SXSW 2026 Watchlist
Every year, I look forward to the incredible lineup at SXSW. This year feels particularly curated to my personal, off-the-wall taste, and I am here for it, Baby. Here are just 12 of the films and TV pilots I am stoked to get my eyeballs on starting this week!!
SXSW 2026 runs from March 12-18th. Do. Not. Miss. It.
When Jamie, ungovernable 40-something wild child collides with her venomous mother, Anne, her life blows up spectacularly leaving her evicted and single. This sends Jamie on a pig in a hurricane journey for “home”; breaking into her Nana’s house to prove it should be hers, a rejected bid to move in with her van-dwelling punk rock ex, and a stint in her best friends pied a terre, which ends with Jamie hooking up with her husband.
I like to think I am ungovernable, I whisper to myself as I go grocery shopping and run the PTO. I can surely live vicariously through Anne’s shenanigans.
Timid Catholic school dork Edie Arnold is dragged to a punk show where a mishap lands her on stage behind the drums. She’s mortified… but a natural. Convinced by her best friend, she secretly forms a band called The NunDead. Her newfound confidence leads to a date with the altar boy but also a fight that gets her suspended. Thinking she bailed on their first gig, her bandmates bust her out of the house just in time to win a Battle of the Bands. But when she faces expulsion and her mother’s wrath at a disciplinary hearing, footage of her kick-ass performance has an unexpected effect on her mom.
Hi! Former Catholic school kid here. Hi, former punk band member. Battle of the Bads? Almost. I hosted. In spirit, another film that someone makes beatuful misfits like me feel seen. Do not miss it.
A wandering medium, Airi spends her life guiding restless spirits out of the world of the living. Summoned to an isolated country house, she comes face to face with a grotesque apparition with powers that defy Airi’s experience. As she digs deeper into the house’s past, a secret comes to light — and Airi finds herself hunted by a far more unpredictable force. For the first time, her greatest adversary is not the supernatural, but the living.
A romantic vacation goes awry when a volcanic eruption strands Bethany (Charli xcx) and her soon-to-be fiancé, Rob (Will Madden) in Warsaw, Poland. Bethany takes the explosive event as a sign to ditch her baggage, reunite with childhood friend Nel (Lena Góra) and traipse across lofts, clubs and back alleys, all the while becoming entangled in an emotional web that challenges her sense of self.
From American maverick Pete Ohs, who wrote, directed, edited, photographed, and produced this dizzyingly charming European postcard, comes Erupcja, a delightful anti-romantic comedy about the pains and pleasures of being in love. SXSW 2026
A truthful and bitingly funny tale of surviving PTSD with a little help from family, loved ones and therapy.
Through a compassionate and inventive journey into the human psyche, director Jay Duplass and first-time feature writer Adam Cayton-Holland portray a sense of lived-in authenticity with wisdom, heightened by fantastical renderings of a collection of memories in their intricate adaptation of Cayton-Holland’s 2018 memoir, Tragedy Plus Time. Fiercely original and astutely universal, See You When I See You charts the uneven path of emotional healing from grief and trauma with refreshing honesty, through turns that are dark, humorous, and unexpected.
Adam Cayton-Holland, adapting his own memoir, makes all the difference when handling the tricky subject of grief and trauma. This GenXr is very much looking forward to diving headfirst with this cast.
DIRECTED BY: Jay Duplass
WRITTEN BY: Adam Cayton-Holland
STARRING: Cooper Raiff, David Duchovny, Kaitlyn Dever, Hope Davis, Lucy Boynton, Ariela Barer SXSW 2026
From her crumbling estate on the Potomac, Yolanda Signorelli von Braunhut is engaged in a David-and-Goliath battle to wrest control of her late husband Harold’s iconic toy Amazing Live Sea Monkeys! back from the corporate men who she insists stole them from her. Harold von Braunhut and Yolanda Signorelli worked together for forty years before Harold – a genius magician, scientist and inventor – passed away and left his iconic novelty toy in Yolanda’s care. Yolanda alone possesses the true Sea-Monkeys secret formula and she alone must free them, not only from their captors, but also from the stain of her husband’s dark legacy.
A story of a woman reclaiming her stake in one of the world’s most beloved and iconic toys? Sea Monkeys still has a nostalgic stronghold on generations. I am here for it. SXSW 2026
Nick (Jai Courtney), affable heir to a wealthy rural landowner, discovers his fiancée, Kori (Emily Browning), is cheating on him and wants nothing more than to just fix the problem. One night, he captures a rogue Fox (Olivia Colman), and she offers him a trade-off: if Nick lets her live, the Fox will help him save his relationship. All he has to do is push Kori into a magic hole with the power to change her into the perfect partner. Nick follows the Fox’s advice, and the Kori who re-emerges seems to be everything he ever wanted. Until her strange new quirks make him question his decision.
