The South By Southwest Festival has announced its 2022 Film Festival slate for its 29th edition, with this year’s acclaimed program being a largely in-person event, with select titles being offered online. Running from March 11th to the 20th, the 2022 program will include 99 features, including 76 World Premieres, 4 International Premieres, 4 North American Premieres, 2 U.S. Premieres, 13 Texas Premieres + 111 Short Films, including 24 music videos, 11 episodic premieres, 6 episodic pilots, 29 XR Experience projects, and 19 Title Design Competition entries.
We’ll be covering the event for another year at The AU Review, looking forward to viewing the eclectic selection the festival has become known for. Here’s a few of the titles that immediately jumped out for us to add to the Must-See list! You can peep the full line-up on the official site here.
Bodies Bodies Bodies (Headliners)
Pete Davidson, Amandla Stenberg, Rachel Sennott, and Borat‘s Maria Bakalova feature in this ensemble comedy about a group of 20-somethings who plan a hurricane party at a remote family mansion where their party game turns dead. Black comedy and that cast? We want an invite!
Everything Everywhere All At Once (Headliners)
Director duo Daniel Kwan and Daniel Scheinert – also known as The Daniels – who blessed the world with the surrealist comedy that was Swiss Army Man (you know, that movie where Daniel Radcliffe played a farting corpse), are putting their distinct finger on the sci-fi genre (and the opening night festivities) with a big-hearted comedy about an exhausted Chinese American woman (Michelle Yeoh) who can’t seem to finish her taxes.
The Lost City (Headliners)
It’s Channing Tatum, Sandra Bullock, and Brad Pitt in an adventure-seeking romantic comedy. Do we need to say anything more?
The Unbearable Weight of Massive Talent (Headliners)
There’s very little that Nicolas Cage won’t do, including playing himself. In this delirious action-comedy, Cage plays Nick Cage, an actor reflecting on the legacy of his own career to save himself and his loved ones when he finds himself caught between a CIA operative (Tiffany Haddish) and a crazed superfan (Pedro Pascal). We can’t wait for this one.
Seriously Red (Narrative Feature Competition)
Not much is known about this Australian entry this year, but its Rose Byrne, Bobby Cannavale, and Celeste Barber in a world premiere noting the synopsis as “Find out who you are and do it on purpose”. Consider us intrigued.
Sissy (Midnighters)
Another Australian entrant, Hannah Barlow‘s after dark chiller follows the titular Sissy’s ordeal when she’s invited away on a bachelorette weekend only to be trapped in a remote cabin with her high school bully. We feel this won’t end well.
X (Midnighters)
Jenna Ortega‘s character in the recent Scream had a love of all things elevated horror. The slasher victim has come full circle for X, Ti West‘s anticipated genre flick about a group of young filmmakers in the late 1970’s looking to make an adult film in rural Texas, only to discover the reclusive locals don’t take kindly to their skin flick intentions.
61st Street (Episodic Premieres)
Courtney B. Vance and King Richard‘s Aunjanue Ellis headline this propulsive thriller detailing the dark heart of the infamous Chicago criminal justice system. The police department’s code of silence is threatened during an investigation in this topical series that comes courtesy of Michael B. Jordan‘s Outlier Society.
And that’s only just the beginning. Always a festival that delights in big talent, unique visions, individual voices, and everything in between for the terminally curious, SXSW’s 2022 slate promises to bring the festival back after an uncharted two years.
For more details on the event, had to sxsw.com/film.
