SXSW 2018
by Col Needham | created - 31 Jan 2018 | updated - 14 Feb 2021 | PublicThis is a list of all the movies I have seen from SXSW 2018, in chronological viewing order (see also the titles on my pre-festival interest list). Films #1 through 7 were seen before the festival and #8 through 23 seen at SXSW.
I will add post-festival catch-ups as I see them.
It was an honour to serve on the narrative feature competition jury with Emily Yoshida and Justin Chang. We awarded the Grand Jury prize to Thunder Road (2018) with special recognition prizes to The New Romantic (2018) (first feature) and Jinn (2018) (writing).
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1. Outside In (2017)
Not Rated | 109 min | Drama
An ex-con struggling to readjust to life in his small town forms an intense bond with his former high school teacher.
Director: Lynn Shelton | Stars: Edie Falco, Jay Duplass, Louis Hobson, Alycia Delmore
Votes: 6,307 | Gross: $0.07M
Seen at TIFF
2. First Reformed (2017)
R | 113 min | Drama, Mystery, Thriller
A minister of a small congregation in upstate New York grapples with mounting despair brought on by tragedy, worldly concerns and a tormented past.
Director: Paul Schrader | Stars: Ethan Hawke, Amanda Seyfried, Cedric The Entertainer, Victoria Hill
Votes: 62,603 | Gross: $3.45M
Seen at TIFF
3. Lean on Pete (2017)
R | 121 min | Adventure, Drama, Sport
A teenager gets a summer job working for a horse trainer and befriends the fading racehorse, Lean on Pete.
Director: Andrew Haigh | Stars: Charlie Plummer, Amy Seimetz, Travis Fimmel, Steve Buscemi
Votes: 13,949 | Gross: $1.16M
Seen at LFF
4. The Rider (2017)
R | 104 min | Drama, Western
After suffering a near fatal head injury, a young cowboy undertakes a search for new identity and what it means to be a man in the heartland of America.
Director: Chloé Zhao | Stars: Brady Jandreau, Mooney, Tim Jandreau, Lilly Jandreau
Votes: 20,638 | Gross: $2.42M
Seen at Bath
5. Eighth Grade (2018)
R | 93 min | Comedy, Drama
An introverted teenage girl tries to survive the last week of her disastrous eighth grade year before leaving to start high school.
Director: Bo Burnham | Stars: Elsie Fisher, Josh Hamilton, Emily Robinson, Jake Ryan
Votes: 82,496 | Gross: $13.54M
Seen at Sundance
6. Damsel (I) (2018)
R | 113 min | Comedy, Drama, Western
It's the Wild West, circa 1870. Samuel Alabaster, an affluent pioneer, ventures across the American frontier to marry the love of his life, Penelope. As his group traverses the west, the once-simple journey grows treacherous, blurring the lines between hero, villain and damsel.
Directors: David Zellner, Nathan Zellner | Stars: Robert Pattinson, Mia Wasikowska, David Zellner, Nathan Zellner
Votes: 5,895 | Gross: $0.31M
Seen at Sundance
7. American Animals (2018)
R | 116 min | Biography, Crime, Drama
Four young men mistake their lives for a movie and attempt one of the most audacious heists in U.S. history.
Director: Bart Layton | Stars: Spencer Reinhard, Warren Lipka, Eric Borsuk, Chas Allen
Votes: 49,365 | Gross: $2.86M
Seen at Sundance
8. A Quiet Place (2018)
PG-13 | 90 min | Drama, Horror, Sci-Fi
A family struggles for survival in a world where most humans have been killed by blind but noise-sensitive creatures. They are forced to communicate in sign language to keep the creatures at bay.
Director: John Krasinski | Stars: Emily Blunt, John Krasinski, Millicent Simmonds, Noah Jupe
Votes: 583,783 | Gross: $188.02M
9. After Everything (2018)
95 min | Comedy, Drama, Romance
A young couple's relationship develops quickly when one of them is diagnosed with a life-changing illness.
Directors: Hannah Marks, Joey Power | Stars: Jeremy Allen White, Maika Monroe, DeRon Horton, Sasha Lane
Votes: 2,212
10. The Unicorn (I) (2018)
Not Rated | 88 min | Comedy
An indecisive couple facing the fourth year of their engagement finally decides to take the next big step and have a threesome.
Director: Robert Schwartzman | Stars: Lauren Lapkus, Nicholas Rutherford, Lucy Hale, Beck Bennett
Votes: 1,389
11. Summer '03 (2018)
Not Rated | 95 min | Comedy, Drama, Romance
A 16-year-old girl and her extended family are left reeling after her calculating grandmother unveils an array of secrets on her deathbed.
