The Peril at Pincer Point
Filmmakers Jake Kuhn and Noah Stratton-Twine really both just said we’re gonna make a whole damn movie and it’s gonna premiere at SXSW 2026. An ode to the late, great Roger Corman, The Peril at Pincer Point is indie filmmaking at its finest. It is no wonder it won the NEON Auteur Award!
The audience follows Jack, an aspiring sound recordist, who must impress his idol director, leading him on a mission. He must find the voice of a young woman who resides on a mysterious and remote island. Along the way, he meets the island’s residents. Each quirky in their own way. Each knowing more than they let on. While Jack wanders the island recording unusual audio, he becomes entangled in an old fisherman’s fable, one that might be reeling Jack in for more than he bargained for.
Dialogue is over-the-top quippy and hilarious. You’re never quite sure what might pop out of anyone’s mouth. Jack Redmayne gives our protagonist Jim a wildly hopeful air. This is a man hellbent on proving himself no matter the cost. Redmayne fully leans into the style Kuhn and Stratton-Twine give him to explore. The film looks like a handcrafted theatre set. Shot in black and white, it might read like a student film to anyone outside the industry, but this is a love letter to the limitless possibilities of the storytelling mind and imagination. The Peril at Pincer Point is almost challenging to describe. It stands toe-to-toe with other festival discoveries that you hear cinephiles talk about years later. It becomes a fisherman’s tale itself.
![The Peril at Pincer Point (2026) - [www.imdb.com]](https://i0.wp.com/reelnewsdaily.com/wp-content/uploads/The-Peril-at-Pincer-Point-2026-www.imdb_.com_-e1774014647397.png?resize=577%2C882&ssl=1)
The Peril at Pincer Point
Section: Visions
Directed by: Noah Stratton-Twine, Jake Kuhn
Screenwriter: Noah Stratton-Twine, Jake Kuhn
Producer: Noah Stratton-Twine, Jake Kuhn
Executive Producer: Igor Engler, Caroline Burton
Editor: Noah Stratton-Twine
Starring: Jack Redmayne, Alyth Ross, Os Leanse, Jason Hogan, Heidi Parsons, Dashiell Upton, Isobel Laidler, Mike Mackenzie, Mat Wright
Run Time: 83 minutes
Genre: Comedy, Mystery
The dialogue is outrageously offensive and damn funny. My guess is that they’re closer to reality than comedy since people are assholes, but I digress. The music is delicious. Fantasy sequences are action-packed shenanigans, akin to Everything Everywhere All At Once. Leading man, screenwriter, and showrunner Ash T absolutely kills it playing Raag. Not a single millisecond of hesitation in this absurdist performance; this is star-making stuff of the gods. The plot twist is out of left field, but that’s a complete compliment. I have to know what happens to Raag once the credits roll. I’m going to need HBO to pay attention because Son of a Bikram deserves all the money and every minute of an audience’s attention.
In Lauren Noll’s SXSW 2026 dramedy, Same Same But Different, we follow three Persian childhood friends: a personal trainer, a lawyer, and an aspiring writer, grappling with identity and their ever-evolving relationships.
SXSW 2026 Watchlist
In Cold Light
Hellbent on backsliding into her old ways, Ava’s tough exterior hides a chasm of wounds. As her brother softens to her requests for drug connections, all hell breaks loose when she becomes a target and scapegoat for murder. Now, with the innocent lives of her family members in harm’s way, Ava must decide who she can trust and how far she will go to bargain for their safety.
Oscar winner
While the “why” takes longer to get to than I would have liked, and feels somewhat disjointed, In Cold Light is a definitive, gritty crime thriller. Helen Hunt briefly appears, and introducing her sooner would change everything. Both the editing and handheld camerawork are hypnotic. But it’s the visceral father-daughter dynamic that gets under your skin and stays there. Screenwriter Patrick Whistler delivers unresolved trauma on an astonishing level. Monroe and Kotsur make an undeniably compelling duo. I would love to see them back together, doing anything literally.
Mimics
Calling Mimics a light horror is anything but an insult. It is a genre-bender: a sweet love story, a character study in ambition, passion, and an eerie warning about the trappings of fame, all wrapped in culty folklore that wouldn’t surprise me if it were ripped straight from the bowels of Scientology. It’s a breezy genre film that twists in unexpected ways and one that puts Kristoffer Polaha’s underrated talents in the spotlight.
PIKE RIVER
Anna Osborne and Sonya Rockhouse seek accountability on every level, from Pike River to the Prime Minister. When the corporation meant to protect the workers fails to keep its promises to recover the men’s bodies, the families involved seek an apology and justice. Legal and moral blow after blow, Anna and Sonya hold the line. Through grief and illness, this grassroots activism changes policy forever.
Lucy Lawless is unrecognizable as Helen Kelly, the duo’s lawyer. Melanie Lynskey and Robyn Malcolm deliver heartfelt performances. Malcolm’s Sonya is mired in rage, sadness, and emotional fear. Lynskey is strong, proud, and powerful. Together, they tell a story of a seemingly unlikely pair of women who share a common goal of decency and legacy.
The film culminates with legal updates. Archival footage brings everything home. Ever since 2010, Osborne and Rockhouse have continued to advocate for corporate manslaughter laws and health and safety accountability in New Zealand. Pike River solidly stands alongside social justice films like Erin Brockovich, exposing governmental cover-ups and corporate lies. The road to justice is long and hard, but doing the right thing is worth every small step forward.
Untitled Home Invasion Romance
Jamie Napoli and Joshua Paul Johnson cleverly wrap comedy around Suzie’s unknown childhood trauma, introducing friends from her past. They place Kevin entirely out of his depth socially. Suzie grew up in incredibly affluent circles, and clues about her life before Kevin reel the audience into the twisty narrative. You’re laughing and questioning everything you see. Each scene reveals something new. When the tension builds to a peak, here comes Biggs to make you laugh out loud.
Anna Konkle, who I miss with my whole heart on PEN15, plays Heather, Suzue’s childhood best friend and current chief of police. Konkle is down to Earth, incredibly charming, and inarguably the most competent member of her force. Her micro-expressions speak volumes. 
The location is stunning. The lake house is the stuff of dreams, with tennis courts, a multilevel dock, and floor-to-ceiling windows. Mollie Goldstein‘s editing is top-notch. Camerawork from Zach Kuperstein is a phenomenal mix of styles, keeping the audience thoroughly engaged. After years in the industry, Biggs easily slides into the director’s chair. I am excited to see what he chooses next. 
Combined, the location and camerawork are extraordinarily immersive. Fans of the Silent Hill gaming franchise will be in heaven. Viewers will find their eyes darting to every point on the screen. The wide angles from the security cameras keep you on high alert. INFIRMARY delivers the goods. 
While grading papers, Susan’s quiet night gets weird when her husband shows up in a panic. He explains that through his secretive research at Double Star Accounting, he can now predict the future. Edgar shares that his co-workers are after his knowledge and that Susan and their daughter, Taylor, are in danger. This sounds preposterous to her until two aggressive individuals knock on her front door demanding to know where Edgar is. As they threaten her family, Susan must decide who to believe.
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