The 2025 SXSW Convention and festivals kicks off March 7, with a flurry of movie and tv premieres, tech audio system and panels, attractive activations, comedy exhibits, and far, far more.
Film lovers flock to Austin Texas for SXSW to see the world premieres of star-studded movies, in addition to take the chance to find hidden gems. With so many choices to select from, making your SXSW plan may be irritating. And even should you’re not going to be on the bottom, you may want your ear to the bottom to know what’s a must-see and what’s a miss. Concern not, Mashable has bought you lined. We’ll be operating opinions out of the SXSW Movie Pageant, praising the very best and jeering the worst. However Opening Evening, listed here are the titles that almost all intrigue.
Listed below are the most-anticipated motion pictures and exhibits premiering on the SXSW Movie Pageant in 2025.
One other Easy Favor
Opening SXSW 2025’s movie pageant is that this cheeky sequel to the 2018 thriller A Easy Favor. Set years after vlogging single mother Stephanie Smothers (Anna Kendrick) bested her devious bestie Emily (Blake Energetic) in a sport of lies, insurance coverage fraud, and murder, they’re reunited. By some means — regardless of a number of homicide convictions — Emily is out of jail and seeking to wed in a flashy vacation spot marriage ceremony. And the right particular person to be her maid of honor is none apart from the good friend who turned their poisonous relationship right into a best-selling true crime novel.
Screenwriter Jessica Sharzer and director Paul Feig additionally return, bringing with them some memorable supporting gamers. However essentially the most enchanting lure for One other Easy Favor is the depth Energetic dropped at the mesmerizing, mercurial, and ever elegant Emily. Or Claudia. Or Hope. Or no matter she’s going by now.
Starring: Anna Kendrick, Blake Energetic, Andrew Rannells, Bashir Salahuddin, Elizabeth Perkins, Michele Morrone, Elena Sofia Ricci, Alex Newell, Henry Golding, and Allison Janney
How one can watch: One other Easy Favor will come to Prime Video on Might 1.
Drop
On the subject of relationship, within the immortal phrases of latest poet Olivia Rodrigo, “It’s brutal out there.”
Nobody understands that higher than Violet (White Lotus‘ Meghann Fahy), a widowed mother who’s happening her first date in ages. However far past getting the ick, she’s getting weird and threatening memes from an unknown quantity. Coming from Christopher Landon, the author of such excessive idea comedy-horror gems as Completely satisfied Demise Day, Freaky, and Coronary heart Eyes, this Drop guarantees to be an exciting evening out.
Starring: Meghann Fahy, Brandon Sklenar, Violett Beane, Jacob Robinson, Reed Diamond, Gabrielle Ryan, Jeffery Self, Ed Weeks, and Travis Nelson
How one can watch: Drop opens in theaters April 11.
Demise of a Unicorn
Let’s be sincere, this title alone must be sufficient to pique your curiosity. From A24 comes the characteristic directorial debut of helmer/author Alex Scharfman. And as you would possibly predict, Demise of a Unicorn facilities across the demise of the eponymous legendary beast.
Look, daughter duo Elliot and Ridley (Paul Rudd and Jenna Ortega) did not imply to kill the unicorn. It was a accident. However when the corpse of a unicorn evokes an obscenely prosperous household of pharmaceutical execs to experiment, issues go from unhealthy to fantastically worse. Which appears excellent news for moviegoers who love a wild trip.
Starring: Paul Rudd, Jenna Ortega, Will Poulter, Téa Leoni, and Richard E. Grant
How one can watch: Demise of a Unicorn opens in theaters March 28.
The Accountant 2
Ben Affleck and Jon Bernthal re-team in an attractive sequel to director Gavin O’Connor’s 2016’s The Accountant. The primary movie unfurled the twisted story of two brothers, raised by a hard-headed army dad, who felt violence could possibly be a solution to absolutely anything. However whereas one son grew up a mercenary with no qualms about homicide, the opposite grew to become an accountant for a number of the most harmful rich folks on the planet.
Now, when former treasury chief (and good friend) Ray King (J.Okay. Simmons) dies, it is as much as Christian Wolff (Affleck) and his hot-tempered brother Braxton (Bernthal) to crack the case… and possibly some skulls alongside the best way. A thriller that guarantees motion and character-driven drama starring two of Hollywood’s most strong-jawed main males? That math provides as much as LFG.
Starring: Ben Affleck, Jon Bernthal, Cynthia Addai-Robinson, Daniella Pineda, Allison Robertson, and J.Okay. Simmons
How one can watch: The Accountant 2 opens in theaters nationwide on April 25.
Holland
Sleep is for anybody however AMC film queen Nicole Kidman. In 2024, the heralded main girl appeared within the Lulu Wang mini-series Expats, the Might-December rom-com A Household Affair, the thriller sequence The Excellent Couple, the espionage drama sequence Lioness, and the steamy erotic thriller Babygirl. Now, she’s kicking off 2025 with a curious collaboration with Mimi Cave, director of the cannibal thriller Contemporary.
