The legendary SXSW Film & TV Festival returns to Austin, Texas this spring (March 8-16, 2024) – and it’s bringing a whole host of much-anticipated horror with it.
Kicking off the fest is the opening night TV premiere of Netflix’s 3 Body Problem, a sci-fi drama series from creators David Benioff, D.B. Weiss and Alexander Woo, with following highlights including the Samara Weaving-starring Azrael and the international premiere of Neon’s much-anticipated Cuckoo, starring Hunter Schafer and Dan Stevens.
If you’ve forgotten the synopsis of Tilman Singer’s Cuckoo (we wouldn’t blame you, it’s been a while since we heard anything!) here it is for your reading pleasure:
On a trip to the German Alps with her father and stepmother, Gretchen discovers that the resort town where they’re staying hides sinister secrets, as she’s plagued by strange noises and frightening visions of a woman pursuing her.
Azrael, from director E.L. Katz and screenwriter Simon Barrett, also looks set to be a wild ride:
Many years following the apocalypse, a devout cult of mute zealots hunts down a young woman who has escaped her imprisonment.
Now let’s get into the eclectic Midnights lineup, which reads as follows (courtesy of the official SXSW website):
Family
Director/Screenwriter: Benjamin Finkel, Producers: Lynette Howell Taylor, Samantha Housman, Benjamin Finkel
Summer, 2002. Watching her sick father decline, 11-year-old Johanna makes a call for a good spirit to save him. But something else comes instead. Cast: Ruth Wilson, Ben Chaplin, Lucinda Lee Dawson Gray, Allan Corduner (World Premiere)
Hood Witch (France)
Director: Saïd Belktibia, Producer: Ladj Ly, Screenwriters: Saïd Belktibia, Louis Penicaut
Nour makes a living from smuggling exotic animals for her city’s marabouts, wishing to get her son out of the city and offer him a better future. But an exorcism turns into a tragedy and Nour has to face a wave of violence that could cost their lives. Cast: Golshifteh Farahani, Denis Lavant, Jérémy Ferrari, Amine Zariouhi, Issaka Sawadogo (North American Premiere)
Hunting Daze (Canada)
Director/Screenwriter: Annick Blanc, Producers: Maria Gracia Turgeon, Annick Blanc
Nina, a young, tempestuous woman, is taken in by a group of hunters in a remote cabin. In the midst of this tough, yet endearing, male microsociety, she feels like she finally belongs. A mysterious stranger’s arrival disrupts her newfound haven. Cast: Nahéma Ricci, Bruno Marcil, Frédéric Millaire-Zouvi, Marc Beaupré, Alexandre Landry, Maxime Genois, Noubi Ndiaye (World Premiere)
It’s What’s Inside
Director/Screenwriter: Greg Jardin, Producers: William Rosenfeld, Jason Baum, Kate Andrews, Raúl Domingo
A pre-wedding party descends into an existential nightmare when an estranged friend shows up with a mysterious suitcase. Cast: Brittany O’Grady, James Morosini, Alycia Debnam-Carey, Devon Terrell, Gavin Leatherwood, Reina Hardesty, Nina Bloomgarden, David Thompson (Texas Premiere)
Kryptic (Canada, United Kingdom)
Director: Kourtney Roy, Producers: Amber Ripley, Sophie Venner, Josh Huculiak, Screenwriter: Paul Bromley
Kryptic is a psycho-thriller about a woman’s search for a missing monster hunter and her growing realization that she is inescapably linked to the creature being pursued. Cast: Chloe Pirrie, Jeff Gladstone, Jason Deline, Ali Rusu-Tahir, Christina Meredith Lewall, Patti Allen, Pam Kearns, Jennifer Copping (World Premiere)
Oddity (Ireland)
Director/Screenwriter: Damian McCarthy, Producers: Katie Holly, Laura Tunstall, Evan Horan
In this new supernatural spectacle from Caveat’s Damian McCarthy, a blind medium uncovers the truth behind her sister’s death with the help of a frightening wooden mannequin. Cast: Gwilym Lee, Carolyn Bracken, Tadhg Murphy, Caroline Menton, Steve Wall, Jonathan French, Joe Rooney (World Premiere)
Things Will Be Different
Director/Screenwriter: Michael Felker, Producers: Shane Spiegel, Jacob Rosenthal, Michael Felker
In order to escape police after a robbery, two estranged siblings lay low in a metaphysical farmhouse that hides them away in a different time. There they reckon with a mysterious force that pushes their familial bonds to unnatural breaking points. Cast: Adam David Thompson, Riley Dandy, Chloe Skoczen, Justin Benson, Sarah Bolger, Jori Lynn Felker (World Premiere)
Other genre highlights across the fest include the Ari Aster-produced Sasquatch Sunset from directors David and Nathan Zellner, Australian horrors The Moogai (dir. Jon Bell) and Birdeater (dirs. Jack Clark and Jim Weir) and Kyle McConaghy and Joe DeBoer’s bloody Dead Mail.
Visit the SXSW site for more information on line up and tickets and we’ll bring you any more exciting updates as they roll in.
