Building on their excellent first wave of 2024 titles, SXSW are back with big “but wait, there’s more!” energy, announcing a second tranche of programming. This already promised to be a bravura year for SXSW’s genre offerings, but now it seems they’ve managed to excel even themselves.
Below are some additional films to keep an eye on if you’re attending and looking to seek out the festival’s horror and horror-adjacent offerings. SXSW runs in Austin, Texas, from 8-16 March 2024, with tickets available here, and our look at their first wave of horror programming can be found here.
As for this second wave…
Four Newly-Announced Horror Titles:
Arcadian (Ireland, Dir: Ben Brewer)
After a catastrophic event depopulates the world, a father and his two sons must survive their dystopian environment while being threatened by mysterious creatures that emerge at night. The father is played by Nick Cage, but no word yet on whether he’ll be in subdued Pig mode, or if this will be a gonzo kabuki Cage explosion. This was previously titled Sand and Stones, and bears the no-nonsense tagline When Darkness Falls, The Fight For Survival Begins. Director Brewer previously did Visuals Effects on Everything Everywhere All At Once. One of the sons is played by Jaeden Martell, who was the alt-right brat in Knives Out.
Desert Road (US, Dir: Shannon Triplett)
A young woman crashes her car and walks down the road seeking help, only to find no matter which way she walks she ends up back at her car. As night falls, she realizes she’s going to die in this endless loop… unless she can find a way to escape. I love a time-loop premise and this one has some interesting supporting actors – Beau Bridges and Rachel Dratch.
I Saw The TV Glow (US, Dir: Jane Schoenbrun)
Owen (Justice Smith) is just trying to make it through life in the suburbs when his classmate introduces him to a mysterious TV show — a vision of a supernatural world beneath their own. In the pale glow of the television, Owen’s view of reality begins to crack. Schoenbrun continues her exploration of how teens build identity through media – first on internet forums in We’re All Going To The World’s Fair, and now cult TV. The cast also includes Danielle Deadwyler (The Harder They Fall) and Fred Durst (obviously, Limp Bizkit).
Immaculate (Italy/US, Dir: Michael Mohan)
A devout American nun embarks on a new journey in a remote convent in the picturesque Italian countryside. Her warm welcome quickly devolves into a nightmare as it becomes clear her new home harbors a sinister secret and unspeakable horrors. Star Sydney Sweeney and director Michael Moran worked well together in the neo-erotic thriller The Voyeurs, so here’s hoping for more stylised oddness in this offering, which judging from the trailer looks like it might be some sort of post-giallo Antichrist tale.
Other Newly-Announced Genre Titles:
The Greatest Hits (USA, Dir: Ned Benson)
Harriet (Lucy Boynton) finds art imitating life when she discovers certain songs can transport her back in time – literally. This also stars David Corenswet, who played the projectionist in Ti West’s Pearl and is soon to be James Gunn’s Superman.
Monkey Man (Canada/India/Singapore/USA, Dir: Dev Patel)
Dev Patel’s debut looks to be a powerhouse action-revenge flick about a man (Patel) hunting down those who murdered his mother. Also features Sharlto Copley and a range of top-quality Indian talent, most of whom look set to be shot, stabbed, punched, or thrown through the furniture by our hero. Fingers crossed this is in the top rank of post-Wick carnage. Co-penned by John Collee, the writer of Master and Commander, and of a George Miller movie (specifically, Happy Feet). Cinematography by Sharone Meir (Whiplash).
Omni Loop (USA, Dir: Bernardo Britto)
Diagnosed with a black hole growing inside her chest, a woman (Mary Louise Parker) from Miami, Florida decides to solve time travel in order to go back and be the person she always intended to be. Ayo Edebiri, the breakout star of 2023, also features.
7 Keys (UK, Dir: Joy Wilkinson)
Daniel (Billy Postlethwaite) has kept the keys to all the places he’s lived. Lena (Emma McDonald) wants to use them for a wild weekend getting to know each other intimately in other people’s homes. But what begins as a risky fantasy soon becomes a deadly threat. Joy Wilkinson’s previous work includes Doctor Who (The Witchfinders).
Sew Torn (US/Switzerland, Director: Freddy Macdonald)
Shades of Run, Lola, Run, perhaps, when a seamstress (Eve Connolly – The Other Lamb) gets tangled in her own thread after stealing a briefcase from a drug deal gone bad. In an escalating game of cat and mouse, her different choices lead to drastically different outcomes along the way. Adapted from the director’s 2019 6-minute-long short.
Smugglers (South Korea, Dir: Ryoo Seung-wan)
Two women (Kim Hye-soo, Yum Jung-ah) get unexpectedly caught up in a high stakes smuggling scheme in 1970’s Korea. If you want to see women taking on The Man, by which we mean Men, this is the crime flick for you.
Timestalker (UK, Dir: Alice Lowe)
From the creative team behind Prevenge comes a reincarnation rom-com about the eternal humiliation that is the search for love, spanning the most romantic epochs of history. Cast: Alice Lowe, Jacob Anderson, Aneurin Barnard, Tanya Reynolds, Nick Frost (World Premiere)
Y2K (Director: Kyle Mooney)
On the last night of 1999, two high school juniors (Rachel Zegler, Jaeden Martell) crash a New Years Eve party, only to find themselves fighting for their lives in this dial-up disaster comedy. I enjoyed Mooney in Brigsby Bear, which he wrote, so I’m looking forward to his directorial debut. This also stars Mason Gooding, climbing unscathed from the wreckage of the Scream franchise.
We’re hoping for great things from this line-up – what do you think of this selection? Let us know below, or on our Twitter feed at @WhitlockAndPope.
SXSW runs in Austin, Texas, from 8-16 March 2024, with tickets available here.
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