Director: Becca Gleason | Stars: Joey King, Paul Scheer, Andrea Savage, Jack Kilmer
Votes: 3,895 | Gross: $17.52M
12. Sadie (I) (2018)
96 min | Drama
SADIE is the story of a girl who will stop at nothing to preserve her father's place on the home front. Sadie (Sophia Mitri Schloss) is the daughter of a soldier and models herself after ... See full summary »
Director: Megan Griffiths | Stars: Sophia Mitri Schloss, Melanie Lynskey, John Gallagher Jr., Danielle Brooks
Votes: 464
13. Blockers (2018)
R | 102 min | Comedy, Drama
Three parents try to stop their daughters from losing their virginity on prom night.
Director: Kay Cannon | Stars: Leslie Mann, John Cena, Ike Barinholtz, Kathryn Newton
Votes: 85,992 | Gross: $60.31M
14. Jinn (I) (2018)
Not Rated | 92 min | Drama
Summer is a 17-year old carefree black girl, whose world is turned upside down when her mother, a popular meteorologist named Jade Jennings, abruptly converts to Islam and becomes a ... See full summary »
Director: Nijla Mumin | Stars: Simone Missick, Zoe Renee, Hisham Tawfiq, Kelvin Harrison Jr.
Votes: 446
15. The New Romantic (2018)
Not Rated | 82 min | Comedy, Drama, Romance
Frustrated with the lack of chivalrous guys her own age, a college senior gives up on dating for love to date an older man in exchange for gifts instead.
Director: Carly Stone | Stars: Jessica Barden, Hayley Law, Brett Dier, Camila Mendes
Votes: 2,419
16. Family (III) (2018)
R | 85 min | Comedy
An emotionally-stunted aunt tries to bond with her 13-year-old niece, who wants nothing more than to run away and become a Juggalo.
Director: Laura Steinel | Stars: Taylor Schilling, Bryn Vale, Brian Tyree Henry, Jessie Ennis
Votes: 3,334 | Gross: $0.12M
17. Ready Player One (2018)
PG-13 | 140 min | Action, Adventure, Sci-Fi
When the creator of a virtual reality called the OASIS dies, he makes a posthumous challenge to all OASIS users to find his Easter Egg, which will give the finder his fortune and control of his world.
Director: Steven Spielberg | Stars: Tye Sheridan, Olivia Cooke, Ben Mendelsohn, Lena Waithe
Votes: 486,448 | Gross: $137.69M
18. Write When You Get Work (2018)
99 min | Comedy, Drama, Romance
A story about money, mischief, love and entitlement, set in New York City. Ruth Duffy is getting by on an assistant's salary at a pricey school for girls in Manhattan, managing to move ... See full summary »
Director: Stacy Cochran | Stars: Emily Mortimer, Finn Wittrock, Rachel Keller, Jessica Hecht
Votes: 256
19. First Match (2018)
TV-MA | 102 min | Drama, Sport
Hardened by years in foster care, a teenage girl from Brooklyn's Brownsville neighborhood decides that joining the boys' wrestling team is the only way back to her estranged father.
Director: Olivia Newman | Stars: Elvire Emanuelle, Yahya Abdul-Mateen II, Colman Domingo, Jharrel Jerome
Votes: 2,534
20. Thunder Road (2018)
92 min | Comedy, Drama
A police officer faces a personal meltdown following a divorce and the death of his mother.
Director: Jim Cummings | Stars: Jim Cummings, Kendal Farr, Nican Robinson, Jocelyn DeBoer
Votes: 19,500
21. Boundaries (I) (2018)
R | 104 min | Comedy, Drama
Laura and her son Henry are forced to drive her estranged, pot-dealing, carefree father Jack cross country after being kicked out of a nursing home.
Director: Shana Feste | Stars: Vera Farmiga, Christopher Plummer, Lewis MacDougall, Christopher Lloyd
Votes: 2,905 | Gross: $0.70M
22. Wild Nights with Emily (2018)
PG-13 | 84 min | Comedy, History
Dramatization of the little known side of the writer Emily Dickinson's life, in particular, her relationship with another woman.
Director: Madeleine Olnek | Stars: Molly Shannon, Susan Ziegler, Amy Seimetz, Brett Gelman
Votes: 1,436 | Gross: $0.52M
23. Wild Honey Pie! (2018)
87 min | Comedy, Drama
Gillian is an aspiring playwright married to Oliver, a small-time DJ for all occasions. Their marriage has hit the Seven Year Itch, and this neurotic pair want to scratch that itch until it bleeds.
Director: Jamie Adams | Stars: Jemima Kirke, Sarah Solemani, Richard Elis, Brett Goldstein
Votes: 281
24. Generation Wealth (2018)
R | 105 min | Documentary
A documentary that investigates the pathologies that have created the richest society the world has ever seen.