Holland appears to be set in a picture-perfect city in Michigan, the place cheerful youngsters, glad housewives, and Dutch dancing are thriving. However one thing is off for Nancy (Kidman). She’s satisfied she’s onto a thriller, however what may it imply — for her and her husband and son? We won’t wait to seek out out.
Starring: Nicole Kidman, Matthew Macfadyen, Jude Hill, and Gael García Bernal
How one can watch: Holland debuts on Prime Video on March 27.
O’Dessa
This rock opera from author/director Geremy Jasper (Patti Cake$) is coming to Hulu. However I might suggest you benefit from the possibility to see it in theaters at SXSW, the place the soundtrack can envelope you, rattling your bones and soul.
Mashable Prime Tales
Stranger Issues‘ Sadie Sink stars as O’Dessa, a rambler who has a music in her coronary heart and a future in her blood. In a dystopian world, a narcissistic dictator numbs the inhabitants into poverty by an limitless barrage of TV broadcasts. It is as much as O’Dessa to convey her music to the plenty and open their hearts and minds. Alongside the best way, Jasper drenches his viewers in a fascinating musical soundscape with visuals beautiful and unusual, making for a film musical that feels acquainted but thrillingly contemporary.
Starring: Sadie Sink, Kelvin Harrison Jr., Murray Bartlett, Regina Corridor, and Pokey LaFarge
How one can watch: O’Dessa premieres on Hulu on March 13.
The Studio
Seth Rogen and a jaw-dropping solid of massive stars give Hollywood the takedown it so richly deserves with The Studio.
The battle of artwork versus commerce takes middle stage as Rogen performs a newly minted studio exec, who has to make an limitless sequence of untamed selections. When you ever surprise how the blockbuster sausage will get made, the primary episode of this stellar comedy sequence provides you a juicy and revolting style.
The writing on this satirical sequence is so sharp that Rogen virtually bleeds as he performs the idiot throughout an array of comical conflicts. And he is bolstered by a supporting solid that’s blisteringly humorous, spitting barbs, allusions, and one-liners with a dizzying depth. SXSW provides audiences slightly style of this new sitcom. To see the remaining, you will have to subscribe to Apple TV+.
Starring: Seth Rogen, Catherine O’Hara, Kathryn Hahn, Ike Barinholtz, Chase Sui Wonders, and Bryan Cranston
How one can watch: The Studio premieres on Apple TV+ on March 26.
The Ballad of Wallis Island
Following its Sundance debut, this winsome dramedy is completely pitched for SXSW, coping with music, fandom, and the facility of affection.
Think about if you’ll, you received a lottery prize so immense you might not solely afford a house on a distant island removed from the concerns of the world, however you might additionally afford to primarily bribe your favourite band to reunite for a non-public live performance. That is what eccentric Charles Heath (Tim Key) does, simply to listen to McGwyer Mortimer play reside yet another time. Nevertheless, the folks rock band who peaked within the 2010s did not simply disband. The angsty Herb McGwyer (Tom Basden) and the cheery Nell Mortimer (Carey Mulligan) broke up romantically as properly. So when she turns up together with her new husband (Akemnji Ndifornyen) the stage is about for romantic rivalry, resurrected resentments, and a few actually nice indie rock.
Starring: Tom Basden, Tim Key, Sian Clifford, Akemnji Ndifornyen, and Carey Mulligan
How one can watch: The Ballad of Wallis Island premieres in theaters March 28.
Completely satisfied Face
True crime followers, brace yourselves to your subsequent TV obsession. Robert King and Michelle King, the dynamic partnership that introduced us the rousing drama and wit of The Good Struggle and The Good Spouse, at the moment are delivering an intriguing new sequence impressed by Melissa G. Moore’s autobiographical podcast and e-book about being the daughter of the infamous Completely satisfied Face Killer.
Annaleigh Ashford stars as Melissa Reed. A spouse, mom, {and professional} make-up artist, Melissa’s plate is fairly full even earlier than her convicted killer father (performed by a snarling Dennis Quaid) barges into what peace she has constructed. He is been locked up for years after being convicted of eight murders. However he claims there is a ninth sufferer, and he’ll solely inform the small print to his darling “Missy.” To reconnect together with her dad won’t solely open up previous wounds, but additionally threat the anonymity on which she’s raised her family. But when a confession may cease the improper man from unjust punishment, would it not be price it?
Starring: Annaleigh Ashford, Dennis Quaid, Tamera Tomakili, and James Wolk
How one can watch: Completely satisfied Face begins streaming on Paramount+ March 20.
American Sweatshop
Lili Reinhart stars as Daisy in “American Sweatshop.”
Credit score: Guido Marx
Lili Reinhart headlines this sly thriller a couple of younger lady who has a complete nightmare job: She’s a moderator for movies on the web. Daily, she and a small military of her coworkers come to a dismal workplace, the place they need to watch acts of violence, depravity, and violation to find out whether or not these movies break the corporate’s consumer settlement. Well, director Uta Briesewitz does not make a spectacle of the horrors that her characters witness, holding most of them off-camera. As a substitute, she turns the knife by specializing in the psychological agony of these compelled to observe for a meager wage.
