This was my very first time at SXSW and I had an absolute blast. Each of the three screenings we caught were watched in a span of 24 hours but had such great energetic audiences and engaging filmmakers here are the best films I saw, ranked from worst to best.
3. Together
Directed by Michael Shanks; starring Alison Brie and Dave Franco
The first midnight showing of opening weekend did not disappoint. Real-life couple Alison Brie and Dave Franco star as long time partners who want different things in life and in their relationship, but after moving to a new town, discover that they are being increasingly entangled in an unexpected way. Director Michael Shanks does a more than competent job with this debut feature but there are a few particular jump scares and set pieces (the bathroom and hallways ones in particular) that are handled with applaudable aplomb. The end result is a relationship body horror film that is more memorable for its fun (and surprising humor!) than its metaphors. Neon did a fantastic job promoting the film at the festival and the showing, with tie-in promotional efforts like missing persons posters, water bottles, and pre-show audience plant dance routines, so here’s hoping there is similar creativity and success in distributing and promoting the film in a wider release.
2. The Dutchman
Directed by Andre Gaines; starring Andrew Holland, Kate Mara, Zazie Beets, and Aldis Hodge
The world premiere of the Dutchman was a heady experience. Andre Gaines’s adaptation of the 1964 Amiri Baraka screenplay is a surrealist, existentialist, allegorical all-in-one-night experience that engages you on multiple levels and themes from fidelity to race to societal expectations and fate. Some familiarity with the source material would be very helpful prior to viewing this. The film is intensely literary, and slowly and deftly builds momentum which comes to a head during a cathartic monologue that is one of the most effective in recent memory. Andre Holland is excellent as the aptly named Clay, but it is Kate Mara who is not only the only white actor in the movie but has an incredible amount of responsibility given to her role as a sort of Queen Grimhilde from hell – I’m not sure I knew she had this in her. The Dutchman probably isn’t a film for everyone, but for those who find something of value in it, it’s probably worth the examination and reflection that comes with multiple viewings.
1. We Are Storror
Directed by Michael Bay; starring Storror
With apologies to the ending of Armaggeddon, this “Michael Bay directed” documentary (a first for him!) about parkour is more than a passion project, it’s the most human and affecting film that Bay has made. The subject matter is Storror, the UK-based parkour team of seven friends who grew up together to become the most famous group of Youtuber freerunners, making genuinely jaw-dropping videos. But while you might come for the awe-inducing jumps and athletic feats performed at great heights, you’ll stay for the compelling personalities, heartwarming friendships, and human reckoning with vulnerability and mortality. Unlike Free Solo or Skywalkers, the teamwork and synchronicity and choreography of some of the scenes makes these videos more than just adrenaline clickbait and elevate these acts into acts of sublime artistic creativity. The storytelling, score, and editing (especially the final montage) are all incredibly impressive, but that is hardly a surprise. If you want to make something look cool, who better to do it than Michael Bay?