Director: Lauren Greenfield | Stars: Lauren Greenfield, Bret Easton Ellis, Paris Cronin, Mijanou
Votes: 5,620 | Gross: $0.24M
25. Never Goin' Back (2018)
R | 85 min | Comedy, Crime, Drama
Jessie and Angela, high school dropouts, are taking a week off to chill at the beach. Too bad their house got robbed, rent's due, they're about to get fired, and they're broke.
Director: Augustine Frizzell | Stars: Maia Mitchell, Camila Morrone, Liz Cardenas, Michelle Sherrill
Votes: 4,076 | Gross: $0.06M
26. Won't You Be My Neighbor? (2018)
PG-13 | 95 min | Documentary, Biography, History
An exploration of the life, lessons, and legacy of iconic children's television host Fred Rogers.
Director: Morgan Neville | Stars: Fred Rogers, Margaret Whitmer, Tom Junod, Joanne Rogers
Votes: 27,122 | Gross: $22.84M
27. Upgrade (2018)
R | 100 min | Action, Sci-Fi, Thriller
Set in the near-future, technology controls nearly all aspects of life. But when the world of Grey, a self-labeled technophobe, is turned upside down, his only hope for revenge is an experimental computer chip implant.
Director: Leigh Whannell | Stars: Logan Marshall-Green, Melanie Vallejo, Steve Danielsen, Abby Craden
Votes: 206,864 | Gross: $11.98M
28. Prospect (2018)
R | 100 min | Adventure, Drama, Sci-Fi
A teenage girl and her father travel to a remote alien moon, aiming to strike it rich. They've secured a contract to harvest a large deposit of the elusive gems hidden in the depths of the moon's toxic forest. But there are others roving the wilderness and the job quickly devolves into a fight to survive. Forced to contend not only with the forest's other ruthless inhabitants, but with her own ... See full summary »
Directors: Christopher Caldwell, Zeek Earl | Stars: Sophie Thatcher, Jay Duplass, Pedro Pascal, Luke Pitzrick
Votes: 34,517
29. On Her Shoulders (2018)
95 min | Documentary, Biography
Nadia Murad, a 23-year-old Yazidi, survived genocide and sexual slavery committed by ISIS. Repeating her story to the world, this ordinary girl finds herself thrust onto the international stage as the voice of her people.
Director: Alexandria Bombach | Stars: Nadia Murad, Murad Ismael, Simone Monasebian, Michelle Rempel
Votes: 516 | Gross: $0.03M
30. Wildling (2018)
R | 92 min | Drama, Fantasy, Horror
A blossoming teenager uncovers the dark secret behind her traumatic childhood.
Director: Fritz Böhm | Stars: Bel Powley, Brad Dourif, Liv Tyler, Collin Kelly-Sordelet
Votes: 14,327
31. A Vigilante (2018)
R | 91 min | Crime, Drama, Mystery
After escaping her violent husband, Sadie makes it her life's mission to help free others in danger. After months of rigorous training in survival skills, boxing, and lethal martial arts, she is back with a vengeance.
Director: Sarah Daggar-Nickson | Stars: Olivia Wilde, Morgan Spector, Kyle Catlett, Estefania Tejeda
Votes: 10,479
32. Support the Girls (2018)
R | 93 min | Comedy, Drama
The general manager at a highway-side ''sports bar with curves" has her incurable optimism and faith in her girls, her customers and herself tested over the course of a long, strange day.
Director: Andrew Bujalski | Stars: Regina Hall, Haley Lu Richardson, Dylan Gelula, Zoe Graham
Votes: 8,314 | Gross: $0.13M
33. The Legacy of a Whitetail Deer Hunter (2018)
TV-14 | 83 min | Comedy, Drama
The great hunter Buck Ferguson (Josh Brolin) and his trusted cameraman Don (Danny McBride) set out for an epic weekend adventure to reconnect with Buck's young son (Montana Jordan).
Director: Jody Hill | Stars: Josh Brolin, Danny McBride, Montana Jordan, Scoot McNairy
Votes: 4,248
34. The Breaker Upperers (2018)
90 min | Comedy
For the right price, BFFs Jen and Mel will ruthlessly end any romance. But when one grows a conscience, it threatens to derail their relationship.
Directors: Madeleine Sami, Jackie van Beek | Stars: Madeleine Sami, Jackie van Beek, James Rolleston, Celia Pacquola
Votes: 6,892
35. 6 Balloons (2018)
TV-MA | 74 min | Drama
A woman (Jacobson) learns her brother (Franco) has relapsed on heroin.
Director: Marja-Lewis Ryan | Stars: Abbi Jacobson, Dave Franco, Charlotte Carel, Madeline Carel
Votes: 4,496
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