Affected by one video particularly, Daisy (Reinhart) turns into obsessive about monitoring down its maker. By her journey, this savage movie not solely vivisects the darkish voyeurism that exists on the web and the trauma it inflicts. It additionally mocks the callous nature of company America, which is able to enable something it will possibly within the title of revenue. Achingly well timed and unnervingly thrilling, American Sweatshop is must-see for the chronically on-line.
Starring: Lili Reinhart, Daniela Melchior, Jeremy Ang Jones, Josh Whitehouse, Tim Plester, Christiane Paul, and Joel Fry
How one can watch: Launch TBD.
I Actually Love My Husband
Madison Lanesey and Travis Quentin Younger in “I Really Love My Husband.”
Credit score: Nonetheless by Ryan Thomas. Coloration by Dan Edwards.
The characteristic debut of author/director G.G. Hawkins is a playful and attractive have a look at love and want, with a pointy humorousness.
The story of this attractive comedy begins on a honeymoon to tropical Panama. There, newlyweds Drew and Teresa (Travis Quentin Younger and Madison Lanesey) are looking for pleasure and enjoyable beneath the solar. However one thing is consuming at Teresa, who appears irked by her husband’s each transfer. That’s, till they meet their enchanting rental host, the free-spirited Paz (Arta Gee). Greater than an attractive stranger, they appear a path to sexual exploration and private liberation. Whereas this idea of a straight-seeming couple dabbling in kink and queer hook-ups may appear predictable and problematic, Hawkins and her solid present a eager self-awareness within the movie’s closing act. The result’s a comedy that is humorous, poignant, and thought-provoking.
Starring: Madison Lanesey, Travis Quentin Younger, Arta Gee, Lisa Jacqueline Starrett, Elizabeth de Robbins, Sophia Amodio, Meggan Taylor, Mitch Bisshop, Amberlin Morse
How one can watch: Launch TBD.
The Secret of Me
Credit score: SXSW
The private is political within the poignant and richly informative documentary The Secret of Me.
Directed by Grace Hughes-Hallett, this movie begins with the story of an American lady who loves soccer and her mother and father. However as she grows older, household secrets and techniques are revealed that change how she sees herself, her household, and the world round her. A narrative of non-public discovery turns into one in every of intersex activism, as The Secret of Me‘s hero comes to appreciate they are not alone. Tying this particular person story to the historical past of a landmark psychology experiment and the disturbing affect it had on numerous youngsters, this doc will open eyes, and hopefully hearts.
How one can watch: Launch TBD.
The Threesome
Zoey Deutch, Jonah Hauer-King, and Ruby Cruz get collectively in “The Threesome.”
Credit score: Star Thrower Leisure
Desire a romantic comedy with slightly little bit of spice? Then you definately’ll fall for director Chad Hartigan’s surprisingly charming The Threesome.
What begins because the sort of story you would possibly learn in an AITA thread evolves right into a candy and foolish story about three younger lovers who face large selections after a wild evening collectively. Zoey Deutch stars as a charismatic however mercurial waitress who suggest a threesome with an previous good friend (Jonah Hauer-King) who’s lengthy been crushing on her, and a brand new acquaintance (Ruby Cruz) with a stunning power. When you would possibly suspect you recognize the place this sexual encounter would possibly lead, you are improper. That is removed from a Challengers–like story of rigidity, lust, and resentment. As a substitute, it is a story about rising up, whether or not you are prepared or not, and taking duty to your selections and the hearts you broke alongside the best way. Tender and beguiling, The Threesome is stable enjoyable.
Starring: Zoey Deutch, Jonah Hauer-King, Ruby Cruz, Jaboukie Younger-White, Josh Segarra, Robert Longstreet, Arden Myrin, Kristin Slaysman, Allan McLeod, and Julia Sweeney
How one can watch: Launch TBD.
Lifeless Lover
Grace Glowicki as Gravedigger in “Dead Lover.”
Credit score: Rhayne Vermette
When you crave one thing determinedly offbeat, try this Sundance choose, which has its Texas premiere at SXSW. Co-written, directed, and starring Grace Glowicki, Lifeless Lover is as removed from a conceit venture as a filmmaker would possibly get. On this gnarly horror-comedy, she performs an unnamed gravedigger who smells so rank she repels everybody round her. Nevertheless, when she lastly meets a person who’s all too glad to share her mattress, he tragically dies, leaving solely a dismembered finger behind. However that scrap of lover could possibly be sufficient to Frankenstein her technique to a reunion.
If that weren’t wild sufficient, Glowicki and co-writer/co-star Ben Petrie weave in subplots of naughty nuns, judgmental biddies, a sneering parson, and a grief-stricken swashbuckler. And their solid of 4 will play the entire roles in black field setting, with apparent wigs, and clumsy costumes that relish within the DIY aesthetic. It is “Let’s Put on a Show!” for the midnight film crowd, making Lifeless Lover a extremely bonkers watch.
Starring: Grace Glowicki, Ben Petrie, Leah Doz, and Lowen Morrow
How one can watch: Launch TBD.
