us more perspective on the life of the greatest skateboarder to ever live.

 

THE UNBEARABLE WEIGHT OF MASSIVE TALENT

What It’s About: A cash-strapped Nicolas Cage agrees to make a paid appearance at a billionaire super fan’s birthday party but is really an informant for the CIA since the billionaire fan is a drug kingpin and gets cast in a Tarantino movie.

Why I’m Excited: Nicolas Cage gave one of the best performances of his career in last year’s Pig, so it only makes sense that his follow-up performance is…himself? I have no idea what is going to happen in this movie, but Cage is easily one of the most interesting actors working today, so I will usually be intrigued by any project he is in.

 

X

What It’s About: In 1979, a group of young filmmakers set out to make an adult film in rural Texas, but when their reclusive, elderly hosts catch them in the act, the cast finds themselves fighting for their lives.

Why I’m Excited: Director Ti West has been one of my favorite horror directors since I saw him 2009 cult horror film House of the Devil. X marks West’s first horror film since 2013 and feels reminiscent of the grimy slasher movies of the 70s. I can’t wait to see what surprises West has in store for us.

 

 

 

 

 

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