This cast is beautiful madness, for starters. All we want is a bit of magical realism during these tumultuous times, so The Fox should absolutely be on your radar. Bonus, it’s produced by Causeway Films. You know the studio that gave us Talk To Me and The Babadook. Take my money.
Directed & Written by: Dario Russo
Starring: Jai Courtney (Dangerous Animals), Emily Browning (A Series of Unfortunate Events), Damon Herriman (Together), Claudia Doumit (“The Boys”), Sam Neill (Jurassic Park), Miranda Otto (The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King), Olivia Colman (The Favorite) SXSW 2026SXSXSW 2026
A couple treks deep into the wilderness to make a movie about their troubled relationship, only to discover that their conflicts may turn deadly.
What happens when a couple makes a movie about their troubled relationship… using their real arguments as the script?
Filmmakers Polaris Banks and Mor Cohen set out to make a feature film with virtually no resources. Camping alone in the wilderness with limited gear, the two-person crew shot a psychological thriller drawn from their own marital conflicts.
The result is AND HER BODY WAS NEVER FOUND, a meta relationship thriller that will have its World Premiere at SXSW 2026.
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Made with only two people and minimal equipment
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Shot while camping in remote wilderness
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Script based on real arguments between the filmmakers
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Blurs the line between performance and real conflict
AND HER BODY WAS NEVER FOUND was directed by Polaris Banks, who produced and co-wrote the film with Mor Cohen. Tristan Barr, Josh Doke, and Jonathan Barkan serve as executive producers.SXSW 2026SXSW 2026SXSW 2026
An action-packed thriller where five ballerinas, on their way to a prestigious dance competition, are barely on speaking terms when their bus breaks down in a remote forest. With no other options, they reluctantly seek shelter at an unsettling roadside inn run by Devora Kasimer (Uma Thurman), a reclusive former ballet prodigy. From the moment they arrive, something feels wrong—and their worst instincts prove right. As the situation turns deadly, the fractured team must set aside rivalries and weaponize years of brutal training, turning grace, discipline, and even pointe shoes into tools for survival.
Be still, my beating heart. Was this movie made specifically for both sides of my personality? Ballet and bloody goodness in one space. Bravo.SXSW 2026S
TV: SXSW 2026SXSW 2026SXSW 2026SXSW 2026
“Margo’s Got Money Troubles” is a bold, heartwarming and comedic family drama following recent college dropout and aspiring writer, Margo (Elle Fanning), the daughter of an ex-Hooter’s waitress (Michelle Pfeiffer) and ex-pro wrestler (Nick Offerman), as she’s forced to make her way with a new baby, a mounting pile of bills and a dwindling amount of ways to pay them.
Apple takes on the beloved book, and you know how picky readers (myself included) are when it comes to the art of page to screen. Here’s hoping the cast and David E Kelley’s television adaptation leave bookish audiences just as pleased as cinephiles.
Cast: Elle Fanning, Michelle Pfeiffer, Nick Offerman, Thaddea Graham, Nicole Kidman, Greg Kinnear, Marcia Gay Harden, Michael Angarano, Rico Nasty, Lindsey Normington
Desperate to live up to his father’s expectations, a talented but inconsistent minor league baseball player turns to steroids, igniting a dangerous transformation of body and mind.
Section: Independent TV Pilot Competition
Written & Directed by: Alex Bendo
Cast: Daniel Diemer, Will Chase, Ian Blackman, William Hill
Run Time: 19 minutes
Genre: Horror, Sci-Fi, Thriller, Sports SXSW 2026SXSW 2026
Son of a Bikram is a half-hour dark comedy series that explores belief, loyalty, and identity in the shadow of public scandal. Ash T (Euphoria, Better Call Saul) stars as Raag, a devoted yoga follower whose life turns upside down when his yoga hero, Bikram Choudhury, is accused of sexual harassment, forcing him to confront what loyalty really costs.
The film is co-written and directed by Johnny Rey Diaz (Grey’s Anatomy, Pam & Tommy). An 18-minute proof of concept titled Son of a Bikram has been produced in advance of the series and will have its world premiere at SXSW 2026.
Created by: Johnny Rey Diaz and Ash T
Cinematographer: Nathaniel Regier
Executive Producer: Abubakar Khan
Editor: Logan Hall
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